During the summer, Stephen and his family go to a town outside Dublin named Blackrock. Stephen spends time with Uncle Charles, disliking Charles’s “villainous awful tobacco” (67) habit but enjoying the older man’s company. They walk through the market together each morning and Stephen eats fruit from the stalls. Mike Flynn, a friend of Stephen’s father, tries to convince Stephen to take up running. Stephen is reluctant and cannot envision success, particularly due to Mike Flynn’s poor health. After a training session, he attends church with Uncle Charles. Stephen notes his uncle’s religious devotion; he respects Charles’s belief, but he does not share his uncle’s “piety” (69).

Stephen listens to his father and his uncle talk about Irish politics and their childhood. Many of their comments go over Stephen’s head. He reads The Count of Monte Cristo in the evenings and loves the adventure and romance of the novel, picturing himself as one of the characters. He recreates the setting out of paper and tinsel, and daydreams about the character Mercedes. The novel offers him an escape from the growing worry about his family’s fortunes. His father is mismanaging the family finances, but Stephen is only aware of the problem “in a vague way” (72).