Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Chapter 18
Zen and the Fine art of Motorcycle Maintenance | Office 3, Chapter xviii | Summary
Summary
The long climb upward the mount wears Chris out. He stumbles, half on purpose, but refuses to stop and remainder. Angrily, he tells the narrator the trip is no fun. To this, the narrator answers, "That may be true, just it's a hell of a thing to say."
As the narrator continues his climb, he thinks most Phaedrus's search into the significant of Quality every bit Chris falls farther backside. Finally, he stumbles, says he has injure his ankle, and begins to cry. This disgusts the narrator. Chris senses his father'due south resentment and feels ashamed of himself. The narrator decides to deport their backpacks up a stretch of the climb one at a time so the boy tin rest while the narrator fetches the packs.
The flashbacks to Phaedrus's analysis of Quality lead to the decision that even though Quality cannot exist defined, information technology definitely exists. The problem and then, co-ordinate to Phaedrus, is "those peculiar habits of thought chosen 'squareness' that sometimes prevent us from seeing [Quality]." The term squareness refers to the manner of an academic, scientific search for truth, rather than an experiential, living and animate search. Quality cannot be defined through science, only it definitely exists. In fact, Quality cuts the earth cleanly into two singled-out halves: "hip and foursquare, classic and romantic, technological and humanistic."
By remembering the intellectual meanderings of Phaedrus, the narrator gradually "works off" his resentment toward Chris. He soon realizes that reaching the top of the mountain shouldn't be his only goal. The real goal is "putting in good minutes, one after the other," despite Chris's tears. "I just don't know what information technology is," thinks the narrator, "It isn't merely ... egotism that's making him this upset." Struggling to maintain the correct mood, he tells Chris that he'll put the heavy gear into his own backpack and allow Chris carry a lighter load. Naturally, this makes the narrator's climb much harder.
Finally, male parent and son stop to campsite for the night. Chris seems cheerful and asks his father what he is "thinking all the time." Instead of talking about Phaedrus, the narrator chooses to say only that he'south thinking about the weather and "things in general." Farther questioning by Chris leads nowhere.
Analysis
Again in this affiliate the narrator alternates between his hike up the mount with Chris and his memories of Phaedrus'due south life just before his breakdown. Now done with the trouble of Quality—he will "hold Quality undefined"—Phaedrus begins to attack the process of analysis itself. Readers might notation at this bespeak that they are given picayune information well-nigh Phaedrus'due south childhood, family unit relationships, or life experiences that may take contributed to Phaedrus's insane coercion to unravel a difficult philosophical conundrum. Because of the volume's autobiographical nature, it is possible Pirsig, at the time of writing, does not fully understand the reasons for his mental breakdown himself.
In this chapter the reader sees the fracturing betwixt father and son. What is unspoken here—but referenced elsewhere—is that Chris remembers Phaedrus. He sees his father now and the way his father had been, and to a kid (perchance to anyone other than the narrator) there is only ane man. The narrator cocky-defines his so and now as if there were two men. At that place were not; the child tin can encounter this but not the begetter.
Much of the trip is spent with Chris having no vox—and it is an best-selling fact that Chris disagreed with the book and his portrayal in it. Chris, the DeWeeses, John and Sylvia, and the very landscape are all utilized equally devices to put forth the ideas that the narrator is contemplating. At that place are moments, nevertheless, when the begetter shines through the philosopher. The narrator notices that his son is unhappy, that he is struggling and dissatisfied. Yet, his solutions are shallow: acquit the packs, offering to quit, reshift the contents of the pack. He does not share his thoughts, fifty-fifty when Chris asks almost them. Every bit the disconnect between male parent and son grows deeper, it seems the narrator either does not know what to do about information technology or chooses not to practice much to resolve their problems.
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