Annihilation

The narrator finds the psychologist “propped up against a mound of sand, sheltered by the shadow of the wall, in a kind of broken pile, one leg straight out, the other trapped beneath her” (123). It is apparent that she jumped or was pushed from the lighthouse. She is still alive. She is covered in blood, and her eyes are open. The narrator takes the gun from the psychologist and throws it to the side. When the narrator touches the psychologist on the shoulder, the psychologist screams, “Annihilation! Annihilation!” (124). Propping up the psychologist again, the narrator notes, “I heard a kind of creaking groan and realized she had probably broken most of her ribs” (124).

The narrator gives the psychologist water. The psychologist tells the narrator that she looked like a “flame” as she approached the lighthouse. The narrator believes the psychologist is trying to hypnotize her and tells the psychologist that hypnotism won’t work on her any longer. The narrator then asks the psychologist a long series of questions, some of which the psychologist answers, some not.

The psychologist didn’t shoot the narrator as she approached because for some reason, she wasn’t able to pull the trigger.