Chapters eight and nine tell of the “Happiness Machine”. After listening to old people’s depressing and defeatist conversations, Leo Auffmann maintains they shouldn’t dwell on such unhappy topics. Douglas and his grandfather, passing by, suggest to Leo that he should make a Happiness Machine. After the talking people laugh at this apparently ridiculous idea, Leo becomes determined to do just that. A brief scene of him returning to his family of six children indicates his happiness at home, demonstrated when his wife Lena asks, “Something’s wrong?” after Leo expresses his wish to build a Happiness Machine.
