68 pages • 2 hours read
Doris LessingA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Anna’s telephone rings as she is putting Janet to bed. On the line is Molly, looking for Tommy. He had decided to visit his father, Richard, at his office but has not returned. Molly is worried, given Tommy’s increasingly anxious state of mind; she has found books on mental health in his room. Before Anna has a chance to reflect on Tommy’s whereabouts, she receives another call from Molly: Tommy has been to see Richard’s current wife, Marion, who everyone believes is drinking too much. Again, before Anna has time to react, there are footsteps on the stairs, and Tommy comes into her rooms.
They have an increasingly tension-filled discussion about what he is doing and what he needs. He questions her about her notebooks. Anna feels afraid, as if Tommy’s hysteria is affecting her. He reads some of what she has written in her notebooks, which makes her extremely uncomfortable, but she does not stop him. He wonders how Anna can keep on living, even as she records such brutality and disintegration. Her answers do not satisfy him, so he asks her again, warning her: “I’m going to give you another chance, Anna” (275). She tries to explain that she continues to believe that something positive will happen, even amidst all of the chaos, but she realizes how trite this sounds.
By Doris Lessing
A Woman on a Roof
A Woman on a Roof
Doris Lessing
Briefing for a Descent Into Hell
Briefing for a Descent Into Hell
Doris Lessing
Martha Quest
Martha Quest
Doris Lessing
No Witchcraft for Sale
No Witchcraft for Sale
Doris Lessing
Prisons We Choose to Live Inside
Prisons We Choose to Live Inside
Doris Lessing
The Fifth Child
The Fifth Child
Doris Lessing
The Grass is Singing
The Grass is Singing
Doris Lessing
Through the Tunnel
Through the Tunnel
Doris Lessing
To Room Nineteen
To Room Nineteen
Doris Lessing
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection