The Enormous Room · Chapter
XIII: I Say Goodbye to La Misère explained
Cummings reflects on his impending release from La Ferté Macé, arguing that leaving the prison is not a happy ending because his friends remain imprisoned.
What happens
Cummings reflects on his impending release from La Ferté Macé, arguing that leaving the prison is not a happy ending because his friends remain imprisoned. He describes his depression after B. and others depart for Précigne, his days spent with Jean le Nègre, Mexique, and The Zulu, and his sudden summons to the Directeur's office where he learns he is to be freed. He says goodbye to the prisoners, hides a letter from Jean, and boards a train for Paris, feeling the unreality of freedom.
Themes in this chapter
Freedom vs. Imprisonment
Cummings is released but feels no happiness, knowing his friends remain prisoners; freedom is bittersweet and incomplete.
Human Dignity and Community
The bonds among prisoners are highlighted as Cummings says goodbye to 'hungry wretched beautiful people'; their dignity persists despite captivity.
Suffering and Transformation
Cummings describes his mental and physical state after the departure of B. and others, and his gradual recovery after release.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
Describes his depression after B.'s departure, his refusal to believe in Oloron, and his sudden release.
- Jean le Nègre
Cummings spends time promenading with him; Jean gives him a letter for his gonzesse in Paris.
- La Misère
Cummings says goodbye to Mexique, who smiles and says 'Goodbye, Johnny; I no forget you.'
- The Zulu
Cummings gives him his bed; The Zulu stands guard over it; his friend The Young Pole gives Cummings an address.
- B.
Departed for Précigne earlier; Cummings recalls his scurvy and the crackling noises when he disrobed.
- The Black Holster
Summons Cummings to the Directeur's office; later does not examine his baggage, allowing Jean's letter to pass.
- Apollyon
The Directeur speaks in a subdued voice, telling Cummings he is to leave; Cummings notes his changed demeanor.
- The Young Skipper
Claps Cummings on the back and says 'Goodbye and good luck t'you.'
Key passages
“to leave La Misère with the knowledge, and worse than that the feeling, that some of the finest people in the world are doomed to remain prisoners thereof for no one knows how long—are doomed to continue, possibly for years and tens of years and all the years which terribly are between them and their deaths, the grey and indivisible Nonexistence which without apology you are quitting for Reality—cannot by any stretch of the imagination be conceived as constituting a Happy Ending to a great and personal adventure.”
Leaving La Misère while knowing that the best people are condemned to stay imprisoned indefinitely—facing a gray, endless nonexistence while you escape to reality—cannot be seen as a happy ending.
Cummings rejects the idea of a happy ending, emphasizing the tragedy of leaving others behind.
“I am standing in The Enormous Room for the last time. I am saying goodbye. No, it is not I who am saying goodbye. It is in fact somebody else, possibly myself.”
As he stands in the room for the last time, Cummings feels detached, as if someone else is saying goodbye.
Cummings experiences a sense of unreality and dissociation during his farewell.
“I turned into Edward E. Cummings, I turned into what was dead and is now alive, I turned into a city, I turned into a dream—”
He transforms back into his former self, feeling resurrected, and the idea of Paris becomes a dreamlike reality.
Cummings describes his release as a rebirth and a surreal awakening.
