Fifteen years after he graduated, Gene Forrester, the narrator, returns to his alma mater, the Devon School. He notices that the school seems oddly newer, although this is likely because during his tenure there, upkeep had gone by the wayside with World War II raging overseas. He recalls, “Looking back now across fifteen years, I could see with great clarity the fear I had lived in, which must mean that in the interval I had succeeded in a very important undertaking: I must have made my escape from it” (5). Gene experiences a rush of emotions as he visits the major sites of his old stomping grounds. There are two places in particular that he came to see, explaining, “Both were fearful sites, and that was why I wanted to see them” (6).

As he approaches the school from the surrounding town, Gene notices that the houses show very little sign of life, just as they did when he was a student. Once he is on campus, he enters the First Academy Building to visit the marble staircase. He reflects, “I was taller, bigger generally in relation to these stairs. I had more money and success and ‘security’ than in the days when specters seemed to go up and down them with me” (7).