The Door

Magda is shocked. Józsi’s boy contacts her, and she agrees that they should meet. His aunt has “a substantial amount of money” (179), he says, and he’s concerned that her paperwork be available and in order, yet he worries that Emerence permits no one to enter her apartment, so no one will know whether everything is in order after her death. Magda wants to talk to Emerence, so she approaches her on Good Friday. This is the only day of the year when Magda honors her religion by fasting, and Emerence seems to taunt the hungry Magda by cooking. In addition, Emerence uses the opportunity to chastise Magda for her religion. The Master, Emerence says, “isn’t going to live very long” (184), so Magda should treat him better rather than busy herself with the church. Upset, Magda tells Emerence about her conversation with Józsi’s boy, as she knows that this will anger Emerence. She’s right. Emerence is angry, and Magda feels as though she’s being dismissed.

When she leaves, however, Emerence accompanies her. She criticizes Magda again but admits that, besides her cats, Magda is “all [she’s] got left” (188). They both have the same nature, Emerence says, which is why they’re so close and why they’re capable of hurting one another. A storm begins; Magda knows how much Emerence fears storms. Then, Emerence invites Magda into her apartment. The invitation, she says, is “the only thing” (190) she has to give.

Magda enters the dark apartment. She sees the lovers’ seat, where Emerence sleeps, on which Viola’s body has formed an indentation. She senses the nine cats around her, even if she doesn’t see them all. A steel safe blocks the door from the kitchen to the inner rooms, where the property and furniture of the Grossmans are located. Emerence explains how she gradually accumulated many stray cats. Though she must “destroy every new litter” (193), she cares for the adult cats. She gives Magda instructions on how to euthanize them after her death. Then, she sends Magda home. When she steps through her own door, she begins to cry but can’t explain to her husband why she’s weeping.

Magda notes how her relationship with Emerence is at its most harmonious when either she or her husband is “in some sort of difficulty” (200). They’re often sick, for example, and Emerence dutifully helps them. The changing political situation in Hungary means that Magda can travel abroad. Returning from one trip with her husband, she buys a portable television for Emerence as a Christmas present. Emerence prides herself on giving gifts, and Magda hopes this will delight her in the same way. Emerence seemingly accepts the present. On the night of Christmas, however, when Magda hopes that Emerence will be watching a film on the television, she and her husband look out their window to see her sweeping snow. They realize that the present is deeply inappropriate, as Emerence can never relax in the evening in front of a television. She prides herself on her work and always has something to do. She and her husband are “ashamed” that they’ve misinterpreted Emerence and the gift so badly. Though Magda realizes her mistake, she notes, she didn’t go to help Emerence sweep the snow.

At this point, Magda believes, “it all [starts] to unravel” (206). Emerence falls sick. Though many people want to care for Emerence (as she cared for them), she doesn’t want people fussing over her. Her flu develops into pneumonia, partly because she refuses to stop working and rest. At this time, however, Magda’s professional life flourishes. After years of repression and censorship, she’s lauded by literary critics for her work. The “outside world,” Magda notes, is suddenly interested in her. She’s pleased but exhausted by her celebrity, and she worries about Emerence, who vanishes into her apartment to recover.

Without Emerence, the neighborhood feels unreal and empty. Magda feels a “simple, futile rage” (211) that her success coincides with Emerence’s withdrawal. She asks to help Emerence, who always refuses, and Magda must often dash away due to professional obligations. Emerence never opens her door, not even for Magda. Magda increasingly worries, especially when Emerence’s speech seems slurred or broken from behind the closed door. She tries to contact Józsi’s boy or the Lieutenant Colonel, but they’re busy with the holidays.

When two weeks pass without Emerence opening her door, Magda notes that she must be unable to use her outdoor toilet. A “strong smell” emanates from behind the door. When Magda speaks to Emerence through the closed door, inviting her to stay with Magda and her husband, Emerence responds with anger. She threatens to attack (with a hatchet) anyone who comes near her door. Eventually, it’s decided that they must break down Emerence’s door. Magda agrees, but she alone knows the pain Emerence will feel when people enter her apartment. She decides, however, that “the only way to save her [is] to betray her” (216). The next day, she knocks on Emerence’s door. One of the cats has died, Emerence says, and Magda must bury it. Magda agrees.

She devises a plan in which she’ll collect the corpse from Emerence, at which point others will burst through the door and administer medical assistance. As they’re about to set the plan in motion, however, a taxi arrives to take Magda to a television studio for an interview. She delays as long as possible, but the driver is impatient. Magda is fraught with anxiety. She knocks, Emerence opens the door, and the men burst through. Magda doesn’t linger. She goes straight to the taxi, which drives away, having asked her husband to lock up Emerence’s house. She regrets being unable to be there.

Magda feels that she has done “something truly unforgivable” (223). Her interview was long and disastrous, she says, as she was unable to think about anything other than Emerence. She doesn’t care about the prize she’s receiving. She returns home to a “silent and strangely empty” (224) street. The handyman is boarding up Emerence’s home; her cats have scattered. She approaches the apartment, noting the stench of “human and animal excrement” (226), as well as piles of rotting food and maggots. Due to the extreme contamination, a disinfectant unit has been called.

Magda learns what happened to Emerence. She had a mild stroke and therefore experienced paralysis. Because of her “amazing constitution,” she partially recovered but was mute and stuck on the floor for a long time. She could neither feed nor clean herself, but decided that any pain was preferable to allowing people into her apartment or letting them see her in this condition. If she died, Magda writes, then “none of it would matter” (229). When the men burst in, Emerence fought back but eventually was placed in an ambulance. Before she could go to the hospital, she needed to be decontaminated. The “image of the old woman lying in her own filth” (231) haunts Magda. Standing in the empty apartment, she feels physical pain. Later, she speaks to the doctor. Emerence is alive, but her heart is “desperately overworked.” In the hospital, Magda sees Emerence without a headscarf for the first time. She looks frail, aristocratic, and old. Magda feels immense guilt over not keeping strangers out of Emerence’s home.

Magda seeks constant updates from the hospital, but Emerence’s condition hasn’t changed. The cats have escaped and can’t be found. Against this backdrop of anxiety, Magda prepares to receive her prestigious prize. She visits the hospital, where Emerence is awake but refuses to talk to anyone. Many people call, but Emerence refuses to speak to anyone. The doctor recommends that they leave her in peace. Magda attends the award ceremony with her husband, but is distracted. She knows that Emerence will never be “completely well” again. Magda fears that Emerence no longer wishes to live, now that her private living space has been invaded. Magda suspects that Emerence feels that her “credibility [has] been destroyed” (239) by so many people seeing her when she’s so vulnerable.

Feeling exhausted, Magda slips away from the ceremony early. She plans to clean Emerence’s flat, but the decontamination crew has already started work. They clean the “putrid slush” from inside the apartment, burning anything that can’t be cleaned. Inside Emerence’s kitchen, all that remains is the old safe. With the help of the Lieutenant Colonel, Magda convinces the decontamination crew that they don’t need to clean the inner rooms.

When Józsi’s boy arrives, he’s concerned about Emerence’s “total passivity.” When receiving her award, Magda gave a speech. She didn’t think about her message, but she thanked Emerence. The nurses in the hospital told Emerence, expecting her to be happy, but she was indifferent. Magda thinks about how much she has let Emerence down. She alone knew about Emerence’s true values, and she betrayed these values. She again tries to visit Emerence, but the woman doesn’t want to see her.