Vox Chapter 41 Summary & Analysis

Lin reappears, turns the MRI off, and explains that Poe is here—and he snuck in silently. Out in the rest of the lab, Poe asks why the MRI machine was on at all and pokes around the lab. He then tells Jean that Morgan wants to see her and escorts her up to Morgan’s office on the fifth floor, where most of the other offices seem to belong to military men and doctors. Morgan immediately asks Jean where she was this morning, but he won’t let her explain. He launches into a tirade about this being why “the old way didn’t work,” since women have sick kids or periods. Women aren’t dependable, and things were great in the 1950s. He assures her she’ll get used to her subjugation when she’s done being angry—and he informs her that he changed her contract, and she no longer has Fridays off.

Morgan seems to speak for many men who are now in charge of the government when he insists that women are unsuited for work outside the home due to normal body functions, like menstruation, or the fact that they’re parents. (This second fact assumes that mothers, not fathers, are the primary parent in all cases. It also assumes that a man would never need to leave work to take care of a child.) Suggesting that Jean will just get used to her life as an unwilling housewife also suggests that Morgan doesn’t see women as full people, with dreams or desires beyond performing work that, per the Pure Movement, best suits them.

Active Themes

Quotes

Morgan also says they’re moving up the deadline a week, though he refuses to tell Jean why. He seems incredulous that they’ll be running a human trial on Monday after working through the weekend. When Morgan dismisses her, Jean drops her purse so she can peek at the binder he’s trying to hide from her. The well-worn spine reads “PROJECT WERNICKE.”

Active Themes

Vox: Chapter 41 Summary & Analysis