Journey to the end of the night post IV

A sense of resigned depression has started to seep through the story with the monotony of being a dirt cheap doctor undermining Ferdinand's ability to make firm decisions like dropping Robinson and leaving Rancy.

Bullet points from pages 291 - 395

* Robinson is very much back on the scene but Ferdinand is desperate for him to leave

* His patient Bebert dies and his involvement with the Henrouille family drags on with the old woman boasting of how her son and daughter-in-law failed to get her sent to a convent or asylum

* Robinson hooks up with the Henrouilles and they build a rabbit hutch and then plan to put a bomb on the hutch and wait for the old woman to open it. The bomb is triggered by a rabbit as Robinson is fitting it and it blinds him

* Laid up in the top floor of the Henrouille's house eventually they hire the services of a priest who gets him a job in a church crypt in Toulouse and so Robinson heads South

* With Robinson gone Ferdinand expects an improvement in fortunes but when it doesn'?t come he decides to depart once and for all from Rancy and head off for new pastures

* It seems that everyone Ferdinand treats as a doctor ends up dying with Mr Henrouille dying of heart failure joining Bebert abd several other former patients. There is a beautifully described moment when Ferdinand sees some of these dead patients as ghosts floating as angels

* Having quit Rancy he drifts around, striking up a relationship with a Polish actress, but after meeting the priest who set Robinson and Senior Mrs Henrouille up with jobs in Toulouse he gets 1,500 francs and promises to go and see them

* Robinson is getting married and although Ferdinand has a bit of fun with his fiance he admits to himself he is jealous


With Robinson settling down and the ties in Rancy well and truly cut you wonder where is Ferdinand going next?