Contents
Chapter 15
Overview
Years after the war, Owen receives the book and is summoned by Vivian Rolfe—now Chancellor—who seizes the text, commissions his translation, and turns it into national scripture. The publication catapults Owen to fame and knighthood, but Professor Sawbridge disappears, and Owen recognizes the state’s propaganda and his own permanent exile.
Summary
Several years after the war, Owen receives the book in the post. Physical pain in his left hand, bouts of rage, and dissociative flashes accompany his attempt to read it. After a tense trip home and a violent outburst, the book vanishes, replaced by a card summoning him to the capitol.
At the capitol, Owen meets Vivian Rolfe—now Chancellor after the Chancellor’s murder—who presents the book and a ready-made plan: an official translation to be published by Satford & Gills. Despite Owen’s distress and a sense that “this isn’t how it goes,” he is maneuvered into signing contracts; the state keeps the original and assigns him an office and assistants.
Owen completes the translation quickly with two deferential graduate students, translating aloud while they type as his hand pain worsens. Vivian praises him and toasts the work. Professor Sawbridge fails to answer his telegrams and seems to have disappeared from the university.
The first edition appears within months, accompanied by orchestrated adulation. Vivian reads from it on the radio and issues pocket editions for troops; rumors claim she keeps the original by her bed. Owen is sent on a triumphant lecture tour and is hastily knighted for added luster.
Amid the acclaim, Owen is confronted by patronizing nationalism and tokenism that reveal Dominion’s exclusionary nature. Realizing the book has been weaponized as scripture and that he remains a perpetual outsider, he ends the chapter celebrated yet profoundly estranged, with Sawbridge’s absence unresolved.
Who Appears
- Owen MalloryNarrator and translator; coerced to publish the book for the state, gains fame and knighthood but feels alienated and haunted.
- Vivian RolfeMinister of War turned Chancellor; commandeers the book, orchestrates its propaganda rollout, rewards Owen while controlling him.
- Mr. SatfordPublisher; formalizes the state-sponsored contract to publish Owen’s translation.
- Mr. GillsPublisher; partners with Satford in negotiating Owen’s publication terms.
- Professor SawbridgeMentor figure; uncharacteristically absent and unresponsive, her disappearance troubles Owen.
- Frankie/GeorgieRowing-clubbish graduate assistant; transcribes Owen’s dictation and admires his voice.
- Daphne/ShellyAnxious graduate assistant; deferential, helps with transcription and cites Sawbridge’s praise of Owen.
- Boy on the trainYoung stranger; stirs Owen’s protective anger about wartime sacrifice before the translation begins.