Chapter 27-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 27 Summary: “The Screen”
Charlie undergoes knee replacement surgery. His recovery is slow and painful, with private nurses attending to him around the clock. The Wiz comes to visit with two bits of news: The PlannersBanc workout division has given them a reprieve for now, and a website called “Chasing the Dragon” had revealed the name of the young woman Fareek raped as Elizabeth Armholster.
Meanwhile, Conrad has not been able to procure a job, his money is dwindling fast, and he is tired of living in his overcrowded room at Meadow Lark. As he makes his way back to the apartment, a Chamblee police cruiser pulls up next to him. Worried that the police may recognize him, Conrad walks into an antique shop situated in an old, crumbling wooden house. Trusting the elderly brother-sister duo who owns the shop, Conrad asks if they have a spare room he can rent. Impressed by Conrad’s assertion that he is a man of faith who believes in the Church of Zeus, the older folks offer a room in the attic for $75 a month.
Chapter 28 Summary: “The Spark of Zeus”
Conrad discovers a copy of The Stoics while cleaning out the attic. To Conrad, this is a clear sign that his path has been designed by Zeus. He has also landed a job with Carter Home Care, providing everyday assistance to people who are elderly or have disabilities. Conrad’s current assignment is to run errands for the Gardners, a couple in their late seventies. When a thug walks into the Gardner house and threatens Mr. Gardener, Conrad confronts the thug, who has been extorting money from the couple weekly, using the tough language of prison on him. Conrad tells the man he is from the Nordic Bund gang, and the man gets scared and slinks away. Conrad feels the spark of Zeus within him: Five-O has asked him to use his words against bullies, and it worked.
Chapter 29 Summary: “Epictetus in Buckhead”
Conrad gets such a glowing recommendation from the Gardners that his boss assigns him a very important case: the physical rehab of a real-estate developer called Charlie Croker, who is back home from the hospital today. Conrad recognizes the name from Croker Foods but does not make the connection between the real estate tycoon and a food division. Meanwhile, Charlie should be happy at being home, but he feels depressed when he sees his luxurious house. He realizes that all the wealth he has accumulated cannot cancel out his mortality.
Conrad begins working with Charlie, lifting him from the wheelchair to his bed. Charlie is impressed by Conrad’s physical strength but bemoans his own sorry physical state. As Conrad settles down with The Stoics during Charlie’s naptime, he can hear Charlie groan and sigh in an exaggerated fashion. Conrad wishes he could share with Charlie a dialogue between Epictetus and his students on the body. Epictetus calls the body a “slave to fever, gout […] sword” (663), yet even in dealing with it, one has a choice. Charlie notices Conrad’s book and asks him about it, so Conrad explains the teachings of Stoicism. Charlie wants to know what a Stoic would do in case of a dilemma. Conrad tells Charlie that Stoics do not know dilemmas since they always take the right action without fear of consequence. It is the fear of consequence that produces dilemmas.
Chapter 30 Summary: “The Bull and the Lion”
Peepgass is staying over at Martha’s, having spent the night with her. While they made love, Peepgass visualized Sirja’s body, and Martha thought of her first, passionate encounter with Charlie. Both Martha and Peepgass seemed embarrassed when they woke up, but Peepgass feels such awkwardness is natural at their age. As Peepgass reads the papers at breakfast, he wonders if Martha, like his ex-wife, Betty, is too domineering. Both women are older than him, heavyset, and opinionated. Peepgass wonders if he is doomed to repeat the mistakes of his past.
Roger visits Charlie while Charlie is in physical therapy with Conrad, climbing the stairs on crutches. Roger calls for Charlie, but Conrad steps before him, telling him he must not step closer. Roger feels cowed by Conrad’s fierce expression but yells at Charlie to be present at the upcoming press conference. A defeated-looking Charlie agrees.
Conrad and Charlie’s conversation turns to Epictetus once again. Charlie asks Conrad what Epictetus would say to a man forced to publicly praise someone he did not really admire. Conrad says Epictetus would consider the flattering address a sell-out, the lowly way of the fox. A man must be a principled bull instead. Charlie asks Conrad to leave The Stoics with him, hoping that reading it will give him the power to stand by his convictions. Conrad leaves the book reluctantly, telling Charlie to look after it as it is alive with the spark of Zeus.
