The Razor’s Edge: Part 2, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

One morning at Elliott’s house, Isabel talks with her mother over café au lait. Mrs. Bradley asks when Larry is coming back to Chicago. Isabel says she doesn’t know because they haven’t talked about it and that she also doesn’t know where Larry is living now. That day, Larry and Isabel go to lunch together in the Latin Quarter. After lunch, Isabel tells Larry that she wants to see where he lives. Larry takes her to an apartment building close by, and they walk up two flights of stairs. When Larry shows Isabel his apartment, she says, “It’s awfully sordid.” Larry says that it suits him fine; he’s close to the Bibliotèque Nationale and the Sorbonne, he has a bathroom, and he can get breakfast in his room.

Larry has a Greek dictionary on his table and says he’s been learning the language. When Isabel asks why, he says, “I thought I’d like to.” He tells Isabel that he’s been reading a lot in general. Isabel asks what he’ll get from all this reading, and Larry says, “The acquisition of knowledge.” He says reading the Odyssey in the original Greek feels like you’re standing on your toes and could reach out to touch the stars. He also says that he doesn’t know when he’ll be going back to Chicago. He can’t go back now, he says, because he’s on the verge of finding the answers to his questions, questions like whether God exists, if evil exists, and whether there’s an immortal soul or if death is an absolute end.

Isabel says people have been asking those questions for thousands of years, so it’s not likely that Larry will find the answers soon. Larry says the fact that people have been asking the questions for so long proves that we as humans can’t help but ask them. Larry says he wants to find answers that are satisfying to him and that the process might take five or ten years. But, he says, he doesn’t want to wait that long to get married to Isabel. He wants to get married now. He says they could live together in Paris on his $3,000 a year. Isabel says one can’t live on that amount of money. Larry says he’s been living on half that. Isabel looks around his room with distaste. She says she doesn’t want the kind of life Larry has.

Isabel says her home is in Chicago, her friends are in Chicago, and that’s where she belongs. Larry asks if that means she won’t marry him unless he’s prepared to move back to Chicago. Isabel pauses and then says, “Yes, Larry, that’s just what it does mean.” The two continue to argue about whether Larry will return to Chicago until Isabel says that if he won’t listen to reason, she doesn’t know what else to say. Larry says it’s not reason she’s talking about; it’s nonsense. Isabel says, “My poor Larry, you’re crazy as a coot,” and slides off her engagement ring. Larry says she should keep it as a memento. He says he wants them to stay friends. Isabel is surprised they don’t have a bigger fight. They go get drinks together after, and Isabel reminds Larry that he’s supposed to have lunch with them tomorrow.