The Garden of Eden

Over the next four days, David finishes the story. He assures himself that it measures up to his standards. Marita asks to read it, and he gives her the key to his locked writing materials. According to Marita, the story is “a terrible story and it’s wonderful” (110). They swim together and then return for lunch to find Catherine waiting at the hotel. Catherine insults both David and Marita; she is especially angry to discover that Marita has been allowed to read his story before she has had the opportunity. She cites her wealth to remind them that they are living in the hotel because she makes it “economically possible” (111). When she demands to read the story, David tells her that she can read it after lunch.

Once she has read it, however, she tears up the manuscript and says that it is “bestial” (112). She accuses David and Marita of conspiring to make her read the horrible story about David’s father and his brutal behavior. She breaks into tears and tells David that she hates him.

Later, Catherine and David talk. She worries that he will have her declared insane for her behavior, but he insists that he will not. He suggests that they could visit a doctor in Switzerland in “the same way we’d go to the dentist” (112). Catherine bluntly refuses to go. That night, David dreams about Africa and wakes up in the morning to immediately begin work on a new story about following an elephant.

David and Marita go to a secluded beach where they can be alone. They talk about Catherine and her recent anger toward them. Catherine refuses to see a doctor, but they fear that she may be suffering from mental health issues. To gauge David’s trust, Marita tells him to dive over her shoulder while getting as close to her as he can. David dives, almost hitting Marita, but goes past her. While he is concerned, she is exhilarated.

When they return to the hotel, Catherine mentions that she has read David’s most recent story about following the elephant with his dog. She admits that she needed to steal his key to gain access to his writing materials. Catherine is worried that she feels old, confessing that she is not even certain that she can outlast David’s fictional dog, “not even in a story” (116).

David returns to his story, in which he walks across the African countryside with his father and his father’s friend Juma. The two adults continue walking as the young David becomes fatigued. They search for an elephant; David knows that the large animal’s tusks are worth a huge amount to ivory dealers. Juma allows David to carry his rifle. As they walk, David thinks that the adults should have left him in the village. The group makes camp, but by this time David is too tired to do anything but sleep. When he wakes up in the night, he imagines the elephant is nearby. He feels a hollowness within himself. In his writing room, David tells himself that he must “write each day better than [he] possibly can and use the sorrow” (118) to inform his story and his situation.

Leaving his writing room, David goes to the bar and pours himself a whiskey. The hotel owner’s wife prepares a salad for his lunch. David thinks about his situation and refers to himself as a “pioneer” (119) for visiting this region in the traditional off-season, just one of many ways in which he, Marita, and Catherine are rebuking traditions. Catherine returns, complaining of the heat, so David makes her a cold cocktail. She wants to have fun with David “like in the old days” (120). They have sex, and David tells her that he is happy to have her back. Catherine says that she is “not going to turn [David] over to [Marita]” (121) and keep nothing for herself. David is pleased that her happiness has returned. Catherine explains that she will now split David with Marita on a fixed schedule. After David and Catherine go to Cannes, they return and find Marita sitting in the bar, reading David’s book. Marita says that she is looking forward to her scheduled day with David.

David returns to his story. As he travels with his father, he notices a pattern. He starts the day fresher than the older men but soon tires out. His father tells him to “just last the day” (124). David is surprised by Juma’s recent coldness toward him as they were once close friends. Knowing that he is just nine years old and not strong enough for a long hunt with grown men, David regrets his decision to accompany them. Juma believes he knows where the elephant is headed. That evening as they hike toward the hills, David kills two birds with his sling, and they cook the birds over a fire. David’s father tells him that he is “very proud” (125) of him, as is Juma. David finds the elephant and notifies the adults, who allow him to join them on the hunt. Now, David regrets that he “betrayed the elephant” (126), although he quickly dismisses the thought.

