The Razor’s Edge: Part 3, Chapter 2  Summary & Analysis

That spring, Kosti says he’s leaving the mine and asks Larry if he wants to go with him. Larry asks him where he’s going, and Kosti says, “Tramping.” Larry says yes almost immediately. They head across Belgium into Germany, eventually stopping in Darmstadt, where a man named Becker gives them work. Larry and Kosti sleep in the barn and work for their room and board. After they’ve been there for a while, Kosti tells Larry that Becker isn’t satisfying his wife, Frau Becker. Kosti says he’s interested in her. Larry tells Kosti not to do anything that would mess up the work they have. At the same time, Larry begins to suspect that Frau Becker might have feelings for him, not Kosti. Kosti eventually agrees and tells Larry that Frau Becker is interested in Larry, not him. Larry doesn’t know what to do except pretend he doesn’t notice the woman’s advances.

One night, Larry wakes up in the barn and feels Frau Becker’s body against his. She tells him to be quiet as she kisses him. Larry then “does what [is] expected of him.” When he thinks back over what happened, though, Larry realizes that it hadn’t been Frau Becker in the barn; it had been Becker’s widowed daughter-in-law, Ellie. Larry had no clue she had been interested in him. She was always talking about her husband, who had died in the war. Larry doesn’t like the situation and doesn’t know what will happen the next day, so he decides to leave. He packs his things while Kosti sleeps. He walks 12 miles in the dark to Zwingenberg, the nearest town. Once there, Larry wires American Express to have his clothes and books sent to Bonn, where he intends to go next.