Each of the scenes in Chapter 7 has erotic content and emotional content, which are at odds with each other. The chapter is something of an inkblot test for readers; do you read for erotic or emotional content, and if both, how do you reconcile them? Of course, this chapter also describes how each character is doing after Peter's napalm strike, and it foreshadows events to come.
Chapter 8 amplifies the Mike/Collette and Jennifer/Peter dynamics and sets the stage for Chapter 9.
