Chap­ter 4 unfolds dur­ing a sum­mer marked by piv­otal events that influ­ence both the protagonist’s life and that of the expa­tri­ates. The chap­ter begins with a moment shared on bikes, where the protagonist’s com­pan­ion reflects on the appeal of fast motor­bikes, spark­ing a deep­er, philo­soph­i­cal con­ver­sa­tion about the nature of speed and the mun­dane real­i­ty they both face. This tran­si­tion from a moment of exhil­a­ra­tion to the ground­ed nature of their every­day exis­tence serves as a reflec­tion on the con­trast between desires and the rou­tines that define their lives. The pro­tag­o­nist then finds them­selves caught up in a trou­bling sit­u­a­tion involv­ing a col­league named Quentin, where a mis­com­mu­ni­ca­tion via email leads to esca­lat­ing ten­sions. Short­ly after, a call from Vice Sec­re­tary Adela adds fur­ther strain, as it becomes clear that their project is under scruti­ny, sig­nal­ing poten­tial com­pli­ca­tions and doubts over their work. These devel­op­ments set the stage for broad­er chal­lenges that the pro­tag­o­nist will have to nav­i­gate, both per­son­al­ly and pro­fes­sion­al­ly.

As the chap­ter pro­gress­es, there is a sig­nif­i­cant shift in the sta­tus of the expa­tri­ates, with trav­el restric­tions being con­di­tion­al­ly lift­ed based on their abil­i­ty to pass a test demon­strat­ing their under­stand­ing of con­tem­po­rary life. This change cre­ates a sense of hope among the expa­tri­ates but also brings into ques­tion their place with­in mod­ern soci­ety. The pro­tag­o­nist is par­tic­u­lar­ly con­cerned about Graham’s resis­tance to moder­ni­ty, fear­ing that his dis­dain for con­tem­po­rary cul­ture might hin­der their chances of accep­tance in the larg­er world. Graham’s sense of alien­ation and refusal to adapt con­trasts sharply with the broad­er desire for assim­i­la­tion that the expa­tri­ates face. This jux­ta­po­si­tion of views high­lights the cen­tral theme of dis­place­ment, as the expa­tri­ates strug­gle to rec­on­cile their past with the present while grap­pling with the real­i­ty of fit­ting into a world that feels for­eign to them. The ten­sion between hold­ing on to one’s iden­ti­ty and adapt­ing to exter­nal expec­ta­tions becomes a focal point for the chap­ter, adding lay­ers to the protagonist’s inter­nal con­flict.

Through­out the chap­ter, Graham’s ongo­ing strug­gle with moder­ni­ty becomes more pro­nounced, with the pro­tag­o­nist observ­ing his reluc­tant engage­ment with the Min­istry and test prepa­ra­tions. Despite his resis­tance, Graham’s growth is evi­dent as he starts to immerse him­self in the process, albeit reluc­tant­ly. This inter­nal bat­tle high­lights the com­plex­i­ties of cul­tur­al assim­i­la­tion and the chal­lenges faced by those who feel dis­con­nect­ed from the present day. Amidst this per­son­al tur­moil, social gath­er­ings orga­nized by Gra­ham pro­vide a nec­es­sary respite for the expa­tri­ates, boost­ing morale and offer­ing a sense of com­mu­ni­ty. These gath­er­ings also reveal the deep cul­tur­al clash­es with­in the group, as each expa­tri­ate brings their own set of expec­ta­tions and bag­gage to the table. The bur­den of these expec­ta­tions adds to the sense of dis­place­ment that defines their expe­ri­ence, and the ten­sion between per­son­al desires and the pres­sures of soci­etal norms con­tin­ues to grow.

One of the most notable scenes in the chap­ter occurs dur­ing a lec­ture soirée where the Min­istry presents a dry, unin­spired lec­ture, in stark con­trast to the vibrant and live­ly pre­sen­ta­tions giv­en by the expa­tri­ates. This jux­ta­po­si­tion of the ster­ile, bureau­crat­ic envi­ron­ment with the dynam­ic, pas­sion­ate ener­gy of the expa­tri­ates reveals the gap between the out­dat­ed insti­tu­tion and the more inno­v­a­tive, free-spir­it­ed indi­vid­u­als. The expa­tri­ates’ pre­sen­ta­tions ignite a sense of cama­raderie, as their shared expe­ri­ences and vibrant per­son­al­i­ties pro­vide a stark con­trast to the Ministry’s lack of inspi­ra­tion. This moment under­scores the ten­sion between the past and present, with the expa­tri­ates sym­bol­iz­ing a more dynam­ic and adapt­able approach to life, while the Min­istry remains mired in its out­dat­ed, sti­fling struc­ture. The con­trast high­lights the broad­er cul­tur­al and gen­er­a­tional divide that runs through the expa­tri­ates’ expe­ri­ences, offer­ing a glimpse into the future they long to cre­ate ver­sus the con­straints imposed upon them by author­i­ty.

The chap­ter con­cludes with a din­ner gath­er­ing that reveals the evolv­ing dynam­ics among the char­ac­ters, par­tic­u­lar­ly Gra­ham, Arthur, and Mar­garet, as their friend­ships con­tin­ue to grow amidst their dif­fer­ing views on soci­ety. As the con­ver­sa­tion shifts from mun­dane top­ics to deep­er dis­cus­sions, the humor and ten­sion in their inter­ac­tions reveal the com­plex­i­ty of their rela­tion­ships. These moments of lev­i­ty are tem­pered by the under­ly­ing weight of their sit­u­a­tion, as they must nav­i­gate the del­i­cate bal­ance between per­son­al desires and the suf­fo­cat­ing gov­ern­ment struc­ture that con­trols their lives. This din­ner encap­su­lates the fragili­ty of their exis­tence, high­light­ing how even moments of con­nec­tion are shaped by the larg­er forces that gov­ern their world. The read­er is left reflect­ing on the fate of these char­ac­ters, pon­der­ing how their per­son­al strug­gles will unfold in the con­text of a soci­ety that demands con­for­mi­ty, leav­ing a lin­ger­ing sense of uncer­tain­ty and antic­i­pa­tion for what is to come.