The narrator concludes his tale by noting that his experience has not simply put him in a hole. Rather, it has revealed the hole he has long been living in. Though his invisibility has not changed the circumstances aboveground, he explains, it has allowed him to exempt himself from negotiating them and instead remain a neutral party.

In the subway recently, he reveals, he saw a dapper old man looking lost. To his surprise, he had quickly recognized the man as Mr. Norton. The man had failed to recognize him. He had started to tell him to take any train, as they all led to the Golden Day, but the man had disappeared into a subway car before he had been able to get the words out.