#4

This section of reading takes us back to Dominick and Dessa's breakup. She needs time to heal after Angela's death, and so she takes a cruise by herself. With her time to think, she believes at first that she can go back to Dominick and things will work out, but once she sees him in the airport, Dessa realizes that she can't cope with his grief and needs some time on her own. After crying in front of his students, Dominick quits his job teaching and becomes a housepainter. The two spend time apart, but always meet inconspicuously at gas stations or funerals or visiting Thomas in the hospital. This section of the book now becomes about Dominick finding himself while Thomas is at Hatch and the burden is lifted. He starts visiting Doctor Patel, an indian therapist and anthropologist. In her office she has a statue of the Hindu god Shiva, who represents destruction. Dominick at first is confused by this, but Patel tells him that in her office they need to destroy his old walls and figure out who he is. "Remodeling".
Dominick gets very angry at some of the things she suggests, and has a hard time dredging up bad memories from his childhood to figure out his life now.