- Later that day, Tomas is washing a display window when a man approaches. It's the hospital colleague named S., – the one who smiled at Tomas because he himself had been pressured politically but did not fold.
- Tomas gets a sense of self-satisfaction, because now S. knows that Tomas did not sign the retraction.
- The conversation is stilted; both men are uncomfortable. They speak only briefly before S. leaves.
- In general, Tomas's role as a window washer has become more normal.
- His old patients no longer send for him by name and give him champagne while he's supposed to be working
- "The situation of the déclassé intellectual was no longer exceptional; it had turned into something permanent and unpleasant to confront" (5.20.16).