Chapter 15: The Master Butcher's Singing Club

As we near the end of the book, World War II is ending as well. They are permitted to return to Germany, and Erich is set free from the prison camp. Delphine and Fidelis plan a large trip to Germany as a sort of delayed honeymoon, but "Fidelis had suffered mysterious pains on the way across, and an X ray told them of an enlarged liver and a threatened heart" (Erdrich 374). With this bittersweet news, and with the tedious isolation that she was experiencing, it was no wonder that Delphine felt helpless and bewildered. She hears knocking in her dreams and knows that it is Eva coming to ask for Fidelis; she understands that he is dying and she must let go of him soon. The same knocking had occurred when Eva was dying all those years ago. I personally think that it is Delphine's own fears manifesting themselves, and the fact that she will be alone once again when she finally returns home from a strange land is almost too much to bear for her. But, we do not really need to hear any more about Delphine, because we know that no matter what she will be alright. She has experienced so much for someone so young: heartache and intense joy and pain, the loss of important people, and the return of other important people, that we have plenty of confidence in her.