- Black suggests that White can't see the light around him because he himself is the shadow that's blocking it out. Maybe he'd feel less like killing himself if he could just walk away from everything he has in his life and start over completely… White says he can't.
- They talk about why people kill themselves. White claims he doesn't know why other people kill themselves, but his own reasons have to do with losing the ability to pretend the world's okay. It comes down to a loss of make-believe.
- Black says this means that if they could educate suicidal people with White's more elegant reasons they could kill themselves more happily. White thinks this is facetious, and Black says it is.
- Black says the only alternative to loving your brother is despair and death. White says that doesn't mean anything to him, and point out that he sees the world as a forced labor camp, where each prisoner waits for execution.
- White still just wants to die—he says he only thinks about getting rid of pain. Being run over by a train shouldn't hurt since the brain won't be able to process it in time. White says he can't compare his life to Black's.
- Black can't figure out what to say to get the Professor to stay. He feels like he's "diggin a dry hole," at this point.
- White's sorry not to be grateful to Black for his time, but he really wants to get going.
- Black asks White if he would wake up without wanting to kill himself if he could, and White says it depends on what he would have to give up.