Clamence and his cher ami visit Marken, an island off the coast of Amsterdam. The two contemplate the ocean as Clamence talks. Clamence’s fatigue worsens, and he becomes less lucid. He admits he has no friends but calls all of humanity his “accomplices.” Clamence thought of attempting suicide to spite the people he knew in Paris but could not bring himself to do it because he wouldn’t be present to see their reactions.

Clamence declares that the purpose of life is to avoid judgment while judging others. The “bleeding” he suffered from the traffic incident and the drowning woman made him paranoid. He believed that his colleagues would “devour” him, and he began to feel vulnerable and no longer above judgment. He believed people were secretly laughing at him or judging his actions. Clamence blames this on his success and reasons that people hated him because he was a better person than them. The drowning woman woke him up and made him aware of the judgment and mockery heaped on him. Clamence believes that the desire to be innocent is the core of human nature and that humans can only believe themselves innocent by declaring others guilty. Clamence calls Earth the vestibule of hell, or Limbo, where the angels who sided with neither God nor Satan reside; people are too boring and weak to be good or evil.