# II explained — Armed with Madness > Chapter companion for Armed with Madness by Mary Butts. ## What happens Scylla prepares to meet the American visitor while reflecting on her relationships with Ross and Felix, the fragility of their world, and her own sense of dislocation. She walks alone through the valley to Starn, contemplating the end of an age and the search for new values. ## Themes in this chapter ### Post-War Disillusionment and Alienation Scylla feels a pervasive dis-ease and a sense of broken continuity, reflecting the post-war mood of dislocation and uncertainty. ### The Search for Meaning and Transcendence Scylla ponders the meaning of meaning, the discovery of a new value, and a different way of apprehending everything, highlighting a quest for transcendence. ### Nature as a Living Force The landscape is vividly described—the sea, the downs, the valley, the wood—and Scylla's walk through Seven Fields emphasizes nature's active, sometimes hostile presence. ## Character check-ins ### Scylla Taverner Scylla walks alone to Starn to meet the American, feeling burdened by her role as the sole stay of the men and troubled by a sense of broken continuity. ### Ross Ross is described as self-sufficient, with strong appetites satisfied, and laughs at Scylla for not knowing what he knows. ### Felix Taverner Felix is scared, brittle, angry, and unjust; Scylla tells him to collect mushrooms and not allow Ross to experiment. ### Dudley Carston The American visitor who is expected to arrive today; Scylla is to meet him at Starn. ## Key lines > But everywhere there was a sense of broken continuity, a dis‑ease. The end of an age, the beginning of another. Revaluation of values. Scylla feels a pervasive disruption and unease, as if one era is ending and another beginning, requiring a reassessment of what matters. _Captures the theme of modern disillusionment and the search for new meaning._ > Only Ross was all right⁠—He never wanted anything that he did not get. Life had given it up and paid over Ross’s stakes, because once his strong appetites were satisfied, he did not want anything in human life at all. Ross is content because his basic desires are fulfilled and he expects nothing more from life. _Highlights Ross's self-sufficiency and contrasts with Scylla's restlessness._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/armed_with_madness_se/chapters/ii - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/armed_with_madness_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/armed_with_madness_se/chapters