After Darkness: Chapter 16: Loveday, 1942 Summary & Analysis

The day before the baseball final, Dr. Ibaraki plans to tend the gardens of the Buddhist altar. Hayashi has offered to cover Ibaraki’s shift the next day so he may attend the game. When he leaves his hut for the day, Ibaraki hears a commotion indicating that Johnny Chang and the others returned from their hearing in Melbourne. Ibaraki sees Johnny and the other men, noticing their sad expressions. He approaches Johnny, who tells him that their appeals were rejected with no hope for another chance—the system was set up against them, with no protocol for holding hearings for Australian citizens.

Dr. Ibaraki returns to his hut and begins to write a letter to his mother, expressing his sadness over Nobuhiro’s death. Knowing that the censors will cut much of his letter, he limits the information about his life. After lunch, Ibaraki goes to the altar gardens despite the windy conditions. Due to the wind, he hears voices from beyond the garden. The speakers are Mr. Yamada and Mayor Mori. From their conversation, Ibaraki knows for sure that Yamada was Stanley Suzuki’s attacker. During the rest of their conversation, though Ibaraki cannot hear every word, he hears desperation in Yamada’s voice and Stan’s name many times. Ibaraki also hears his own and Hayashi’s name, and he figures out their plan: Hayashi volunteered to take Ibaraki’s shift in order to find some way to silence Stan.

Upon hearing Mr. Yamada and Mayor Mori’s conversation, Dr. Ibaraki is overcome with the feeling that he is unable to do right by anyone he cares about. He hurries to find Johnny Chang to get some help in the situation, but Johnny’s hutmates haven’t seen him. Ibaraki staggers through the dusty wind to get to the infirmary, but his compound is sealed and the new guard, Davies, will not let him through and threatens to shoot him. He continues to run around the dust storm, looking for Johnny.

At the daily headcount that evening, Dr. Ibaraki sees Johnny in a disheveled state. Major Locke makes a few announcements: first, he introduces Private Davies. Second, he announces that the baseball championship will be postponed due to the weather.  Furthermore, he bans all other outdoor activity, bidding the internees to stay in their huts or the mess hall. Johnny protests, provoking Davies. After the headcount, Ibaraki talks to Johnny, who says that he will get out of the camp no matter what it takes. Ibaraki tries to talk with Johnny about Stan, but he says he has his own problems to worry about and leaves. Ibaraki watches Mr. Yamada in the mess hall, disgusted by his casual nature. Dr. Ibaraki returns to his hut, worrying about Stan.

Back in his hut, Dr. Ibaraki confronts Mr. Yamada about his plans to harm Stanley Suzuki. Though Yamada’s façade of casual demeanor slips, he denies that he has any such plan. When he realizes that Ibaraki does know something, he is very angry. Yamada tells Ibaraki that, if anything happens to Stan, people will think it is Ibaraki’s fault because of their medical history together.

Suddenly, as Dr. Ibaraki and Mr. Yamada stare at each other, a siren sounds outside. Ibaraki takes his chance to run from the hut. He arrives at Johnny’s hut, where no one has seen him. Ibaraki and Johnny’s friends conclude that Johnny is trying to escape, and that’s why the siren sounds. They are interrupted by two loud cracks in the air: gunshots. Upon hearing the gunshots, Dr. Ibaraki runs outside, barely able to see because of the dust storm. Someone calls for a doctor and Ibaraki goes towards the scene of the commotion. There, he finds Officer McCubbin standing over the body of Stanley Suzuki. Private Davies shot him.

Two days after Stan’s death, Dr. Ibaraki visits Johnny Chang in detention—Johnny is serving a sentence for trying to escape. The officers found him the day before, four miles from the camp. Ibaraki notices how weak he looks, having cut his hands and feet on the barbed wire. Ibaraki tells him that all the guards were on alert for an escape because of the dust storm. He also tries to tell Johnny about Stan’s death, but Johnny already knows. The men wonder why Stan was standing so near the fence. Ibaraki tells Johnny about the memorial service that he is planning. In his grief, Johnny expresses that he should have been the one who died.

A couple of days later, the dust storm had cleared up. The memorial ceremony occurs in the garden next to the altar, which Dr. Ibaraki and Stan’s other friends cleared up. Over 30 people, including Officer McCubbin, attend the service, where they unveil a handcrafted plaque in honor of Stan, who was only 22 when he died. Ibaraki makes a speech, first in English, and then in Japanese. He speaks of his relationship with Stan, Stan’s pure heart, and Stan’s love for his family. After the speech, Ibaraki and the other attendees place offerings near the plaque and release dirt onto it. At the end of the ceremony, all the men bow out of respect for Stan.

