In Chap­ter 36 of Moth­er Night, the pro­tag­o­nist has an intense con­fronta­tion with Wirta­nen, filled with anger and frus­tra­tion over how his work has been altered for com­mer­cial pur­pos­es. He is deeply dis­heart­ened by the way his artis­tic integri­ty has been under­mined, com­par­ing it to how a pig is used entire­ly, except for its squeals. This metaphor pro­found­ly strikes him, sym­bol­iz­ing how his work, once an expres­sion of his true self, has been reduced to mere util­i­ty, leav­ing him feel­ing exposed and stripped of his iden­ti­ty. The illus­tra­tions, meant to com­ple­ment his work, have instead dis­tort­ed and twist­ed his orig­i­nal sen­ti­ment, mak­ing what was once deeply per­son­al seem grotesque and exploit­ed. His mem­o­ries of Hel­ga, once cher­ished and pure, have now become taint­ed, used as tools for pro­pa­gan­da and manip­u­la­tion. His sense of self-worth as an artist is shat­tered, and he is left grap­pling with the loss of mean­ing and authen­tic­i­ty in his cre­ations.

In a vul­ner­a­ble moment, the pro­tag­o­nist shares his feel­ings with Wirta­nen, explain­ing how “Resi killed” the essence of his mem­o­ries, ren­der­ing them emp­ty and mean­ing­less. He feels as if his most trea­sured rec­ol­lec­tions have been stripped of their orig­i­nal beau­ty, leav­ing only the hol­low rem­nants of what once was. This sense of loss is jux­ta­posed against the sto­ry of Bodovskov, anoth­er artist whose fate the pro­tag­o­nist reluc­tant­ly acknowl­edges. Bodovskov, who had repur­posed the protagonist’s work, had at least lived with some sem­blance of the orig­i­nal integri­ty in his art. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, his attempt to cre­ate some­thing new led to his exe­cu­tion, as his work on the Red Army was seen as too orig­i­nal and rebel­lious, direct­ly chal­leng­ing the Party’s ide­ol­o­gy. Wirtanen’s recount­ing of Bodovskov’s down­fall serves as a reminder of the dan­gers of cre­ative expres­sion in an oppres­sive regime and the steep price that must be paid for orig­i­nal­i­ty and inde­pen­dence in the face of author­i­ty.

The con­ver­sa­tion takes a more urgent turn as Wirta­nen informs the pro­tag­o­nist that Jones’ house is on the verge of being raid­ed, urg­ing him to leave imme­di­ate­ly for his safe­ty. Wirta­nen strong­ly advis­es against return­ing to his flat, warn­ing that the sit­u­a­tion there has become increas­ing­ly per­ilous, and the protagonist’s safe­ty is at risk. As the con­ver­sa­tion con­tin­ues, they dis­cuss the grim future await­ing sev­er­al key fig­ures, includ­ing Resi, Kraft, Rev­erend Jones, and oth­ers. Each char­ac­ter’s fate is tied to the actions they have tak­en, with con­se­quences loom­ing for their affil­i­a­tions and past deci­sions. The era’s harsh real­i­ties are brought into sharp focus, and the pro­tag­o­nist real­izes the per­il that lies ahead, not only for him­self but also for those involved in his life and work. The dis­cus­sion empha­sizes the extent to which the oppres­sive regime has per­me­at­ed every aspect of soci­ety, where even the small­est act of rebel­lion or dis­sent is met with severe reper­cus­sions.

As the chap­ter clos­es, the pro­tag­o­nist inquires about the iden­ti­ty of the agent who alert­ed him to the impend­ing raid, hop­ing to under­stand more about the forces at play. How­ev­er, Wirta­nen, main­tain­ing an air of mys­tery, declines to reveal the agent’s iden­ti­ty, cit­ing the protagonist’s past as a spy as the rea­son for his silence. This deci­sion leaves the read­er with a sense of sus­pense and uncer­tain­ty, as the true nature of alliances and betray­als remains shroud­ed in ambi­gu­i­ty. The pro­tag­o­nist is left to pon­der the com­plex­i­ties of loy­al­ty and trust in a world where decep­tion is ram­pant, and the con­se­quences of betray­al are dire. The chap­ter con­cludes with a sense of fore­bod­ing, as the pro­tag­o­nist stands on the edge of an uncer­tain future, unsure of whom he can trust and what the next move will be in the ever-shift­ing polit­i­cal land­scape. This uncer­tain­ty adds to the ten­sion, mak­ing the read­er ques­tion the sta­bil­i­ty of the protagonist’s sit­u­a­tion and the toll that betray­al and espi­onage take on those caught in their webs.