Chapter 31 Summary: “Roger Black”
Roger and Wes meet to prepare for the press conference. Roger is happy to tell Wes that Charlie will show up, though Charlie’s sudden physical decay is surprising. Wes hopes Charlie does not embarrass them at tomorrow’s press meet. To Wes, it is obvious Roger is enjoying politics. Wes himself finds politics intoxicating. It may not bring in much money, but what it brings is power. He says, “[W]hat really turns you into a political junkie is…seein’em jump” (692).
Serena demands to know why Roger is hounding Charlie. Charlie finally tells Serena about Roger’s offer and tomorrow’s press conference. Serena tells Charlie she does not believe Fareek raped Elizabeth. The encounter was probably consensual. However, when her friends walked in on Elizabeth and Fareek, an embarrassed Elizabeth claimed Fareek forced her. What’s more, it is Elizabeth herself who leaked her name to the website that broke her story. Elizabeth does not want people to think she willingly had sex with someone like Fareek, so she told her parents he raped her. Charlie must tell the truth at the press conference tomorrow.
That night, Charlie discusses his predicament with Conrad as well. Conrad reveals the truth about his past to Charlie. Charlie tells Conrad that he has decided to attend the press conference, which he believes is his character-defining test.
Chapter 32 Summary: “The Manager”
Martha, Peepgass, and Wally watch the press conference on the TV in Martha’s library. Mayor Wes Jordan addresses the press, reminding them that even at this stage, the charges against Fareek are merely “reports of an accusation” (715). No police report or legal case has been filed. Still, it is important to address the accusation since even the shadow of a sex offense can taint the career of a promising young athlete like Fareek Fanon. Wes invites Charlie to speak about Fareek.
When Charlie gets to the podium, he reveals the truth about how the mayor and Roger engineered his presence at the press conference. Charlie says he did meet Fareek and was impressed by his strength and love for football but put off by Fareek’s impetuousness. However, Charlie hasn’t “got a ghost of an idea” (720) if Fareek committed rape or is capable of it. Charlie is not even sure about the rules of sex and consent in today’s day and age. Finally, Charlie announces that he is handing over all his properties and assets to his creditors. He has realized that these material acquisitions are trifles that can never bring tranquility. Charlie has received a spark of divinity from someone called “the Manager,” and the inspiration tells him the only real possession a man can have is his character.
Wes and Roger look at each other aghast, and the crowd begins to talk, doubting Charlie’s sanity. Wes thanks Charlie for his speech and removes him from the podium. Conrad, waiting in the wings for Charlie, takes him away. Meanwhile, Peepgass tells Martha that Charlie has gone mad. He is surprised to see Martha cry, and he understands that she still has feelings for Charlie. Martha tells Peepgass she is just feeling sorry for her ex-husband.
Epilogue Summary: “A Man of the World”
Months after the press conference, Wes Jordan wins the mayoral race against André Fleet by a slim margin. Wes and Roger gather to celebrate in the mayoral salon. They discuss how Charlie’s betrayal of them actually worked in their favor. The Black audience saw Charlie’s speech as his attempt to indict Fareek and Wes Jordan as a protector of the truth. Wes tells Roger that Charlie has since become an evangelist, traveling around the country to preach about “the Manager.” It is unclear if the manager is Zeus himself or a conduit between Charlie and Zeus. Charlie’s willing renunciation of his wealth has given him the status of a spiritual leader. He’s working a deal with Fox Broadcasting for a show called The Stoic’s Hour. Conrad Hensley, Charlie’s associate, turned himself in for his escape from prison. Impressed by Conrad’s honesty and Stoic demeanor, the judge released him on two years’ probation. Serena stayed back in Atlanta. Though Peepgass was fired by PlannersBanc once they discovered his corrupt scheme, Peepgass is still enjoying the good life, married to Martha.
