|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chapter Analyses
Analysis for each chapter includes the basic "point" or main events
that take place. I have included three points for each chapter that the reader
should keep in mind while reading. These are meant to supplement the chapters,
NOT replace reading them! In order to not spoil parts of the chapters, I have
“hidden” the brief chapter summaries. Just highlight with your pointer between
the dashes to view the summary. I have linked all the full chapter summaries to
each section through the title of the chapter.
Chapter 1: The Foul Ball
Chapter 2: The Armadillo
Chapter 3: The Angel
Chapter 4: The Little Lord Jesus
Chapter 5: The Ghost of the Future
Chapter 6: The Voice
Chapter 7: The Dream
Chapter 8: The Finger
Chapter 9: The Shot
Chapter 1 Analysis
The Foul Ball
Highlight between these lines to see brief chapter summary
This chapter sets up a lot of the background for Johnny’s
family and Owen’s family. During a Little League baseball game, Owen hits a
foul ball which hits Johnny’s mother, Tabitha, in the temple, killing her.
______________
Three
things to keep in mind:
1. Owen is not part of the upper crust in Gravesend. This shapes the opinions
that other people will have about him.
2. Owen's assertion that he is not Gravesend Academy material.
3. The baseball. Consider who might have taken it and why. Decide for yourself.
The identity of the person with the ball could be important later.
Chapter 1 Summary
Go Back to Main Menu
Return to Entrance
Go to Top
Chapter 2 Analysis
The Armadillo
Highlight between these lines to see brief chapter summary
This chapter takes place mostly before Tabitha's death. Dan
Needham, Johnny's adoptive father, is introduced. Owen gets to meet Johnny's
cousins for the first time.
______________
Three things to keep in mind:
1. The armadillo is symbolic of many things. Think about other things it could
mean.
2. The red dress is VERY symbolic. Consider other novels and other meanings for
the color red.
3. Think about where Hester might have hid Owen. This does not have much
bearing on the rest of the story, but is interesting to think about.
Chapter 2 Summary
Go Back to Main Menu
Return to Entrance
Go to Top
Chapter 3 Analysis
The Angel
Highlight between these lines to see brief chapter summary
Owen thinks he sees an angel at Tabitha's bedside in the
night, but is told it is just a hallucination due to a high fever that he has.
______________
Three things to keep in mind:
1. Consider the angel and what kind of angel it might have been that Owen
thought he saw.
2. Think about why Owen wanted the dummy and whether his intentions are purely
out of interest for Dan's well being.
3. Hester. Think about Hester's role in the relationship between Johnny and
Owen.
Chapter 3 Summary
Go Back to Main Menu
Return to Entrance
Go to Top
Chapter 4 Analysis
The Little Lord Jesus
Highlight between these lines
to see brief chapter summary
After Tabitha's death, Johnny and his family stay in Gravesend for the holidays instead of going to Sawyer Depot like usual. Johnny participates in the Episcopalian Church Christmas Pageant that is revamped by Owen.
______________
Three things to keep in mind:
1. Consider Owen's power in the church Christmas Pagent.
2. The denial of Owen's trip to Sawyer Depot is significant of something later
in the book, keep it in mind.
3. Think about why Owen's parents reacted in the manner that they did when they
found out he was playing the baby Jesus.
Chapter 4 Summary
Go Back to Main Menu
Return to Entrance
Go to Top
Chapter 5 Analysis
The Ghost of the Future
Highlight between these lines
to see brief chapter summary
Owen takes over the part of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in the Gravesend Players production of A Christmas Carol and steals the show. Lydia's death on Christmas Eve is forshadowed by Owen who also provides the icing on the cake in the Christmas Pagent disaster.
______________
Three things to keep in mind:
1. Think about the date that Owen sees on the tombstone even though it is not
revealed.
2. Think about why Owen would banish his parents from the Christmas Pagent.
3. Consider the role of the Christ Child being played by Owen.
Chapter 5 Summary
Go Back to Main Menu
Go to Top
Chapter 6 Analysis
The Voice
Highlight between these lines
to see brief chapter summary
Owen and Johnny begin attending the Academy. Owen establishes himself as “The Voice" of the student body. Owen's position is so powerful, he even has a part in the selection of the new headmaster to replace the retiring incumbent.
______________
Three things to keep in mind:
1. Consider JFK, his effect on Owen and the possibility for Owen to be hurt.
2. The shot.
3. Consider the hiring of Pastor Merril as the new school pastor and why Owen
thought Merril would be right for the job.
Chapter 6 Summary
Go Back to Main Menu
Go to Top
Chapter 7 Analysis
The Dream
Highlight between these lines
to see brief chapter summary
Owen and Johnny discover Tabitha's secret singing career in
Boston. Owen is thrown out of school for selling fake draft cards. He decides
to enter the ROTC to pay for college and attend the University of New Hampshire
with Johnny.
______________
Three things to keep in mind:
1. Consider the statue of Mary Magdelene and what was done to her.
2. Owen's propositioning of Mitzy Lish is indicative of something.
3. Consider why Owen decided to attend the University of New Hampshire instead
of Yale of Harvard in relation to his dream.
Chapter 7 Summary
Go Back to Main Menu
Return to Entrance
Go to Top
Chapter 8 Analysis
The Finger
Highlight between these lines
to see brief chapter summary
Owen and Johnny are in college. Owen, as part of the ROTC
program, goes to Basic Training. After college, Owen becomes a casualty officer
at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, working with the bodies of casualties of the
conflict in Vietnam. To save Johnny from going to Vietnam, Owen cuts off the
top two joints of Johnny's right index finger with the diamond wheel.
______________
Three things to keep in mind:
1. Consider the trip to Sawyer Depot and Owen's remark about Canada.
2. Think about what losing two joints of his finger will do to Johnny's state
of mind and outlook on life.
3. Owen does not like Catholics. Consider why he spent so much time working to
replace the statue of Mary Magdelene in the Catholic churchyard.
Chapter 8 Summary
Go Back to Main Menu
Return to Entrance
Go to Top
Chapter 9 Analysis
The Shot
Highlight between these lines to see brief
chapter summary
Owen invites Johnny to spend a few days with him in Arizona. Johnny goes and a crazed, drug addicted boy named Dick Jarvits tries to kill them with a grenade in the Phoenix Airport. Owen saves Johnny and a group of nuns and Vietnamese children through the use of the shot. Johnny discovers the identity of his biological father.
______________
Three things to keep in mind:
1. Consider why Johnny would be disappointed to find the identity of his
biological father.
2. Think back to all the armlessness references throughout the novel.
3. Consider, finally, the red dress and it's place in the story.
Chapter 9 Summary
Go Back to Main Menu
Return to Entrance
Go to Top 