The Lost Steps

The narrator learns that his pregnant wife Ruth instigated a large-scale rescue operation, casting him as a modern-day explorer in distress. This public spectacle, fueled by the media, places him at the center.

He learns that Ruth was distraught at his disappearance and decided abruptly to leave the theatre and join him in the wilderness. Her intense reaction causes him guilt and raises the stakes of his dilemma. Accepting a financial offer from the newspaper for an exclusive, albeit fabricated, account of his “ordeal,” the narrator plans to use this narrative to negotiate his return to solitude and to assuage his guilt about divorcing Ruth. When the narrator arrives, Ruth portrays herself with theatrical dignity, but her act is disrupted by a newspaper article featuring Mouche, which hints that she is the narrator’s lover.

Ruth reacts to the betrayal with fury, forcing the narrator to confess his infidelities and his wish for a divorce. He blames the end of their marriage on her career as well as his encounter and connection with Rosario in the jungle. To twist the knife, he describes Rosario in mystical terms, bewildering Ruth further.