David tries to remember how he felt during the hunt, knowing that it is hard to separate real emotions from memories of them. He locks everything away and then leaves the room, finding Marita reading in the bar. David and Catherine go to Cannes to eat; afterward, she wants David to come with her to the hairdresser again. He agrees after she insists that she wants them to have matching hairstyles. After they are finished, David begins “to realize what a completely stupid thing he had permitted” (128)

The next day, David struggles to begin work. Eventually, he returns to the story. He follows his father and Juma as they track the elephant across the volcanic terrain. To David, his father and Juma seem to have a “dirty secret” (129) that they are keeping from him. Eventually, they come across the massive skull of an elephant that was hunted years before. This elephant was a friend of the one they are tracking; Juma killed the first elephant and now plans to kill the second. David is overcome with guilt, but his father tells him not to endanger the hunt. David knows that his father will never trust him again. This thought pleases him as he will “never ever tell him or anybody anything again” (131).

David stops writing at this point in the story. He promises himself that he will add detail and emotion later. Finding Marita, he shares a drink with her. He kisses her and feels rejuvenated after a morning of pouring himself into his work. As they eat lunch, she compliments his work. David says that he is “good on other people and on technical and tactical things” (133) but struggles to show himself in his work. Marita admits that Catherine has encouraged her to read his narrative of their early relationship, and David is annoyed by this. Marita insists that it is “wonderful” (134). After lunch, David and Marita have sex. She asks whether he wants her to play the role of Catherine. He says no. David sleeps and then wakes to hear Marita and Catherine on the terrace. 

David joins Marita and Catherine at the bar. Catherine seems happy. She drinks champagne and jokes that David is her “ex-husband” (136). David is annoyed with her for encouraging Marita to read the story about the early days of their marriage. Catherine turns to Marita and assures her that, when David says no, he can be easily ignored. David is so annoyed with her comment and her behavior that he refuses to finish the narrative about them. However, Marita flashes him a wary look. David reluctantly agrees to return to the narrative once his current story is done.

Catherine is excited about the narrative. She has already contacted people to have it professionally printed and illustrated. David insists that the narrative is not yet ready. When Catherine describes one potential illustration of herself and Marita in a car, David is even more annoyed. He says that there is no such scene in the story. Catherine tells him that he should write the scene immediately as it is better than the stories about his “drunken father” and Africa (137). Catherine accuses David of making her feel “like an idiot or a leper” (138). She blames David for not finishing the narrative.

Later, Marita tells David that Catherine is now more interested in publishing than in sex, which she now regards as childish and unimportant. Catherine enters and says that she has “no further need” of David and Marita (139), who are now free to spend their lives together. Meanwhile, she may try a relationship with another woman to see if there is anything she has missed. Marita and Catherine exchange barbed comments. Marita says that Catherine is “not really a woman at all” (140), and Catherine agrees. Marita apologizes, and they agree to be friends. David struggles to live in this new reality and thinks about returning to his writing. That evening, David retires alone to read while Catherine and Marita play backgammon for money. Later, Catherine joins him in the bed, and they reconcile. She begs David for them to try and make their arrangement work, but he refuses to discuss the matter.

David works on the short story about Africa. The control he exercises over the story of his past provides comfort in a tumultuous moment in his life. In the story, the young David realizes that his father and Juma will soon kill the elephant. He knows that he is powerless to stop him. He wonders whether the men would kill him or his dog if either of them possessed valuable ivory. They approach the elephant. David’s father tests the wind. He and Juma creep toward the elephant and disappear from David’s view. The elephant attacks Juma and David’s father fires the rifle. He only wounds the elephant, however. The group tracks the wounded animal until they find it struggling. David’s father shoots it again and, as it lays badly injured, David looks directly into its eye, which is “the most alive thing David had ever seen” (145). David’s father tells David to shoot the elephant. David refuses. Juma appears with his face badly wounded. He snatches the rifle and kills the elephant. David’s father makes plans to fetch medical supplies for Juma and to harvest the elephant’s ivory.

David reflects on the “very young boy’s story” (146) and the way his father had tried to justify the hunt. Afterward, David and his father agree to “make peace” (147). David regards this as the true beginning of his promise never to tell anything to anyone. He leaves his writing room and finds Marita waiting for him. They reaffirm their love for each other as they stare at the sea. He allows her to read the story so that she can understand his current emotions. She finishes the story and then kisses him so hard that his lip bleeds. They plan to celebrate.