Till We Have Faces: Part 1: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

When Orual reaches her chamber, the Fox is waiting for her, and she tells him Psyche is alive. She bathes and eats, and then welcomes him to her table. He is overjoyed at her news of Psyche’s well-being. She then goes on to tell him the whole story, watching his face darken. The Fox assumes Psyche is mad, and begins to speak of how to cure her. Orual admits that Psyche seemed perfectly sane in conversation. She asks whether there’s any chance something can exist if she can’t see it, using the example of a soul. The Fox, however, merely thinks she hasn’t understood his teachings and might be mad herself.

Orual considers telling the Fox about her vision of the palace, but decides he wouldn’t take it seriously. She suggests that Psyche’s lover might also be a delusion, but the Fox argues that someone must have freed her because she has been eating. In no way does he think it could be a god; instead, he believes it must be a criminal living on the Mountain. Orual can’t stand the thought, but the Fox assures her that Psyche isn’t aware of the truth—the man must be tricking her. The Fox’s explanation seems clearly correct to Orual, just as Bardia’s did before.

The Fox can’t think of what to do, and Orual despairs as to how she’ll escape back to the Mountain. The Fox reveals that lions have been sighted again, far from the city, and the King is going on a hunt. Orual assumes the King is angry, but the Fox says that, in fact, he’s very eager to go. In any case, he’ll be gone for a few days, and he’s leaving the next morning. They must act while he’s gone.

The Fox points out that Psyche will get pregnant soon, which makes Orual want to torture Psyche’s lover to death. She suggests they could hide Psyche in Bardia’s house. When the Fox says that Bardia is too afraid of the gods to take her in, Orual defends his bravery. However, the Fox argues that Bardia’s wife (Ansit) controls him, and she wouldn’t allow it. Bardia married her for her beauty, and Orual thinks she must be horrible. The Fox says that they must get Psyche out of Glome so that no one can find her to sacrifice her again.

Orual can’t think how to convince Psyche to leave the Mountain besides using force, but the Fox points out that they have no force to use. They sit silently while a servant plays a game of beads. Finally, Orual says she must somehow convince Psyche of the truth, and then they can make a plan together, even if it means they leave Glome to wander the world.

Orual says she feels responsible for Psyche, and she will do anything to get her away from the man who has trapped her. If Orual has to, she claims, she’ll kill Psyche. The Fox is horrified. He tells her that her love is overruled by her anger and pride. The Fox loves Psyche as much as Orual does, but Psyche’s current life is better than what Orual suggests. To nature, marriage is simply sex. Orual cannot see Psyche’s lover as anything better than filth, but the Fox, as a slave, sees it differently.

Orual insists that the Fox doesn’t understand everything, and he readily agrees. He doesn’t believe the royal house has divine blood, because he thinks that everyone has divine blood. Everyone has a god inside them, and all are joined.

The Fox is tired, and must go to bed. He says they will continue talking in the morning. Orual lets him go, but feels he has failed her in a way that men always do, for they’re never entirely invested in anything, and they’re easily distracted. She feels that no one but she really cares about Psyche. She must make a plan herself. She must guess the answer to the riddle, and when she has guessed wrong, everyone will punish her for it.

Orual then does something unconventional. She speaks to the gods herself, in her own room, without a sacrifice. She begs them to send her a sign, but nothing happens. So she decides she has to act the very next day. She sleeps for a few hours, but her mind’s torment wakes her. She goes to the window and thinks.

She sees clearly now. Though she has believed both Bardia and the Fox, one must be wrong. If the beliefs of Glome are correct, then Bardia is correct. If Greek philosophy is correct, then the Fox’s theory is correct. Orual herself has been raised to believe both sets of beliefs partially, and she won’t be able to choose one. But she realizes that this doesn’t matter, because both men think that something bad has control of Psyche. Orual herself is the only one who ever imagined that Psyche’s husband might be something good, but the fact that the husband forbids Psyche to see his face makes this impossible.

Orual must get Psyche away. Suddenly she remembers how happy Psyche looked in the valley, and she again feels tempted to let her remain happy and not cause her pain. Part of Orual thinks that she doesn’t understand everything that’s happening, but another part of her feels responsible for Psyche and thinks she must act accordingly. Psyche is only a child, and therefore she must obey. Orual becomes determined to act today, as long as Bardia can come with her. She’s bothered by the idea of his wife keeping him back. She lies down to wait for morning.