The Assistant Chapter 7, Section 2 Summary

  • Frank wakes up from a nightmare in his room and remembers he's been fired.
  • Tessie, who's just discovered she's pregnant, can only wonder at his shout.
  • Lying in bed, Frank believes he smells of garbage for what he's done.
  • His thoughts are killing him.
  • Overwhelmed with guilt, he wants Helen to forgive him.
  • But he doesn't expect her to take him back.
  • He plans to kill himself.
  • An insight terrifies him: that he's really a man of stern morality, even though he acts as though he isn't.