In the excerpt from David Rakoff's "Fraud: Essays," a man next to the narrator suddenly expresses a thought about the origins of society. He suggests that human civilization began when an individual was expelled from a garden due to wrongdoing. This remark is presented as a narrative without a clear source, leaving its origin ambiguous and mysterious.

The man, while appearing congenial, carries an unsettling aura, implying he could be a threat. This juxtaposition of a benign demeanor with potentially harmful ideas reflects the complexity of human interaction and the subtleties of how stories and beliefs shape societal understanding.