The Unbearable Lightness of Being: Part 7, Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Tomas sits at his desk holding a letter. He hands the letter, which requests his presence at the airfield in the next town, to Tereza. Tereza insists on going with him, and they immediately leave for the airport. When they arrive, they board a small plane, and, noticing it is completely empty, take their seats. When Tereza had read the letter, she didn’t feel any love for Tomas, just an intense fear knowing that she was unable to leave him. Sitting next to Tomas on the plane, however, her fear subsides, and she is aware of a deep, limitless love.

When the plane lands, Tereza and Tomas see three men outside wearing hooded masks and holding rifles. They step off the plane, holding each other around the waist, and one of the men raises his rifle. Tereza does not hear a shot, but she feels Tomas buckle and fall at her side. As he falls, he begins to shrink, until he becomes a small object that quickly runs off. The man who raised his rifle takes his mask off and chases after the object, which he catches and places in Tereza’s hand. It is a rabbit.

Tereza walks the streets of Prague holding the rabbit until she comes to her childhood home. She goes inside and goes up to her room. There is a bed, a table, and a lamp, and a butterfly flying around the lit lightbulb. Tereza sits on the bed with a strange sense of comfort and holds the rabbit to her face.