Indifference toward the world

Frederic says one of his frequent feelings is indifference to most of the world, and that he has felt fine with it and done nothing about it.

The Wonders ask why indifference exists; he answers that it lets him separate himself, and they agree that he logically separates one part of himself from another and calls it indifference.

What he is missing is the emotion of love or sorrow underneath, and they set him the question of what part of love or sorrow is causing his mind to define him as indifferent so as not to feel that emotion.

They tell him this is the direction his journey is moving toward and ask him to look into whether there is unacknowledged love or sorrow beneath his indifference.