Everything Is Illuminated Chapter 34 Summary

How It All Goes Down

22 January 1998

  • This letter is dated six days prior to the last one, and it's written by Grandfather, not Alex.
  • It says, "If you are reading this […] it means that I am dead, and that Sasha is alive" (34.2). (Sasha is a nickname for Alex.)
  • It turns out that Alex gave all his savings to his Father and gave him the Ukrainian version of "hit the road, Jack. And don't you come back."
  • Grandfather tells Alex to quit working at Heritage Touring and "make [his] own life" (34.16).
  • He then goes on to say, "I would give everything for them to live without violence. Peace. That is all that I would ever want for them" (34.22).
  • He says that the strings must be cut and that he is "complete with happiness" (34.23)
  • The book ends in the middle of a sentence:
  • "I will walk without noise, and I will open the door in darkness, and I will" (34.23)
  • The end.