After his father's death, Brigge felt a sense of responsibility. He felt that "things had to be put in order" (111) but he did not know what he needed to do. Lost for something to do, he wandered around the city and then burned all his correspondence and his photographs relating to his father. He realized that his father had suffered a great deal in his later years, just as Brigge had been warned. Since then, Brigge thinks often about his own fear of death. He has seen people die in cities, he remembers when his dog died, and he recalls sitting awake "after the first night-frosts" (113) and contemplating his own mortality. Given his own recent fixation on death, he can understand now why his father carried a description of the death of King Christian IV of Denmark in his wallet.

Brigge's own fascination with death extends to the neighbors and the symptoms of illnesses that they have induced in him. He remembers a neighbor who read poetry and aloud and another who played the violin. Brigge tells a story about the neighbor who recited poetry. Nikolai Kusmitch tried to claim back what he could of his busy life, but found himself overwhelmed by the passing of the seconds, minutes, and hours.