I was slightly surprised by Jones' reaction to Min's departure. After all, even in the beginning of the novel, he wants her gone. It seems to be a case of you don't know what you've got until it's gone. She cared for him, even as he resented her, and the moment she left, he realized what he had had. The most interesting part of it, for me, was the way he approached his feelings. He did not miss Min, but rather her table: "The wall in front of him was bare, blank. That was it--that long empty space was where the table used to stand." (pg. 375) It is very interesting that the part he can accept missing is the very thing that gave her power over him in the first place.
He works very hard to try to fix it, moving furniture back to where it was before she came along, but he cannot make it feel right. In some ways, he must miss her, as she had been a staple of his life for so long. Now, he lives in an empty apartment and he is completely alone, the one thing he hates most.
I also thought that his reaction to Min's absense was interesting. He realizes her existence or absenses after she left.
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