Running in the Family: The Bone Summary & Analysis

Ondaatje states that there is one story about Mervyn that he “cannot come to terms with.” In a different version of “his train escapade,” Mervyn jumps naked off the train and disappears into the jungle. When his friend Arthur goes to fetch him, he sees Mervyn emerge, naked, with his arm outstretched and his hand clutching five ropes, a black dog hanging from each of them. There are terrible noises coming from the dogs and from Mervyn, and he holds them away from himself to protect himself. Mervyn holds the dogs as if “he had captured all the evil in the regions he had passed through and was holding it.” Even after Arthur cuts the dogs loose and puts Mervyn in his car to drive him home, Mervyn remains with his arm outstretched, holding the five severed ropes as if in a trance.