Wes finally tells Roger something that “ought to raise [his] political IQ a bit more” (735). Once Chasing the Dragon broke the story on the accusations against Fareek, Wes met the couple who run the couple behind the website and invited them to City Hall as reporters. The two began to raise buzz about the issue to other press members until it appeared in the papers. Wes now had an opportunity to call a press conference to address the matter, couching his stand as an attempt to ensure a Black man was treated with justice. André Fleet, Wes’s political rival, could not possibly oppose his defense of Fareek. André’s silence annoyed Inman, his chief financier, and Inman cut off Fleet’s “get-out-the-vote money” (737). Thus, Roger and Wes won the election. Roger feels flush with his achievement, like a real “man of the world” (742).
Chapter 27-Epilogue Analysis
The novel foreshadows that Charlie and Conrad’s arcs are interlinked from the very beginning. For instance, it is Conrad, not Kenny, who gets fired when the layoffs are announced, suggesting that Conrad and Charlie’s fates are connected. Similarly, Mai’s army sends Conrad to Atlanta, where Charlie lives, and in the last few chapters, a series of serendipitous events carry Conrad straight into Charlie’s house. Once Conrad and Charlie strike up a friendship, the narrative slows down to include stretches of dialogue between the two, mimicking the Socratic method of Greek philosophers, where individuals carry out a scholarly dialogue by asking and answering questions. For instance, when Charlie asks Conrad if Epictetus’s lessons of Stoicism are too impractical to implement in real life, Conrad asks him, “Have you seen an old beggar […] what makes you think [the beggar can] find food, and you wouldn’t be able to?” (685). Conrad’s point is that living by one’s principles is hard but not impossible; what a person fears is not hardship but humiliation.
The convergence of Conrad’s and Charlie’s journeys, culminating in Charlie’s “trial” in the form of the press conference, addresses the narrative’s preoccupation with The True Meaning of Masculinity. As in the case of Conrad, the question of what makes a man of integrity can only be answered through a character-defining test or trial. The novel uses allusions from Greek mythology and literature to press the importance of the trial motif. All heroes must undergo trials to become heroes, as shown by the example of the labors of Hercules in a previous section. Once Charlie realizes this truth, his path ahead becomes clearer. Though his actions at the press conference invite ridicule, Charlie is finally acting in line with his convictions rather than his all-consuming desire for wealth.
The novel’s incongruous turn from social realism into ancient philosophy and faith mirrors its unconventional narrative pacing and incomplete resolutions of its finale. Having built up Charlie’s dilemma through its sprawling length, the novel resolves it suddenly in a single scene. Similarly, the consequences of Charlie’s actions are never played out on the page and are shared only via Wes and Jordan. This reinforces, rather than solves, the doubt that Charlie shared with Conrad: Living according to philosophy is unrealistic. Because Charlie exits the stage after his press conference, the text gives the impression that his story has entered the realm of myth and abstraction. Further, many open plot points are never resolved. For instance, though Elizabeth’s rape accusation is the primary plot driver, it is left unclear whether the encounter between her and Fareek was consensual. Peepgass’s paternity suit is also left unresolved, as is the future of Serena and Charlie’s marriage. The narrative does not reveal whether Conrad returned to his family or what happened to Charlie’s children.
These unanswered questions and narrative shifts emphasize the absurdity and chaotic nature of life. The only way for Charlie to survive is to chart a new, imaginative path. This new path may appear jarring and odd to others, but it is the only way for Charlie to remain authentic. The ending also emphasizes the moral and religious underpinnings of the novel. Until this section, the religious aspect of Conrad’s faith in Zeus was hinted at through expressions such as the “divine spark”; in this section, Conrad is more explicit, telling Brother and Sister, “I go to the Church of Zeus […] It’s pre-Christian. The Stoics influenced the early Christians” (628). Conrad’s religious zeal carries over to Charlie. At the press conference, Charlie’s speech takes on the quality of a sermon: “The Manager has given every person a spark from His own divinity, and no one can take that away from you” (723). The novel’s end also explains its title. Charlie and Conrad together make a man in full, suggesting that a whole man is one who combines animal instinct with reason and understands the consequences of his actions. A man in full does not act in isolation, as Charlie did when he announced the layoffs, but considers the good of others as well.
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