The evening ends in a manner that seems like something out of a dream—Dr. Hedd expresses more admiration for the narrator’s words than his own, the men enter a room that resembles the country club of the narrator’s fantasy, and they spend the rest of the evening in the company of prostitutes. The narrator is unhappy, however, because this experience is incompatible with his ideology. If Sonny is a hypocrite for speaking of revolution without fighting one, the narrator is worse for decrying the excesses of capitalism while also enjoying them. His assessment that life in Asia has a “value,” or cost, is practically accurate as well, in the context of all of the bribes that were paid so that he and the General could enter the wood-paneled room.