Chapter 36: Miri — 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

The chapter opens on a cold night, with Miri describing the moon as a curved claw. Leah's condition has deteriorated sharply: she began losing motion in one leg on Tuesday, and now the other leg is failing as well. Her skin has become intermittently transparent, shifting between normal flesh, an abalone-like sheen, and a water-like state. Miri observes these transformations cycling through her wife's body, never settling on one form for long.

Miri knows Leah needs more salt, but her supply is running low, and she refuses to leave Leah alone to get more. When she touches Leah's face where her eye once was, she feels a soft, semiporous membrane rather than solid tissue. She tries to take Leah's hand but is struck by the impression that squeezing it would cause it to dissolve into the water.

After midnight, Leah's breathing becomes labored enough that Miri is seized by a sudden urgency to change the bathwater. Leah has been submerged for days, and a scum of dust has collected on the surface, with salt crusting across her body. Miri attempts to pull Leah from the water, but when she does, Leah's face appears wrong—her features seem uncertain, as if they were only delicately placed and might leak sideways like melting ice. Leah gasps and protests at the air, and Miri, half expecting her wife to sluice through her fingers, drops her back into the tub with a sharp splash that soaks her feet. Leah sinks back down, her long-drenched bandage slipping sideways, and Miri realizes she cannot keep her wife in the bath any longer.

Miri calls Juna, who answers immediately. After Miri explains the situation, Juna says she has a car and tells Miri not to apologize, adding that she barely sleeps anymore anyway. After hanging up, Miri takes every towel in the house, wets them one by one in the bathroom sink, pours the rest of the table salt over each, and lets the salt soak into the fabric.

Key Events

Leah loses motion in one leg, then the other begins to fail
Leah's skin cycles between normal, abalone-like, and water-like states
Miri feels a semiporous membrane where Leah's eye once was
Leah's breathing deteriorates after midnight, prompting Miri to change the bathwater
Miri pulls Leah from the water; Leah's features appear unstable and she gasps at the air
Miri drops Leah back into the tub, realizing she can't keep her there
Miri calls Juna, who agrees to come with her car
Miri prepares salt-soaked towels for the journey

Character Development

Miri: This chapter shows Miri at her most desperate. Her caregiving has reached its physical and emotional limits—she's running low on salt, she can't leave Leah alone, and the act of lifting her wife from the water reveals how far Leah has transformed. The moment Miri drops Leah back into the tub is a turning point: she recognizes that her instinct to keep Leah submerged is no longer sustainable, and that she needs outside help. Her decision to call Juna represents a significant shift from the isolated, self-contained caregiving she's attempted so far. The final image of Miri preparing salt-soaked towels shows her adapting her care strategy to a new context—she's preparing to move Leah, not just keep her in place.

Leah: Though Leah is largely passive in this chapter, her physical state speaks volumes. The loss of motion in her legs, the semiporous membrane where her eye was, and the instability of her features all suggest she is becoming something other than human. Her gasping protest at the air when pulled from the water indicates that water has become her element—air itself is now hostile to her.

Juna: Though she appears only through a phone call, Juna's response is notable. She answers immediately, offers her car without hesitation, and dismisses Miri's apology with the observation that she barely sleeps anymore. This suggests Juna has her own sleepless vigilance, perhaps connected to her own losses or worries.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Physical deterioration and transformation: Leah's body is in constant flux—skin shifting between states, legs losing function, features becoming unstable. The description of her face as potentially leaking sideways like melting ice emphasizes the dissolution of her human form.

Salt as necessity: Salt has been a recurring element throughout the novel, and here it becomes explicitly scarce. Miri's dwindling supply and her decision to pour the rest of the table salt over towels shows salt as both a literal necessity and a symbol of what Miri can still offer Leah.

Liminality: Leah exists between states—between skin and water, between human and something else. The intermittent transparency of her skin means Miri can never be sure what she's looking at.

Limits of caregiving: Miri's realization that she cannot keep Leah in the bath marks the boundary of what one person can do alone. The chapter is about the moment caregiving becomes impossible without help.

Fragility of the body: The semiporous membrane, the fear that Leah might melt through Miri's fingers, the features that seem only delicately placed—all emphasize how fragile and provisional the human body has become for Leah.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a critical turning point in Miri's arc. Up to this point, she has been managing Leah's deterioration in isolation, but here she reaches the limit of what she can do alone. The failed attempt to lift Leah from the bath is both literal and symbolic: Miri cannot hold Leah up anymore, and she must accept help. The call to Juna changes the dynamic of the novel, bringing another character into the domestic crisis. The chapter also deepens the horror of Leah's transformation—her features are no longer stable, and even Miri, who knows her best, is unprepared for what she sees when Leah is lifted from the water. The final image of the salt-soaked towels suggests Miri is preparing for a journey, setting up the events of the next chapter.

Study Questions

1. Why does Miri drop Leah back into the water, and what does this moment reveal about her state of mind?

Miri drops Leah because she is unprepared for the sight of her wife's face without the distortion of water. Leah's features appear uncertain, as if they might leak sideways, and Miri half expects her to dissolve through her fingers. This moment reveals that Miri's caregiving has been built on a certain denial—she has been caring for Leah in the water without fully confronting what Leah has become. The drop is both a physical failure and an emotional recognition that she can no longer pretend everything is manageable.

2. What does the salt shortage represent in this chapter?

Salt has been Leah's lifeline throughout the novel, and Miri's dwindling supply represents the limits of her ability to sustain Leah. The salt shortage is practical—Miri cannot leave Leah to buy more—but it also symbolizes the exhaustion of Miri's resources, both material and emotional. Her decision to pour the rest of the salt over towels shows her willingness to use everything she has, even as she knows it may not be enough.

3. How does Juna's response to Miri's call change the trajectory of the story?

Juna's immediate willingness to help—offering her car, dismissing Miri's apology, noting that she barely sleeps anyway—introduces an external support system that has been absent from Miri's isolated caregiving. This call breaks the pattern of Miri handling everything alone and sets up the possibility of moving Leah, which the salt-soaked towels suggest is imminent. It also hints at Juna's own sleeplessness, suggesting that others in the novel are also struggling with their own burdens.