A Week in the Woods

Like Mr. Maxwell’s early judgments of Mark, Mark also makes a snap judgment and decides that Hardy Elementary is a dismal excuse for a school. He therefore refuses to engage in any way. Hardy Elementary is the first public school he has attended after a long series of private schools. However, Mark does enjoy the small-town quiet and relishes the fact that his class size is big enough to allow him to hide in the shadows. He feels as if his time in Whitson is temporary; because the other children have already established themselves without him, he sees no need to become invested in a place he will only inhabit for a few months. Mark does not consider himself to be superior to the other students, but he does feel different, and he is always aware of being viewed as “other” because he is wealthy. He expects the next few months to breeze by while he fades into the background in the classroom and avoids the work. He looks forward to going to Runyon Academy private school for middle school.

Mr. Maxwell has specific values that he always applies to his teaching, and he loves the challenge of inspiring kids who are uninterested or disengaged. Mr. Maxwell sets his sights on Mark one Friday afternoon, noticing that Mark often seems lonely. He decides to do a chemistry demonstration, incorporating a history lesson on the Hindenburg to demonstrate how hydrogen gas explodes when it encounters flame. Mark looks out the window the entire time, so Mr. Maxwell finally calls on him specifically, urging him to guess what might happen to the balloon that Mr. Maxwell is using in place of a blimp. Because Mark has already learned about the Hindenburg, he reveals everything, including the buildup and the explosion, as well as the reason for it. For a moment, Mr. Maxwell is angry that Mark has ruined his surprise, but he chooses to adopt a positive interpretation, realizing that Mark finally spoke in class and showed himself to be quite smart. Still, Mr. Maxwell ends the day feeling disappointed that his experiment wasn’t as exciting as it could have been, and Mark returns to zoning out almost immediately after their brief interaction.

Mr. Maxwell realizes that Mark is smart and spirited, and definitely not lazy. He is certain that when he tells Mark about the Week in the Woods, Mark will be excited to join the rest of the class. After school on the same Friday, Mr. Maxwell calls Mark up to his desk and explains the excursion that children look forward to all year. Mark asks if he has to attend, shocking Mr. Maxwell, who has never seen a student who is less interested in the event. Mr. Maxwell tries to convince Mark how amazing the experience is and insists that there’s no sense in not wanting to go. Mark leaves the classroom, clearly uninterested and looking for a way to avoid the excursion. When Leon picks him up, Mark seems miserable (which is how he seems every day after school), but when he gets home, he always feels a renewed sense of excitement to explore and enjoy Fawcett Place.

On the first weekend in the new house, Mark’s parents come home for two days to spend time with him. They drive around the town, watch movies, and eat meals together. Mark’s mother feels guilty for leaving her son alone so often but feels compelled to prioritize business, and Mark’s father compliments his ability to adapt to change. When his parents leave again, Mark spends most of his time outdoors, but not before he is taught how to survive the cold. Leon teaches an amazed Mark how to use snowshoes to avoid getting soaked by the snow, and Mark calls his mother to ask for his own pair, much more excited to discuss snowshoeing than his first day of school. She tells him to get whatever he likes, and Mark goes with Leon to choose a pair of snowshoes.

After that, he spends most of the next week outside in the snow. He then spends the next two weeks exploring the barn; Inside, he finds a carved walking stick that he takes as his own. He also finds a rope that is perfect for swinging and climbs into the hay lofts to admire the architecture of the barn. He feels “a deep, satisfying connection” (62) to it and its past, and returns day after day. He even finds the old Fawcett family cemetery. The more time Mark spends on his own in the outdoors, the less isolated he begins to feel in his new environment. He starts to feel rich for the first time in his life, and it has nothing to do with money; instead, Mark feels rich with time, independence, and the ability to make his own choices.

Mark decides he wants to spend a night in the barn by himself. At first, Anya declines his request, but Leon convinces her that it will be safe, and Mark insists he can do all of his own preparations. He makes a thick bed and puts a sleeping bed on top and takes a book of Jack London stories and a lantern with him. At first, he lies awake, unable to sleep due to excitement, pride, and independence. He wants to face his fear of the dark to prove to himself that he’s strong. After reading some of Jack London’s more horror-oriented stories about death and fear, (including one in which the cold itself becomes the adversary), Mark starts to get scared of the barn and imagines all sorts of creatures and terrifying things.

Rather than letting his fear consume him, however, Mark forces himself to think of something else instead, and finds himself thinking about his first childhood memory. He remembers being around two years old and falling on the hot clay outside, burning his hands. He also remembers the comfort his mother provided him in that moment and suddenly wishes that she were there with him. Mark’s mother used to spend more time at home but has been spending more and more time at work. Mark misses her face and her presence. Next, Mark’s thoughts turn to school, and he realizes that he’s been “a stuck-up jerk” (75) to his peers and teachers. He decides to open up and give them a chance because he has nothing to lose by doing so. After making this decision, Mark is able to fall asleep peacefully.