Till We Have Faces: Part 1: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Orual faints after she crosses the river. When she comes to, she drinks water and realizes that she left her food with Psyche. She wishes Bardia were there with her instead of Gram. She waits by the river, hoping to see the lamp when Psyche lights it and covers it. Then she’ll see it again when Psyche looks at her husband’s face. She anticipates that Psyche will then come to her in distress, and she’ll comfort her.

However, Orual can’t help fearing that she might have done wrong. She imagines Psyche lost and in despair, all because of Orual. Orual often has the urge to cross the river and tell Psyche not to go through with her promise. Throughout all these thoughts, Orual can’t forget Psyche’s apparent hatred of her. Orual doesn’t understand how Psyche can hate her when Orual has just wounded herself out of love for Psyche.

Orual sees the first lighting of the lamp. It gets very cold and her arm is painful. She realizes she might die as a result of this night. She imagines Psyche mourning her death, and everyone else showing their love for her now that she’s dead. Finally, she sees the lamplight again, very bright.

Suddenly there’s a loud voice that terrifies Orual because it’s immortal. She hears weeping, and her heart breaks. It all happens quickly, and then lightning flashes through the valley, illuminating falling trees. Through the thunder, the rocky cliffs of the Mountain begin to crack apart, and the river rapidly floods as torrential rains fall. Orual thinks this means she was right—Psyche’s husband is something horrible that is now enraged. Even if it kills them both, Psyche will know the truth and not be angry with Orual. If they can’t escape together, they can die together.

Orual is about to try to cross the stream when a light that looks like lightning appears and lasts. At the middle of it is a humanlike figure, vague in her memory. She can only look at the face for a moment, because its beauty is too overpowering. He looks at her with complete rejection, knowing everything about her. He makes it seem as though she has known the truth about him from the beginning, and only doubted it to deceive herself. Orual asks the reader to judge whether this is the true past, or whether the god has changed it.

Everything else is silent as the god speaks in a voice without anger. He says that Psyche must go into exile, and Orual will know herself and see what she does, and will also “be Psyche.” The voice and the light disappear, and Orual hears terrible weeping. Even if her worst enemy were weeping like that, she would try to help her, but she knows it’s Psyche. As Orual gets to her feet, the sound moves to the end of the valley. Orual can’t find her way across the river.

When dawn comes, the valley is completely ruined. Orual calls for Psyche again and again, but she knows that Psyche has gone into exile. Orual finds Gram, who asks no questions. They begin their journey home. Now that Orual knows the gods hate her, she waits at every moment for them to kill her. She wonders if they might turn her into an animal instead. However, she isn’t afraid. She sees everything around her as her enemy. She thinks that the god’s words mean she’ll also have to wander the world, like Psyche. She’s glad to share Psyche’s punishment. She wonders what she’ll tell Bardia and the Fox.