40 pages • 1 hour read
The Cat Who Saved Books
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Chapter 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Second Labyrinth: The Mutilator of Books”
Days later, Tiger reappears to warn Rintaro of a second labyrinth where a mutilator is destroying books. Sayo arrives just as the portal opens and, shocked to see and hear Tiger, insists on joining the mission. They enter the Institute of Reading Research, a sterile facility, where they find the director cutting up classic books with scissors. He explains his method of streamlining literature by reducing novels to single-sentence summaries for efficiency.
As the Mutilator of Books speaks, Sayo falls into a trance. Rintaro recalls his grandfather’s lesson that the effort of reading is part of its value. To prove his point, he fast-forwards a cassette of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, demonstrating that great art requires time to be appreciated. The Mutilator concedes and vanishes, and the shredded books restore themselves. Back in the shop, Sayo awakens with no memory of the labyrinth’s conclusion and questions Rintaro’s reluctance to pack for his move.
Chapter 2 Analysis
The second labyrinth is an allegory for The Corruption of Reading in the Modern World, moving beyond the personal vanity explored in the first labyrinth to critique the systemic, institutionalized devaluation of literature. The Institute of Reading Research is a sterile, bureaucratic space where silent workers move with robotic uniformity, an environment that physically manifests the dehumanizing effect of its director’s philosophy.
