The chapter opens with a flashback to a time before Nemo and Nemo's marriage, when Nemo was a child. The flashback tells the story of how Nemo was brought up by his mother, who was a woman of great wealth and power. She taught him how to be a good person, how to control his anger, and how to keep his temper from getting out of hand. When Nemo returned to the States, however, he found that his mother's love for him was growing stronger, and he began to act more like a man. He began to smile more and more, and the flashback tells us that this was because he had "something to hide" from his mother. It is clear that Nemo and his mother love each other more than anyone in the world, and they are very much in love with each other.