Atdtad22: For something to do, 621-623

[Paul Nightingale]

The previous section ends with Foley asking Kit: "What's a man to do for
entertainment in this town?" The new section begins with the Mickifest, "a
peculiar gathering" that involves little in the way of social interaction.
On 318 Colfax complained that Kit wasn't sociable; here, deprived of his
means of support, he partakes, albeit as no more than a witness to
Humfried's performance ("... as if he were aware of his audience and his
obligations as an entertainer", 622). When Gunther says Humfried has to go
to the hospital, Kit volunteers, "feeling less obliging than anxious for no
reason he could think of" (623). Perhaps he is in search of a role here.
Subsequently, "the sound, dishearteningly distinct, of a gunshot" recalls
the appearance of Foley Walker on 619: "Kit felt like somebody had just
taken a shot at him." Here, Kit changes places with Humfried, the interne
"dexterously jabbing him with a hypodermic" (623). Cf. earlier, Gottlob's
attempt to administer to Humfried "a gigantic syringe of some demented and
tarnished gray alloy ..." etc (622). At the section's end, Kit has "dropped
like a stone" and is unable to see Foley Walker leave town; that his
departure is recorded independently of Kit indicates that he was both 'real'
and 'unreal'.