Steppenwolf Paragraphs 342-400 Summary

  • Harry is starting to be convinced about this crazy idea of everyone having thousands of souls instead of just one or two. However, he doesn't really like losing his individuality. Hermine becomes his lifeline as he loses his grip on reality.
  • Harry starts hanging out more with Pablo and decides maybe he's not such a bad guy after all, even though he doesn't really pay much attention when Harry gives him lectures on this or that subject.
  • Even though Pablo isn't a good student, he's a good provider of drugs, so Harry starts taking some special concoctions that Pablo gives him.
  • One day Harry asks Pablo why he doesn't ever offer his opinion on music and music theory when Harry asks him questions. Pablo says that it's because he makes music, he doesn't have to talk about it.
  • Another day, Harry comes home to find lovely Maria lying in his bed waiting for him. It was Hermine's doing (are you starting to get an idea of what she must do for a living?) and Harry enjoys the present.
  • Harry thinks a lot about music and suicide, and gets sad and drinks and dances. Sometimes Maria comes around again, and that cheers him up a good deal.
  • Maria teaches Harry all about love, in a new way that he hadn't explored before. She shows him new places and techniques, and seems to be in love with Pablo, too.
  • This revelation makes Harry wonder whether Maria can like a grey-haired guy like him, and she assures him that she likes him a lot.
  • In the morning Harry has to sneak Maria out so no one will see them, and in the afternoons Hermine comes over for dancing lessons.
  • The three weeks leading up to the costume ball are very happy for Harry. Is that really a surprise, given that he's got several girlfriends and all the dancing he can handle?
  • One night, while they're getting high on opium, Pablo suggests that he, Harry, and Maria have a threesome. Harry isn't into it, which is disappointing to his kinky pals, but he does leave his eyes closed and let Pablo kiss him, pretending he thinks it's Maria.
  • Pablo asks Harry to trade him one night with Maria for some money, which is offensive to Harry. He would rather just lend Pablo the money, who uses it for some medicine for his violinist.
  • Harry discovers that Hermine and Maria are closer friends than he realized, and that they have their own lovemaking sessions. This opens his eyes up to some new possibilities, if you know what we mean… wink.