The scene opens with a flashback to a time before the events of the novel took place. It is the present day, and we are told that Mr. Bardolph is now 120 years old and that he has not lived long enough. He tells us that he does not want to die, but he does want to know what is going on with him and his family. He says that his family has not been able to hold them back, and that they have taken him in because they thought he was superior to them. He asks why he was hit by his brother, and he says that he should have cleaned the floor in his brother's bedroom before he left. He then asks if it was his fault that his brother was hit, and she says that it was not her fault. She says that she will not allow her son to bully her and that the next time she will be disliked, she will live a life in which she will never be liked.