Till We Have Faces: Part 2: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

The act of hearing herself read her own complaint has satisfied Orual’s need for justice. The Fox always told her to say what she meant. Now (still in the mysterious courtroom) she realizes she has spoken the truth of her soul, which she has never before recognized. She understands why the gods don’t directly engage with humans—it’s pointless for them to try when humans don’t speak their own truths. They don’t even have faces that the gods can meet.

The Fox then speaks up in the courtroom, taking the blame for teaching Orual that gods didn’t exist—he encouraged her not to believe that Ungit represented humans’ own sins, and to doubt that real gods do exist. He never told her why people got so much fulfillment out of worshipping Ungit. He still doesn’t know the answer, but he knows Ungit is a step on the journey to finding the true gods, who will possess human souls. His empty words were not enough to nourish Orual.

Orual wants to protest, but the trial is over. She jumps down into the crowd of ghosts, and the Fox finds her. He asks her forgiveness, but instead she says that she should have sent him back to the Greeklands when she freed him, rather than letting him stay, heartbroken, out of love for her. The Fox confirms that she has consumed men’s lives, and he must bring her to another judge so that the gods can accuse her. He tells her that the gods are not just.

The Fox leads Orual into a bright chamber. The walls are painted with stories that come alive when she examines them. First she sees a woman walking to a river and tying her ankles together. She realizes it’s Psyche. Orual is overcome by Psyche’s beauty, and cries out, “Do not do it.” She doesn’t. In the next picture, Psyche sits in a dark place, sorting a pile of seeds with help from an army of ants. Next, Orual sees Psyche figuring out how to obtain the wool of the gods’ sheep. When they charge away, she gathers the fleece from the bushes. Finally, Orual sees herself and Psyche walking through the desert. Psyche seems happy, and sings. The eagle takes a bowl from her and brings it back full of the water of death.

The Fox asks whether Orual understands the pictures. She doesn’t see how Psyche could have been so happy, but the Fox says that Orual took on all of Psyche’s pain. This was possible because humans and gods are all connected. Orual feels very glad, now knowing that her demands for justice were ridiculous.

On the final wall, Orual sees Psyche walking down into the earth. The Fox explains that everyone is born into the house of Ungit and must escape it. Ungit has set Psyche a series of tasks, of which this is the last. She must retrieve beauty in a casket from the queen of death and give it to Ungit so Ungit can be beautiful. However, if she speaks to anyone, she’ll never return to the world of the living.

Psyche encounters the people of Glome, who cry for her to become their goddess. Psyche ignores them. Next, the Fox appears and tells Psyche that the gods and her tasks are all her imagination. Instead, she should follow his philosophical principles. Psyche doesn’t reply. Finally, she comes to a woman wrapped in misery. Psyche almost falters. The woman’s arm is bloody, and she speaks in a moving voice, begging Psyche to come with her. Psyche weeps but continues on.

Orual can’t believe she and the Fox did such awful things to Psyche in the name of love. The Fox says that as the gods become more beautiful, this sort of thing will only happen more often. Furthermore, the Divine Nature can change the past, and the present time will soon be the past.

Voices from outside announce that Psyche is approaching, bringing the casket of beauty from the land of the dead. The Fox leads Orual outside into a beautiful courtyard. Psyche appears, and Orual falls to the ground to kiss her feet, hailing her as a goddess. She admits that she only wanted to possess Psyche, but now Psyche can have all of her.

Psyche says Orual must stand up so that she can give her the casket to make Ungit beautiful. When Orual stands and looks at Psyche, she is overwhelmed by her beauty, which confirms that Psyche has become a goddess. Yet Psyche seems to be more herself than she ever was. Psyche recalls her prediction that she and Orual would meet in Psyche’s palace in friendship, and Orual is perfectly joyful.

Suddenly a change comes over the courtyard, and everyone seems awed. They say that the god is coming to judge Orual. Psyche brings her to the edge of a pool as the air becomes bright. Orual feels terrified and ecstatic, and loves Psyche more completely than ever. But she can tell that everything only exists for the sake of the god who is approaching. Orual sees two reflections in the pool, but they are both Psyche, one wearing clothes, the other naked. The voice of the god tells Orual that she is also Psyche. But when she looks up to see him, she finds herself in her own palace gardens, holding her book.

Orual lives four more days. She is weak, and knows she’s close to death, but she feels that her soul is almost ready. Arnom and her servants weep for her, but she doesn’t understand why she deserves it. She wishes she had brought her heir, Daaran, to Glome and loved him. Now she understands why the god doesn’t answer humans. He himself is the answer, and words mean nothing. Her narrative ends in the middle of a sentence.

Arnom, who calls himself the priest of Aphrodite, writes that he has put the book in the temple. There are markings at the end that are illegible because Orual’s head fell onto them. If a traveler to Greece finds the book, he should take it with him as Orual wanted. Arnom passes this responsibility on to the Priest who will succeed him.