Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

As the hike continues, Chris becomes visibly discouraged. The narrator recognizes that, even with the YMCA training Chris received before the trip and hike, he is really afraid that he will not be able to climb the mountain. To distract Chris, the narrator tells Chris about a time when he and his wife were camping in the same woods and came in direct contact with a bull moose, which is arguably more dangerous than a grizzly.

The narrator then recalls the fallout from Phaedrus’ assignment with his students. He had asked them to define Quality and none of them could produce an answer. In fact, it was Phaedrus’ job to tell them what the definition was, they argued. Phaedrus told them that he honestly did not know what the definition was, but that he was hoping they might help him to find it. Though baffled and angered at the style of teaching, the students realized that he was being honest, and though the approach was unorthodox, they begin thinking about Quality. He continued to talk about what it might be but still never defined Quality. The students, however, began engaging more and many admitted that they had become more interested in English, even spending most of their study time on the subject.

Chris is struggling with the climb, and the narrator reasons that his problems are due to ego-fulfilment. The YMCA training was based on giving students rewards at the end, telling them that they were starting from the bottom and encouraging them to be better based on pride. This approach leaves the individual always needing to prove his/her worth more and more. The narrator likens this ego attempt to a time when Phaedrus attempted to climb Mount Kailas as part of a pilgrimage in India. Though he was physically fit, the narrator surmises that Phaedrus failed and had to be left behind because he approached the mountain from ego-fulfillment. In other words, he did not appreciate the mountain’s holiness and therefore failed when approaching the mountain from a physical/intellectual standpoint.

Continuing with Phaedrus’s search for Quality, the narrator next examines his research into aesthetics, but says that Phaedrus did not want to proceed with this field as it was too intellectual for practical use. It was hard enough trying to address Hume, Hegel or other esthetic philosophers. He then turns his attention to other fields, and arrives at the conclusion that Quality cannot be defined. The result upsets him, however, as he does not like the fact that he cannot define such a central concept—it is “anti-rational” to him.

During the hike, Chris falls and expresses his anger about the hike. The narrator does not want to encourage or attack his son’s behavior, so the two continue walking. Returning to the topic of Quality, the narrator relates how Phaedrus addressed a world without Quality. Phaedrus determined that a world without Quality was a world not worth living in, a “square” world without any artistic merit. This was the basis for diving the world into classic and romantic spheres.

Chris falls down again and pretends to have hurt his ankle. The narrator knows that Chris is making excuses, but to help him out, he places all of the heavy things in his knapsack and all the light items in Chris’s. When the two finally stop to rest, Chris begins to cry and again says that he hates the trip, while the narrator is saddened by his son’s egotism.

At the close of the chapter, the narrator emphasizes that Quality actually bridges the divide between romantic and classic modes of thought. By refusing to define Quality, Phaedrus is able to show that the concept cannot be viewed from a classic, analytic standpoint. It cannot be summed up and classified by use of a definition. Right before the narrator and Chris stop hiking to set up camp for the night, Chris’s attitude improves.