The Woman in the Dunes

The man recovers from sunstroke after five days in bed in the woman’s shack. His skin is inflamed from sand and sweat. He decides to pretend he is still sick and injured. The woman washes his back, which he finds a bit stimulating, though he is still angry with her for her part in deceiving and trapping him. Realizing that he won’t be able to dig himself out, he comes up with another plan: He will feign a spine injury that will not only prevent him from working but also disturb the woman’s sleep during the day with his cries of pain. She won’t be able to work as efficiently as necessary, and the villagers will have to call a doctor. He realizes that his three-day vacation time is up, so his work will probably notify the authorities. We learn that the man’s name is Niki Jumpei, and he is a 31-year-old teacher. He muses that his teacher colleagues will be jealous of his odd “vacation.” The villagers, he assumes, take measures to ensure secrecy about their capture of able workers, but if he is injured, they will probably make up a story about him falling into a pit and return the man to society.