50 pages 1 hour read

Jenny Erpenbeck

Go, Went, Gone

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015

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Chapters 31-40

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 31 Summary

At the home, Richard learns from a guard that the language lessons are being discontinued permanently. The Ethiopian teacher is already gone. At eleven o'clock in the morning, an official language course will begin at a community college in Kreuzberg. Buses begin arriving to transport them to the class. Richard sees all the refugees he has met come out to get onto the buses. He notices that Rufu is missing. He goes to room 2018, but Rufu is not there. He finds Rufu in the kitchen and tells him that they are going to a real German class together. They get in Richard’s car and Richard programs the GPS with the college’s address.

At the college class, Rashid helps collect the first and last names for the instructor. He also helps determine which of the men do not know the Latin alphabet: five of the 40. After class, Rashid, Rufu, Abdusalam, and Ithemba ride back in Richard’s car. On the way to the home, the refugees sing songs, and Richard tries to sing along.