Galapagos

Wait interrupts Mary’s memory by proposing marriage again; he has spent much of their journey “proposing marriage intermittently” (126) and Mary tries to comfort him as best she can. She still believes that he’s named Mr. Flemming and that he promises to make her “a very rich widow” (127).

Many years ago, when Wait was 16 years old, he fathered a child with a married woman. Wait knew about the child—a boy “who would grow up to be a good dancer and very musical” (128)—but never thought about him.

Aboard the Bahia de Darwin, the passengers aren’t “uncomfortably hungry yet” (130). Mary and Adolf split their time between piloting the ship and watching over Wait. When the sun comes up, Adolf realizes that they’re far off course. He tries to make an adjustment as he sails toward Baltra, where he believes he’ll be greeted as a hero. He checks on Wait, who informs Adolf that Mary has finally agreed to marry him. His frequent proposals have “worn her down” (132), and she says yes, not expecting to have to deal with the marriage anytime soon. Wait still believes that her surname is Kaplan. Adolf surprises her by announcing that, as captain of the ship, he has the legal authority to marry them. He does so, and Mary and Wait are married, neither knowing the other’s real name.

The narrative reveals that on the island of Santa Rosalia, Hisako’s furry daughter, Akiko, will be entertained by Mary’s stories about romance. Mary tells a story about a widower named Robert Wojciehowitz who proposed to her just weeks after Roy’s death. Mary refused him and burst into tears. Robert, shocked, ran away, chased by Donald the golden retriever, and forced to hide in a tree. He curses his foolishness. Adolf holds a similarly “low opinion of his worth” (134) after causing the Bahia de Darwin to become completely lost. After five days at sea, the passengers become quite hungry. The Kanka-bono orphans kill—and eat—Selena’s seeing eye dog, Kazakh.

Leon, the narrator, speculates about the deaths of Kazakh and Wait with a “wry comment on how little most of us were likely to accomplish in life” (136). He remembers his own funeral, when similar comments were made. Adolf says something similar after Wait’s death, and Mary chastises him for mocking her husband. Below deck, Selena searches for her dog. Mary suggests that they try to use Mandarax as a radio.

Mandarax responds to Adolf’s mayday calls with literary quotes. Mary climbs up into the crow’s nest to search for any nearby island. However, she doesn’t spot “a very queer weather phenomenon” (140) to the rear of the boat. Leon, the narrator, realizes that she can’t see the strange, blue burst of electricity because it’s the blue tunnel into the afterlife. He has seen this phenomenon before and wonders whether his time as a ghost is coming to an end. In the light, Leon sees his father, Kilgore Trout. Kilgore invites Leon to join him in the afterlife and warns that if Leon declines to do so again, he won’t have another opportunity for a million years. Leon hesitates, thinking about why he’s suddenly so obsessed with the passengers on the ship. He appreciates the sudden insight he has into “what life is really like, how it really works, what it’s really all about” (141). Kilgore mocks him. Leon doesn’t like his father, and if anyone else were welcoming him into the afterlife, he might agree to go. He refuses, remembering how his father turned him into “his co-conspirator in driving [Leon’s] mother away forever” (142). Leon ran away from home after realizing that his father was little more than a bitter, failed science fiction author. Like his father, he joined the Marines. Kilgore criticizes Leon for being too much like his mother and believing that “human beings are good animals” (143). Leon asks to see her in the afterlife, but Kilgore ignores him. As Leon is tempted to step toward the afterlife, a cry from the Bahia de Darwin gives him pause. Mary calls out from the crow’s nest. She has spotted land. Leon returns to the ship, turning away from the afterlife and his father.