51 pages • 1 hour read
Joan DidionPlay It As It Lays
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1970A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 31-40Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 31 Summary
After Maria begins work on her new television project, she starts to experience extreme bleeding. She calls Carter, who urges her to go to a hospital. Maria refuses, not wanting to jeopardize the project. Carter does not seem to understand this, and says, “What do you mean, working. What in the fuck does working mean” (92).
Maria takes painkillers and uppers to stay awake. When Maria finds a large piece of tissue in the blood, she takes it to the doctor, who tells her it is part of the placenta.
Chapter 32 Summary
Larry tries to convince Maria to come and use his sauna. When Maria refuses, he says, “Hear you’re ready for a nuthouse, you want to know” (95).
Chapter 33 Summary
Maria begins to have nightmares in which “she was in touch with a member of a shadowy Syndicate” (96). They ask about the plumbing and send workmen to her house to dismantle it. When they leave, Maria knows the pipes are clogged with “hacked pieces of human flesh” (96).
Chapter 34 Summary
Maria moves out of her house in Beverly Hills and into a furnished apartment. In November, while Maria is still having nightmares, the pipes actually get clogged in the apartment and she has to move out until they are fixed. Over Christmas, Maria has Kate for three days, which is the most time they have spent together in a while. Maria takes Kate to the Goodwins’ house on Christmas Eve, but the evening is ruined after Kate smashes a doll against a mirror.
In January, Maria isolates herself in her home, terrified of news stories about children in peril. She notes that in the stories, mothers are always reported to be under sedation, which is how she feels.
Chapter 35 Summary
A woman Maria meets in the supermarket talks about being mentally ill. The woman talks about committing suicide. When Maria tries to console her, the woman lashes out at her.
Chapter 36 Summary
Carter reprimands Maria over the phone for leaving their Beverly Hills house empty and living in a small apartment. Maria does not try to explain her reasons. Instead, she stays in the apartment and watches the news. Maria is heartened by seeing herself on television, which indicates that she did complete the project.
Just when she is feeling better, she sees water draining in the shower and gets sick, haunted by the image of pipes. Afterward, she returns to the house, knowing that cannot escape her fears.
Chapter 37 Summary
In February, Maria divorces Carter on charges of “mental cruelty.” Helene testifies that Carter “repeatedly struck and in other ways humiliated the plaintiff” (107). After the proceedings, Helene resumes her conversation with Carter as if nothing has happened.
Chapter 38 Summary
Maria tells Carter that she will be working soon, but Carter is more interested in whom she has been seeing.
Chapter 39 Summary
Maria recalls the first time she met BZ. Carter took Maria to meet BZ, who was going to screen Carter’s film Angel Beach. When Maria and Carter arrived in the screening room, BZ was watching pornography. BZ critiqued the film but seemed more intrigued by Maria, who remained silent throughout the encounter.
Chapter 40 Summary
BZ tries to convince Maria to go to a party in Mexico. He says Larry will be there, implying that it will be another opportunity for Maria to sleep with him and thus get work. Maria says she does not want to go, but BZ replies, “‘Yes you do’” (113).
Chapter 31-40 Analysis
The first 30 chapters took place during the month of October, when Maria discovers her pregnancy and has the abortion. Chapters 31-40, which are only 20 pages total, cover four months. This shift indicates that time passes in blur for Maria, who is still struggling with physical and emotional trauma from the abortion. By changing the novel’s pace and extending the timespan, Didion speeds up the narrative.
Maria’s divorce is a key plot event that signals her growing independence. She has a successful TV project, and she hopes that divorcing Carter will finally give her full access to Kate. One of Didion’s primary techniques for creating narrative tension, however, is to leave out key details and events. These omissions contribute to Maria’s characterization as someone who avoids or suppresses emotional difficulty. After the divorce, for example, the narrator does not mention who will get custody of Kate. In the months after the divorce, Maria does not reflect on this. By avoiding the subject of Kate, Maria signifies that she will not take custody and will not be able to see Kate, but she communicates no emotional distress about the situation.
Chapter 32 foreshadows Maria’s institutionalization and also reveals that people have noticed her deteriorating condition. Ironically, no one has reached out to ask if she is okay; her state has only become a source of gossip. Her interaction with the woman in the supermarket continues the theme of women and mental illness and further foreshadows Maria’s eventual breakdown. The woman lashes out when Maria shows empathy; it's yet another failure for Maria to emotionally connect.
The dream of pipes in Chapter 33 is a clear metaphor for Maria’s abortion, with the Syndicate symbolizing the secretive process and multiple contacts. The house, pipes, and plumbing symbolize her body, which the doctors have handled with workmanlike detachment. Instead of leaving her in a better, healthier state, they have left her feeling violated. The hacked flesh and bubbling gray water in the pipes symbolize the guilt and pain that will soon overwhelm her.
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By Joan Didion
