61 pages • 2 hours read
The Door
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Chapters 1-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of child death and death by suicide.
Language Note: In this section, the text uses the outdated term “insane,” which the guide reproduces in quotes.
Chapter 1 Summary: “The Door”
In the short opening paragraph, Magda (the narrator) reveals that she rarely dreamed when she was young, but now that she’s an old woman, she’s “confronted repeatedly with horrors from [her] past” (1) and wakes up screaming. Magda describes the dream that haunts her. In the dream, she desperately tries to get help for a dying person but can’t. She remembers how (in her real, waking life) there was once a door. The person who lived behind the door trusted Magda so much that Magda alone was allowed to enter. That person was Emerence, Magda notes. Magda holds herself responsible for Emerence’s death. She writes to explain the details of how she “killed Emerence” because she feels that she must speak out.
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Contract”
Magda describes her first meeting with Emerence. Due to recent changes in the political situation in Hungary, Magda is permitted to publish her writing again. This begins a period of professional success for Magda, but she and her husband realize that they need someone to take care of their house so that Magda has more time to write. A former classmate mentions Emerence to her.
