VIII: Our Infinite Days — Chapter 1

Summary

• The chapter begins by introducing college students Sam and Marx, roommates who are practicing a scene from Macbeth for Marx's theater production, where Marx plays Banquo and gets murdered.
• Sam feels uncomfortable pretending to murder Marx due to the fact that they have only been living together for a few weeks. He fears getting too embroiled in Marx's life, primarily because he does not want Marx to discover his physical disability affecting his foot.
• The pair talk about the play, Marx's role as Banquo and role play the scene several times, with Sam getting more comfortable as time goes on. Marx addresses Sam's acting ability and suggests he audition for a part in the future, but Sam declines, citing stage-fright due to his physical handicap.
• Sam reflects on the start of their friendship, counting exactly 4,873 days. This seemingly short number for their friendship relative to Marx’s impact in Sam's life unnerves him, causing him to perform the calculation again to confirm.
• Sam has a flashback about the grief following his mother's death and a conversation in a car ride he had with his grandmother about how she coped. He discovered his grandmother would "speak" to her daughter in her mind to help process her grief. Sam was worried about starting to learn to drive himself because of a car accident he had survived.