The Eyes and the Impossible: Chapter 29–Last Chapter

by Dave Eggers
Johannes is a dog who runs freely through the park each day and reports to the Bison any sightings that might upset the natural balance.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–18, Chapters 19–28, Chapter 29–Last Chapter
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. squall
    a loud and harsh cry
    And I roared a kind of bark that was also a howl and also a bellow and even a bit of a squall.
  2. degrading
    characterized by dishonor
    The humans had spent the day measuring and weighing and poking the Bison.
    “It was humiliating,” Samuel said.
    “Degrading,” Meredith said.
  3. plausible
    apparently reasonable, valid, or truthful
    “So we are ready to go,” Freya said again.
    I was thrilled to hear this, so we went over the plan, which both Freya and Meredith found reasonable and plausible.
  4. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Samuel was not optimistic about its likelihood of success, but I had anticipated his dour outlook.
  5. privy
    informed about something secret or not generally known
    “But you are the clear choice. You have been essential to our work, and you’ve been privy to our deliberations and judgments. You are younger than we are, of course, but we have every faith in you.”
  6. languid
    lacking spirit or liveliness
    Angus said he’d look in the cathedral of flowers, where he’d known Bertrand to go occasionally, even at dusk, to take in the languid, lovely smell of night on leaves and petals.
  7. gambit
    a strategic maneuver
    Bertrand was needed, of course, and every moment was precious, given how close we were to beginning what I’d been thinking of as the Bison Freedom Gambit.
  8. protuberance
    something that bulges out or projects from its surroundings
    Finally I drew closer and saw the yellow protuberance. A beak.
  9. ignominious
    deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
    Forever we will see you on this field, we will think of your ignominious end.
  10. solemn
    dignified and somber in manner or character
    We could hear the solemn horror in her shallow breaths.
  11. suture
    join with a seam used in surgery
    We installed him in his nest, and we sutured his wound as well as we could.
  12. valor
    courage when facing danger
    Because time was short, I only said that it didn’t matter, that he was my greatest friend, that he was a paragon of valor.
  13. commission
    the state of being in working order and ready for operation
    “What I did was selfish and small. Just when every one of us is needed most, I’m out of commission. That’s not valor.”
    “We will manage,” I said.
    “I’m so useless,” he said.
  14. culvert
    a transverse and enclosed drain under a road or railway
    The raccoons were hiding in a culvert when I came to them to report the human count.
  15. incite
    provoke or stir up
    I left them there, in the culvert, knowing that the next time I heard from them they would be inciting—we hoped—a lunatic bit of chaos in the parking lot.
  16. unprecedented
    novel; having no earlier occurrence
    And I would have smelled anything new and unprecedented like a coyote a thousand miles away.
  17. indispensable
    essential
    We needed the horses. As haughty as they are, they were indispensable to this endeavor.
  18. endeavor
    a purposeful or industrious undertaking
    As haughty as they are, they were indispensable to this endeavor. With the Bison safely away, I ran to the horse stables and told them it was time. And they did their part with gusto.
  19. ailment
    an often persistent bodily disorder or disease
    An ambulance for the person Angus bit. Good, I thought. A good distraction. And the person would be fine, for Angus had no diseases or ailments, not even bad breath—which is such a problem with so many of his kind.
  20. lumber
    move heavily or clumsily
    Now it was time to catch up with Sonja and take her place in leading the Bison to the beach. I followed our agreed-upon route and with my speed I was soon upon their lumbering parade.
  21. gauge
    judge tentatively or form an estimate of
    Her work from here on out was to circle the park, to assess any new people-movements, to gauge how effective our horse-decoys were, to fix any problems that needed fixing, and alert anyone who needed alerting.
  22. waft
    be driven or carried along, as by the air
    With Sonja gone, and the smell of the ocean wafting through the trees, I turned to Freya.
  23. disquiet
    make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed
    “Do you really think we’ll make it? I’m far more nervous than I expected to be.”
    In the dim light I could just barely make out her eyes, and they did seem disquieted.
  24. hyperventilate
    breathe excessively hard and fast
    Behind her, Meredith’s breathing was quick, tense, on the verge of hyperventilating.
  25. pheromone
    a chemical that influences physiology or behavior in animals
    I could not see them well, but there was something new coming from them, some shaky pheromone, that told me they were tense at best and at worst, terrified.
  26. falter
    be or become weak, unsteady, or uncertain
    And for a moment, Helene faltered, too. I saw something in her eyes, something uncertain.
  27. hamper
    prevent the progress or free movement of
    What if the escape of the Bison was hampered by someone making endless speeches about the escape of the Bison?
  28. in vain
    without a successful result or effect
    This was everything, really. The heart of the plan. The part that had to work, lest all else be in vain.
  29. manic
    affected with or marked by frenzy uncontrolled by reason
    The hope was to create a mass of manic activity such that if the goatherd looked back at all, he would only see a thrashing forest of goats, moving steadily toward the ship.
  30. promontory
    a natural elevation
    The mass of goat and Bison only had to get over the dunes, then onto the flat stretch of beach—a distance I could travel in seconds—and then up the promontory and finally down to the ship.
  31. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
    “And that boulder! It’s high and so rocky.”
    This trepidation in her voice!
  32. plume
    anything that resembles a feather in shape or lightness
    Then there were plumes of water. Somehow the humans on the ship could direct plumes of water upward, like the fountain near the cathedral of flowers, and I saw these white sprays of water go up, I watched as my bird friends simply rose up to miss them.
  33. toil
    productive work, especially physical work done for wages
    “It’s impossible,” she said.
    These words! I couldn’t speak. They were such madness, these words. A betrayal! After all this toil, all this planning!
  34. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    Yolanda looked to the Bison, incredulous, shattered.
  35. cloister
    seclude from the world
    “We have lived cloistered lives. Limited lives. But you have freed our eyes and our minds. What you did today mattered. It did. It mattered a great deal. You gave us the sea. You gave us this unbounded sight. And we will not forget it.”
  36. blubber
    cry or whine with snuffling
    Now Angus was blubbering. He could barely form words.
  37. bound
    a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards
    I flew across the beach and instantly I was upon the rock and scaled it in three bounds and at its peak I joined Helene and Yolanda and Sonja.
  38. gyre
    a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles
    This was what the end-end was like—a theatrical flying in ever-rising gyres until finally the gull lets go, they cease their fighting to stay aloft, and they fall.
  39. contour
    any spatial attributes, especially as defined by outline
    I could tell its contours and shape were becoming clear to him.
  40. impish
    naughtily or annoyingly playful
    An impish smile overtook him.
Created on Mon Apr 01 10:32:07 EDT 2024 (updated Mon Apr 01 17:59:28 EDT 2024)

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