54 pages 1 hour read

Nathaniel Rich

Odds Against Tomorrow

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

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Part 3, Section 1, Chapter 5-Part 3, Section 2

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3, Section 1: “Future Days”

Part 3, Section 1, Chapter 5 Summary

Judy drives Jane and Mitchell back to town and applies burn cream to Mitchell’s face, which is covered in painful blisters. Mitchell and Jane then pay a FEMA driver to take them back to New York. Using Mitchell’s media popularity, they secure a trailer on Randall’s Island, where they wait with other refugees. Mitchell and Jane learn that the government is manufacturing fake rescue footage to raise the country’s morale. Mitchell is underwhelmed by the trailer and thinks of a time he walked through the Zukorminiums with his father. Mitchell had asked Tibor if he was afraid to walk through the slums. A woman threw a bag of garbage at them and cursed at Tibor. Tibor told Mitchell that the slums would someday be his.

In the present, a group of people approaches Mitchell’s trailer and asks if he is “the Prophet.” They tell him they need answers.

Part 3, Section 1, Chapter 6 Summary

Mitchell realizes that the refugees on Randall’s Island are not Manhattanites but rather immigrants and people who could not afford plane tickets or alternate accommodations during the storm. Everyone is being kind to Mitchell—too kind, he feels. Many want to tell their story about the storm and how they survived. Others, like Mitchell, do not want to talk.