Leave the World Behind

While Archie and Rose explore further into the woods, the omniscient narrator questions if the end of humanity (and who is to blame for it) matters in the grand scheme of the planet and begins to reveal the things that are happening around the world: missing airplanes, people dying trapped in subway trains, a broken-down emergency system that can’t reach people in need. Archie and Rose venture further than they’ve gone before, and they come across a house in the woods. They decide to turn back instead of investigating the house as their father drives by, unbeknownst to them.

Back at the house, Amanda begins to worry; G. H. invites her to the hot tub to calm her, and she agrees. They talk about G. H.’s work in finance, and he tells her that anyone can get rich if they have training and information and are willing to play along with capitalism instead of rebelling against it.

Suddenly, there is an earth-shattering noise that stuns them, leaving them struggling to understand what has just happened. Amanda stands and starts repeating “What the fuck” (128). G. H. gets out of the hot tub as Amanda runs into the woods, looking for her children. Unable to find them, she falls to the ground and lets out a guttural primal scream.

Some time has passed: Amanda has found her children and brought them back to the house, but Clay has not yet returned. Amanda and her kids return, to G. H. and Ruth’s relief. Ruth suggests that Amanda and Rose get clean and they leave. When they return to the living room, they debate what made the noise, and the narration reveals that it was a jet breaking the sound barrier to intercept something along the Eastern seaboard. The group continues to explore more benign explanations.

Archie decides to take a shower, while Rose lies down. Amanda becomes angry with G. H. and Ruth. She believes someone or something is attacking the US, and wants to pursue solutions like finding Clay and filling the bathtubs with water. G. H. and Ruth think they should sit tight and wait for Clay to return. Amanda thinks they need to act, as there’s no way to receive news on what’s happening, which causes them to continue speculating on what’s happening and who is responsible for what they are considering a terrorist attack. Ruth decides to open a bottle of wine, and Amanda begins to weep, terrified of losing Clay and of him returning with some awful explanation.

Clay idles in his car in the middle of the road, realizing that his masculine pride has led him astray. He begins driving again and quickly finds the correct way back to the house. He pulls into the driveway and begins to weep, thinking of what he knows about what’s going on, which is still all speculative. He considers that during tragedies, the “business of being alive” (141) must continue. When Clay enters the house, he’s offered wine and then questioned about what he found. He reveals he didn’t make it into town; when G.H asks if he saw anyone, Clay lies, choosing not to reveal his encounter with the woman.

Ruth begins to talk about Swan Lake, a ballet that she initially didn’t understand but that eventually moved her deeply. She says that it’s the music she’d like to hear as she dies, but her copy of the album is in their apartment in New York. G. H. tries to comfort her, saying that they won’t die in this house, but she tells him he doesn’t know that. Amanda suddenly says that G. H. resembles Denzel Washington, and asks if there’s any relation; her insensitive question—and her realization that she’s being rude without being able to help herself—creates an awkward silence.

In the other rooms, Archie and Rose can’t hear the adults. Archie calms himself by looking at the pornography on his phone, and Rose is trying to read in bed but cannot concentrate. She rises and sees that the glass door to her room has a crack in it that was caused by the noise. Archie finds that he cannot stay aroused, and he feels warm, though he is unconcerned. A storm is forming outside, and he falls asleep.

Downstairs, Ruth gathers up the laundry, comforted again that they have so many supplies stored away. She wants to invite Amanda to do their laundry together; though she knows it is intimate, she feels a sense of caretaking toward Amanda and her family. She thinks of her grandchildren lying on her body. Rose is thinking about how she needs to solve the problem of what’s going on, but she remembers a promise from her mother that they would bake a cake if it rained, so she goes to do that.