Crossing to Safety

The beginning of Part 2 breaks from the recollections of 1938 and rejoins the narrative in the present day. It is late morning; Larry has just finished his walk. The Langs’ daughter, Hallie, and her husband, Moe, visit Larry and Sally. Soon after, we learn that Charity is terminally ill. Sally is on crutches, yet still goes about with resigned independence. Sid is teaching at Dartmouth and continues to write poems. Larry sums it up in melodramatic tones: “So nothing much had changed. Sid was still trying to go up a road that was blocked by [Charity’s] thought police, [Charity] was still trying to keep him from doing something that she thought embarrassingly amateur” (204). Larry and Hallie exchange more words, which clarify the rift between Sid and Charity: “Neither one of them could get along without the other. He needs her to manage him and she needs him to manage. […] She does everything she wants to do, […] and meanwhile he gets to do what she lets him do” (206). As they continue to speak, Larry notices how much Hallie’s eyes look like Sid’s.