Summary Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1 Due to his infirmity and his love of people-watching, the Narrator has fallen into the habit of taking walks at night-where the traffic in the streets is unhurried and less crowded. He finds night to be kinder too because it doesn't destroy illusions as quickly as they appear. The Narrator reflects on how restless the city is, where there are many souls moving about-how unbearable the sounds of traffic are. To him, it is like being condemned to being conscious but dead in a noisy churchyard with no hope of peace. He comments on how people always pause on bridges. Some think how the water flows into a bigger world and connects to an ocean. Others envy the perceived idle life of those on barges. The lower classes often think about how the easiest and best death for a suicide is d
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