Falling into a dry well is a formative childhood memory for J.P.—in fact, when telling the narrator his life story, it is the only childhood anecdote that he shares. He “suffered all kinds of terror” (210) in the well, yet it is also a place where “nothing fell on him and nothing closed off that little circle of blue” (210). The well symbolizes the terrifying parts of the real world that he cannot escape and that can descend upon him at any moment. He is completely powerless against these elements, and while hope remains alive for him in the circle of sky visible from the bottom of the well, that circle of sky is out of reach.

The well also symbolizes the rehabilitation facility. Neither the narrator nor J.P. are trapped at Frank Martin’s, but they are expected to stay for a certain duration and will be stripped of some of their agency. Like the young J.P. at the bottom of the well, depending on someone else to come and rescue him, the adult J.P. and the narrator cannot succeed in recovery without others’ help—and they can only sit and hope that the treatment will work and that they will survive.