The first paragraph in page 19 points to the suggestion that S. is figuratively an invisible man, easily forgotten in name and face. As the sailor who had spoken to S. places himself in a crowd of seamen, they start to discuss the mysterious ship at the Harbor, and “the man in the overcoat will not be a subject, much less a part, of their conversation. The sailor forgot about him immediately.” (19). As readers will see as they progress through the novel, the sailor’s forgetfulness of S. mirrors many other people’s reactions to S. S’s unremarkable physical traits makes him easily forgotten and hard to discover, which becomes a crucial aspect of his survival later in the novel.

S also contemplates the nature of his present state; why is he wet and why is his body aching?  “The entire right side of his body, in fact, feels deeply bruised. There is a raw, burning sensation behind his right ear, and now that he has begun to dry, he recognizes a feeling of stickiness down his back.” One can only assume this substance is blood and if S. truly did “fall from a significant height,” it is plausible to hypothesize that his fall was the cause of his amnesia.

Jen and Eric’s Comments
Jen mentions Eric’s mysterious grant from the Serin Institute*, and asks him, “What do you think they want from you? Or want you to find?” While Eric is just as puzzled about his situation, he seems to have gained confidence knowing that someone believes in his ability to unearth the identity of Straka and discover the authorship behind the novels.

Readers should pay close attention to the reference of falling on this page. Jen speculates that S’s possible fall could be “from a bridge. Like Vaclav Straka,” a seemingly irreleant factory worker who is one of many viable Straka identities. However, Eric responds to Jen, “There’s also the end of Ch. 3.” Upon reading Jen and Eric’s notes at the end of Chapter 3, it becomes evident that Vaclav has less significance than previously thought; Eric discovers that Jean Bernard Desjardis, another Straka suspect, also dies by falling. In fact, many instances of deaths from falls are later unearthed, complicating the search for the real authorship of Straka’s books.

*The Serin Institute of Literature Studies does not exist.