Strangers On A Train

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1950

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Chapters 30-33Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 30 Summary

Guy dines at the Faulkners' home. He tries to banish Bruno from his mind and thinks about how happy Anne might have been without him. Guy announces his intention to take a job at a firm. Anne asks him whether he wants to break off their engagement. Guy feels an immense desire to make Anne love him.

Chapter 31 Summary

Guy's guilt is almost overwhelming as the wedding draws nearer, and he debates cancelling. At the last minute, Guy asks an old friend, Robert Treacher, to be his best man, realizing he has neglected his friends for over a year. As he walks down the aisle, Guy has a flashback to the murder. After the vows, Bruno appears at the wedding. Guy and Bruno are keenly aware of each other. Bruno introduces himself to Anne, claiming to be an old school friend of Guy's. The newlyweds drive to Montauk Point for a three-day honeymoon, curtailed by Guy's hospital commission for Horton and Keese.

Chapter 32 Summary

Bruno leaves a message for Guy at his new firm, which Guy dislikes. Guy makes slow progress with his work. Bruno invites himself to the couple's housewarming. Encountering a friend of Anne's in their bedroom, Guy is paranoid that the gun will be discovered. Guy is acutely aware of Bruno talking with Anne, and pulls Bruno aside, threatening to kill him. Bruno passes out half an hour later and is carried to the guest room. Guy retreats to his studio.

Chapter 33 Summary

Guy's department store design was well received, and Guy reads a copy of Religio Medici he intends to give Anne. He begins typing a letter of resignation. Anne insists they celebrate and Guy's spirits lift a little. They discuss taking a cruise on Anne’s boat, the India, for their honeymoon. Guy notices flowers from Bruno, feels tied to him, and questions his own sanity. His recurring nightmare persists. Guy feels like two people. He is terrified that Bruno could take Anne from him. Bruno calls Guy to arrange lunch. Guy feels benevolent towards Bruno, and that everything is surreal.

Chapters 30-33 Analysis

Guy's fragmentary nature is more apparent than ever in these chapters. He swings back and forth in his mind in Chapter 30, finally reflecting:

It was only a part of himself he had to cope with, not his whole self, not Bruno, or his work. He had merely to crush the other part of himself […] But there were too many points at which the other self could invade the self he wanted to preserve (190).

Guy is increasingly aware of dissimulation, marveling that no one perceives Bruno’s insanity at the wedding and distaining the firm where he is viewed as a “genius.”

Despite the heavenly context of both his wedding and newly-built house, Guy reflects "that was the hell, that one's life could so easily be total hypocrisy"(191). Despite attempting to purge his sins through his work and piety (the Religio Medici), his guilt resurfaces in his dreams. Guy cannot escape this, even via the exoticism of Anne's yacht, the India, or the African lilies Bruno sends. In the context of Guy's internal battle, this exoticism hints at alienation, colonialism and enslavement. The couple's honeymoon is laden with irony, since Guy can have no respite from his guilt.