The narrator, a woman whose husband Arun has fallen silent after his friend Anthony's death, ponders grief, loss, and the nature of suffering. She reflects on past losses, her own relationship with Arun, and their unspoken grief over a stillborn child. Unsure of how to respond to Arun's silence, she questions the meaning of madness and ponders the lines between grief and normalcy. As she prepares for her day, she contemplates inviting her students to observe this collision of "madness and civilization" within her own home.