Newtonian-physics-as-metaphor

Landsman awakens injured and restrained in a small detainment cell, struggling with pain and disorientation. After a failed attempt to break the window with a wastebasket, he uses the cot frame to smash the window and escape, injuring his shoulder in the process. He confronts Fligler, injures him, frees himself by shooting the handcuff, and flees into the cold Alaskan woods pursued by a group of men, reflecting on his precarious situation and the strange characters involved.