I think part of what this chapter is meant to do is to let Doyle and the reader know that he really is past that trauma, for the most part. Forgetting where his house was (though he remembers how to get there from Gabe's so the memory problem seems temporary) is one way he's really let go of the place he was beaten; seeing his father's grave and deciding not to see his mother ... I guess I wanted him to see his mother because the way she now remembers Ray's "sin" and injury could have also reflected back on how Ray has processed the trauma. My experience suggests that she may still see it as his own fault, or their estrangement as his fault, and I guess I didn't need to read that. I read through a bunch of linked blog posts on estranged parents support groups and how they can reinforce blaming the child. If that's the way it would go, maybe I would have made Angelfish's choice, but it feels like the boarded up window and the refusal to visit are foreshadowing, but the trend of the plot is away from Derby.

The mystic feeling that Bodie must be alive is too romantic for me. A feeling like that in a predominantly realistically grim story makes me more anxious rather than less. Actually, that may be how I am supposed to feel.