Mother Night

Campbell is arrested, but he is soon released after being held in an unoccupied office in the Empire State Building. On the street, he finds himself unable to move. He realizes he cannot continue because his one motivating emotion, curiosity, is no longer there. Even this has been drummed out of him by life. He stands, motionless, until a police officer tells him to move along.

Campbell returns to his apartment and surveys the wreckage of the mailboxes. A policeman guarding the building approaches and, identifying Campbell, tells him he is allowed to return home. Campbell and the policeman discuss the worrying state of the world. The policeman, citing recent discoveries, suggests all the problems in the world are caused by chemical imbalances. He predicts that universal peace could be attained if the proper chemical imbalances could be addressed in the general population.

Campbell returns to his apartment, which has been destroyed by angry Americans. He compares the destruction to the two times he and Helga were bombed during the war. The first bombing destroyed their home. A second bombing sent them to a shelter where, after an extended bombardment, a woman began to shout at the ceiling, growing increasingly frantic for the bombs to stop.