59 pages • 1 hour read
Robert M. PirsigZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1974A 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 30-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part IV
Chapter 30 Summary
The philosophy professor was out sick for many consecutive weeks, and so Phaedrus began focusing on his work at Navy Pier. His health and sanity are waning, but he is just as focused as ever on his Quality thesis. Attending class one day, he realizes that the class was being taught by none other than the Chairman. Phaedrus realized from the looks he received from other students that this class was meant to destroy his arguments in a public space and ridicule him. The Chairman established a tense environment in the class, then asked the students to tell him about the topic they were discussing, Plato’s Phaedrus. As the Chairman eventually takes over explaining, citing that no one—not even Phaedrus—had read the work thoroughly to comprehend it—Phaedrus noticed that he neglected a part and raised his hand, challenging the Chairman. Quoting text to back up his argument, the Chairman is forced to back down and his reputation with the class was shattered. The Chairman again tried to trap Phaedrus with a question, but was unsuccessful.
Though Phaedrus tried deferring to the Chairman during the next class, the Chairman snapped at him, and Phaedrus stopped attending the university altogether. With only his work at Navy Pier to focus on now, he realized that he was doing exactly what he did not want to in his classes. He was lecturing to his students like a madman, and many seemed afraid of him, but were so interested in what he was saying. The result, however, was that they were not necessarily learning anything on their own, like he had been in the classes at the University of Chicago. This greatly disheartened him, and he eventually abandoned his teaching altogether.
With his grip on reality almost broken completely, Phaedrus stopped sleeping and lost all track of time. He wandered the city and, when he returned home, shut himself up in his room. He told his wife to take the kids and leave him. When she found him with cigarette burns and soaked in his own urine, she called for help. It was at this point that Phaedrus felt that Quality had finally made itself known to him.
Back in the present, the narrator and Chris pull of the road and track down a motel. In the motel room, Chris asks when they are going to return home, but the narrator says he does not know. Chris complains about the journey, sobbing and rocking back and forth on the floor. The narrator is shocked, as the action reminds him of the mental hospital he was in.
Chapter 31 Summary
Chris is still angry the next morning and is nonresponsive when the two ride along the coast. When they stop to put on clothing and look off a cliff, Chris gets too close, ignoring the narrator’s warnings. The narrator snatches him away from the cliff face, and Chris complains again about the journey. The narrator realizes that Chris actually wants to hate him, something he has alluded early on in the novel as well. Chris wants to hate him because he is not Phaedrus anymore. As Chris mentioned previously, he is “no fun,” just silent and thinking all the time. In a heartbreaking admission, the narrator confesses that he could try to be that person Chris wants, but Chris would know he was faking it. His inability to reconnect and reconcile with Phaedrus is resulting in his inability to be the father that Chris needs.
As it turns out, Chris’ way of always asking questions—his inquisitiveness—is reminiscent of Phaedrus. When the two stop at a restaurant, Chris wants to continue, saying his stomach hurts and he has no appetite. The narrator tells him that he wants to put Chris on the bus and send him back home, but Chris says that there is no one he wants to stay with. The narrator tells Chris that he is making excuses. The conversation is overheard by others in the restaurant, and they take offense to the narrator’s tone. Chris begins crying again, and seeing the commotion it is causing, the narrator pays the bill and leaves the restaurant.
The two drive on a little further and then pull over. The narrator again explains that he is going to send Chris home and that he is doing this for Chris’s own good as he was insane once and feels he is becoming that person again. He says they may never see each other again. He also tells Chris that he may be predisposed to insanity as well, that many people think so already, and that his actions sometimes point to this. Chris begins to wail uncontrollably and falls to the ground. As the narrator tries to reassure Chris, he begins talking to him in a different voice.
Recognizing the voice, Chris takes note and asks the narrator why he never opened the glass door. The narrator has never talked to Chris about the glass door and so realizes that he may be in another dream. He tells Chris that he was instructed not to open the door; he had to obey. Chris confesses that his fear is because he thought his father did not want to open the door and be with his family. The narrator seems to disappear and the person speaking says that they are Phaedrus and that he will be destroyed for speaking the truth. Chris finally asks the narrator if he was really crazy, and he says no. Chris is happy to hear this, and says, “I knew it.” As the two ride off towards San Francisco, their moods have changed.
Chapter 32 Summary
Traveling again along the coast, the narrator muses on how his split personality has harmed Chris. Chris’s phrase, “I knew it,” comes back to the narrator time and again on the drive, and he realizes that instead of him carrying Chris this entire time, Chris has been carrying him.
After the two rest, they take off their helmets and continue on the drive. The narrator notes that they no longer have to yell to communicate. Chris stands up on the foot pegs and notes that he can now see the view, whereas before he could only see his father’s back. He asks the narrator if he can have his own motorcycle when he gets older, and the narrator says he can as long as he takes care of it and, more importantly, has the right attitude. Chris asks if he will have the right attitude and the narrator thinks he definitely will.
The two ride towards San Francisco and the narrator reflects that they are close, not just in relation to the city, but to their understanding of one another. The narrator says, “We’ve won it. It’s going to get better now. You can sort of tell these things (531).”
Chapters 30-32 Analysis
The last three chapters dramatically highlight the split between the narrator and Phaedrus and the long-term consequences this split has had on the narrator and Chris. Phaedrus’ breakdown during the family’s time in Chicago has followed the family up until this point. Since then, the narrator assumed he had been carrying Chris, only to find that Chris has been carrying him, that his own son had been carrying the burden and wanting to connect to and understand him. Though by the end of the novel the narrator still has not reconciled with Phaedrus, he can admit that things are better than they were, and that his and Chris’ relationship is moving towards a more Quality aspect of awareness.
These chapters are also symbolic in that they show how difficult it is to come to an understanding of the problem. Everything that the narrator has been discussing up until this point comes to a head in the last few scenes with him and Chris. Now that they have addressed the real topic at hand, the insanity and the fear, they can seek a Quality approach in their understanding. Value rigidity, for both of them, has been addressed, and they are able to have this moment of clarity, exemplified in them talking clearly to one another when removing their helmets. The act of Chris standing up on the motorcycle and finally seeing the view as opposed to his father’s back is another wonderful moment of insight.
