The Heart of the Matter

After the rains, Scobie heads out in a police boat to greet Louise as her liner anchors outside the port. He rehearses welcome greetings and hopes to catch her in a public room, as it would be easier to greet her amidst strangers. To his dismay, he finds Louise alone in a cabin and offers up customary platitudes, telling her he missed her. The couple return home where Louise tells Scobie he needs to start attending Mass and communion. Scobie jokes that “adultery is more fun” and lies to Louise, saying he has to go check on Wilson. In reality, Scobie is off to visit Helen who is irritated with their changed circumstances. Scobie tells Helen that Louise wants him to attend Mass, to which Helen questions Scobie’s Catholic commitments. Scobie responds to her derision by saying that despite Church teachings, “one has the conviction that love—any kind of love—does deserve a bit of mercy” (194). Helen remains scornful, but Scobie reassures her that he will never leave her.

Meanwhile, Wilson visits Louise after Scobie leaves and professes his love to her. He tells her about Scobie and Helen’s affair, to which Louise is indifferent. She tells Wilson to stop “play-acting” (199) and strikes his face when he refers to Scobie as “Ticki,” the affectionate name Louise uses for her husband. Wilson also reveals that Scobie is involved in a shady scheme with Yusef, which Louise finds incredulous. Later, Helen tells Scobie about Wilson’s romantic interests in her and to be careful around Wilson because he is spying on him.

On the way to confession, Scobie wonders whether he will live amid sin and continue committing adultery or whether he will abandon Helen. He also ruminates on how Catholics are “damned by [their] knowledge” (203). Father Rank arrives and Scobie confesses his adultery. Father Rank tells him he cannot offer him absolution because Scobie remains uncontrite. Despite being refused absolution, Scobie attends Mass with Louise but feels wretched. As the Canon of the Mass starts, Scobie feels that his damnation is inevitable and only a miracle can save him. Feeling his saliva and veins dry up, Scobie takes the Host from Father Rank, which resembles the “pale papery taste of an eternal sentence on the tongue” (209).

Scobie visits the bank manager, Robinson, and inquires about his medical encyclopedia. Scobie reads an entry on angina pectoris, a coronary condition. At the Commissioner's office, Scobie learns that Robinson has been given two years to live due to a terminal illness. Scobie reflects on Robinson’s joyousness and feels envious of him. Outside by the car, Scobie asks his servant Ali if Wilson has ever propositioned him. Despite Ali’s denial, Scobie feels paranoid. Scobie jettisons off to Helen’s where the couple quarrel once again. This time, Ali is present, and Scobie’s paranoia intensifies, saying he has “lost the trick of trust” (218) and doesn’t trust Ali despite 15 years of loyal service.

At home, a package arrives containing a diamond, presumably from Yusef. Ali catches an intruder— one of Yusef’s boys—in Scobie’s home. Scobie is alarmed that Ali has such intimate knowledge of his involvement with Yusef, not to mention his extramarital relationship with Helen. At Yusef’s, Scobie confesses his adultery and admits his growing distrust of Ali. He feels tremendous relief at having shifted his burdens onto Yusef. Yusef promises to take care of Ali, to which Scobie offers his reluctant consent. After Yusef sends one of his boys to fetch Ali, Scobie hears the sound of a tortured cry that “swam up like a drowning animal” (230). Alarmed, Scobie rushes outside and finds Ali’s dead body under a pile of petrol drums. Observing Ali’s lifeless, yellowed eyes, Scobie thinks to himself that he can trust him again. A corporal approaches and asks Scobie what happened. Although he can’t weep or feel pain, Scobie responds that he loved him, and considers his complicity in Ali’s murder.