# The Sleepwalkers explained — The Madman > Chapter companion for The Madman by Khalil Gibran. ## What happens A mother and daughter, both sleepwalking, meet in their garden at night and express deep-seated resentments toward each other. When a cock crows, they awaken and speak to each other with gentle affection, revealing the contrast between their unconscious truths and conscious facades. ## Themes in this chapter ### Masks and Authenticity The mother and daughter wear masks of gentleness while awake, but their sleepwalking reveals their authentic hostility. ### Illusion and Reality The sleepwalking state blurs the line between illusion and reality, as the characters' true feelings emerge only when they are not conscious. ## Character check-ins ### The Madman The narrator who recounts the story of the sleepwalking mother and daughter. ## Key lines > At last, at last, my enemy! You by whom my youth was destroyed—who have built up your life upon the ruins of mine! Would I could kill you! The mother, in her sleep, accuses her daughter of ruining her youth and building her own life on the mother's destruction, expressing a murderous wish. _This reveals the mother's deep-seated resentment and sense of sacrifice._ > O hateful woman, selfish and old! Who stand between my freer self and me! Who would have my life an echo of your own faded life! Would you were dead! The daughter, in her sleep, calls her mother hateful and selfish, accusing her of blocking her freedom and wanting her life to mirror the mother's faded one, wishing her dead. _This shows the daughter's perception of her mother as an obstacle to her own identity._ > The mother said gently, “Is that you, darling?” And the daughter answered gently, “Yes, dear.” After waking, the mother and daughter speak to each other with tenderness and affection, as if the previous hostility never occurred. _This contrast highlights the theme of masks and the hidden truth beneath social niceties._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_madman_se/chapters/the-sleepwalkers - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_madman_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_madman_se/chapters