Independent Reading Entry 9

So the first part of his plan is carried out and he has a discussion with his wife. She talks lovingly to them and they are both quite high on the methane that is leaking. He almost forgives her and tries to plan to run away somewhere with her. But he comes back to reality quickly and goes to light the lantern. The plan is nearly complete for him but there is one last thing to do to destroy the past and all it's banality and pain: light a lantern. He kneels down to spark it and explodes into the air. While in the air he acknowledges how there are no great moments in the world anymore but that this exact moment that he is propelled through the air the moment is great. This just shows how in a rut he was because in order to experience anything great there needs to be an enormous methane explosion for him. The entire second floor was blown off of the house and what's left of the first floor is charred and burning walls and furniture.

So he concludes the book with his exit of the mental asylum and he and his neighboring mental patient travel to Virginia to live in her house. They plan to carry out Lance's idea of starting a new world with new values and ways of life. You put down the book leaving Lance getting what he wants and feeling that he accomplished, in a strange way, his goal. He is more aware and awake.