The Drowned World

As Kerans returns to the military base, he glances back at Beatrice on the balcony. He knows that he may stay behind with her, but he resolves to tell Riggs that he plans to leave. He notes the weapons and explosives stored in the armory, though he has never fired his service issue pistol, and takes a compass for himself. Kerans goes to the sick bay, where three men are suffering from “heat ulcers” (46). Kerans finds Lieutenant Hardman, the helicopter pilot and amateur naturalist, in a private ward. Hardman is suffering from malaria and insomnia. He cannot fly and is in retreat from public life on the base. Kerans sympathizes with Hardman, recognizing “the same symptoms he had seen in himself, an accelerated entry into his own ‘zone of transit’” (47). Kerans has asked Bodkin to keep a close eye on Hardman. Bodkin, however, is advocating a more extreme treatment method. He heats Hardman’s room until it is almost unbearable. Inside, Hardman stops listening to music. He complains that music is a “waste of time” (48). Bodkin tells Kerans that this is part of his experiment. He tells Hardman to use a new form of alarm clock to ward off nightmares by waking him every 10 minutes.