Chapter 25 Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Hannah wakes from her nightmare and immediately checks that Tess is unharmed. The group gathers for a painting exercise led by Pax, who instructs them to channel their spirit guides without thinking. Hannah, determined to expose Pax, announces that the chamomile tea they drank before their spirit journeys contained no hallucinogenic properties. Pax admits the deception, framing it as a lesson in the power of illusion over material objects. Tess and Miles accept his explanation, with Tess arguing that Hannah is simply using Pax as a distraction from her own mind. Hannah paints a violent image of Waylon Barlow, the miner from her dream, then stabs through the canvas and throws down the brush. When Miles tries to comfort her, she rebuffs him harshly and walks away alone.
Key Events
- Hannah hugs Tess and asks if she's okay, still shaken by the dream.
- Pax sets up three easels and announces a free-form painting exercise.
- Hannah publicly accuses Pax of lying about the chamomile tea being psychoactive.
- Pax admits the tea was inert, claiming it was an intentional illusion to teach a lesson.
- Tess and Miles accept Pax's rationalization; Tess tells Hannah she spoiled the experience.
- Tess reveals she has an MFA and her artwork depicts entwined human forms.
- Hannah paints a crude, bloody portrait of Waylon Barlow with a pickaxe.
- Hannah stabs the canvas, tearing a hole through the painting.
- Miles approaches Hannah; she tells him she is not there for a hookup and walks away.
Character Development
- Hannah becomes more isolated and confrontational as her trust in Pax and her friends erodes. Her violent outburst shows her growing desperation to expose what she sees as a dangerous manipulation. Her claim that she was the first to fall for Pax’s schtick suggests a personal shift from belief to disillusionment.
- Tess reveals a stubborn adherence to the retreat’s framework, prioritizing the experience over honesty. Her comment that Hannah is projecting her own mental issues indicates a rift between the friends; Tess seems to view Hannah’s accusations as a symptom rather than a legitimate concern.
- Miles tries to offer comfort but is rebuffed. He appears caught between the group’s acceptance of Pax’s deception and his earlier skepticism.
- Pax remains controlled and unflappable, using Hannah’s anger as an opportunity to showcase his “teaching.” He does not directly engage with her challenge but instead redirects the group’s attention.
- Kimi is present but silent, her fear noted by Pax when Hannah starts revealing the truth; she may be complicit in or intimidated by Pax’s methods.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Deception and Illusion: The central conflict revolves around Pax’s lie about the tea. He argues that illusions are necessary to break old falsehoods, a claim that splits the group. The painting exercise itself becomes a metaphor for the tension between spontaneous creation and controlled narrative.
- Groupthink: Tess and Miles quickly accept Pax’s justification, isolating Hannah. The “exorcism” of narrow-mindedness that Pax preaches sounds dangerously like a call for total conformity.
- Art as Confrontation: Hannah’s painting of Waylon Barlow—the figure from her dream—and her act of stabbing the canvas symbolize her aggressive desire to break through the retreat’s fantasy. Tess’s abstract charcoal piece, which she says channels love, contrasts Hannah’s raw violence.
- The Identified Patient: Tess implies that Hannah is the problem because she cannot accept the engineered experience. The theme of scapegoating—making one person the “crazy” one to preserve group harmony—runs through the chapter.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter marks a turning point in Hannah’s relationship with both Pax and her friends. By openly accusing Pax of lying, she forces a confrontation that fractures the group. Tess and Miles’s choice to side with Pax deepens Hannah’s isolation and validates her growing paranoia that the retreat is a manipulative cult. The violent gesture of stabbing the canvas foreshadows a potential physical break. The chapter also reinforces the novel’s central question: what is real when all experiences—spiritual or otherwise—are mediated by someone else’s agenda?
Study Questions
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Why does Tess accept Pax’s lie so readily, and what does her response reveal about her character?
Answer: Tess prioritizes the emotional impact of the experience over factual honesty. She values the lesson Pax intended—that material objects and systems have power only because we give it to them—over the deception itself. This reveals Tess’s idealistic, anti-authoritarian streak and her discomfort with Hannah’s confrontational approach. -
What does Hannah’s painting of Waylon Barlow symbolize, and why does she destroy it?
Answer: The painting represents the merger of Hannah’s nightmare figure with her suspicion that Pax is orchestrating all the “spiritual” encounters. By stabbing the canvas, she physically rejects both the dream and Pax’s control, affirming her belief that the retreat is a harmful illusion. -
How does the painting exercise serve as a microcosm of the power struggle in this chapter?
Answer: Pax sets rules that allow him to interpret the art as he sees fit, reinforcing his authority. Hannah uses her artwork to directly challenge him by depicting a violent image from her nightmare. The act of stabbing the canvas is her ultimate refusal to play within his framework, an act of rebellion that leaves her isolated.