As life returns to normal after Stan’s death, Dr. Ibaraki goes about his routines. Yamada largely leaves Ibaraki alone and does not roster him for the more unpleasant chores, perhaps afraid that Ibaraki will report Yamada’s violence towards Stan. Though Ibaraki does not report Yamada, he tells Officer McCubbin that Yamada and Mori are bad people—an uncharacteristic choice for him. After 12 days of detention, the officers release Johnny Chang. Anxious about his upcoming court case over his escape attempt, Johnny is more subdued than usual. Ibaraki also suspects that Johnny suffered from the knowledge that his actions indirectly caused Stan’s death, since he set off the siren while escaping.

On Dr. Ibaraki’s day off from the infirmary, he visits the gardens that now house Stan’s plaque. The old gardener suggests that the plaque deserves a nicer spot and that there ought to be a pond in the gardens. At the gardener’s direction, Ibaraki begins digging a pond with a makeshift shovel. Later that day, having mentioned his new project to a friend, Johnny Chang and a few more men come to help Ibaraki dig the pond. With their teamwork, the group finishes most of the pond in an afternoon.

Two weeks later, the court of inquiry into Stanley Suzuki’s death takes place. Johnny Chang and Dr. Ibaraki wait together to be questioned. Private Davies enters the room, looking like a different, exhausted man. The court calls Johnny in for questioning, and Davies sits in the waiting room. Ibaraki realizes that Davies is full of regret. Ibaraki is one of the last men that the court calls, and as he waits, he wonders why Stan was staring at the sky.

After hours of waiting, the guard calls Dr. Ibaraki’s name. The interviewer asks Ibaraki to identify himself and describe the night of the shooting. They then question him about Stan’s suicide attempt, pressing Ibaraki on why he did not report the bullying to camp officials. The interviewers then ask Ibaraki if Stan ever spoke about escaping, and even if Stan wanted to die the night he was shot. When they suggest that Ibaraki should have known Stan’s feelings as his friend, Ibaraki bursts into tears. They end the session, and Johnny takes Ibaraki outside. There, Ibaraki breaks down, saying that he could have helped Stan and many other people more than he did. Johnny comforts him.

After the inquiry, the court finds that Stanley Suzuki had been attempting to escape, but that Private Davies was guilty of negligence, having not issued the proper warning to him before shooting. The officials only lightly punish Davies, suspending him without pay indefinitely. After two more days of his sentence, Johnny gets out of detention.

The next Monday morning, Major Locke declares that he will make an announcement later that day. The camp is abuzz with rumors of a prisoner exchange and thus the possibility for release, and all the men discuss what they miss most about home. At the end of the day, Locke announces that there will indeed be a prisoner exchange. He reads out the names of the men selected. These men include Mayor Mori and Mr. Yamada. Though Dr. Ibaraki has mixed feelings about the idea of returning to Japan, he is upset that Mori and Yamada may be able to. Just as Dr. Ibaraki is getting used to the idea of camp without Yamada or Mori, Major Locke calls his name. His friends congratulate him, but Ibaraki feels that he does not deserve it.

In the time after Major Locke’s announcement, tensions run high at the camp. Many men become very depressed at their inability to return to Japan. On the other hand, Johnny and his friends are glad to have not been chosen, wanting to stay in their native Australia. They decide to apply to transfer to a camp with more Australians.  Dr. Ibaraki continues to wrestle with his mixed feelings about returning to Japan. 

The day before he leaves, Dr. Ibaraki pays a final visit to the infirmary. He visits Harada, who tells Ibaraki that he is like a brother to him. Ibaraki says that the two will stay in touch, but Harada insists that he will die in the camp, never able to see Minnie again. Ibaraki thinks of Kayoko and the uncertainty of their relationship. 

On the day of the voyage, the men gather to say their goodbyes. Dr. Ibaraki carries not only his luggage but also gifts from his friends in the camps and letters that people asked Ibaraki to deliver in Japan. Mayor Mori gives a short speech, much to Ibaraki’s disdain. Still, Ibaraki is relieved that Mori and Yamada will no longer be able to harm people in the camp. After the speech, Dr. Ibaraki sees Johnny. The two have a heartfelt goodbye, with Johnny telling Ibaraki that he really deserves to go home. Ibaraki says goodbye to his other friends and momentarily wishes to stay. The men walk to the entrance of the camp, where Officer McCubbin tells Ibaraki that he is a good man. The men board the truck to leave, and Ibaraki watches the camp shrink away.