53 pages • 1 hour read
Ned VizziniBe More Chill
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 21-26Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary
Jeremy waits for the SQUIP to activate, wondering how the computer will enter his bloodstream and access his mind. Rack confirms that he also has a SQUIP, and it said that Jeremy is a chump. The SQUIP activates, and Jeremy begins hearing a voice in his mind that sounds like actor Keanu Reeves. Rack claims it can also be set to other celebrities, such as Sean Connery, Jack Nicholson, or Tyrese. It can also speak in a woman’s voice, but Rack says he found that distracting. The SQUIP causes Jeremy brief but intense pain as it looks through all the information in his mind. Jeremy tries replying to the SQUIP aloud, but it instructs him not to do that and tells him that it has a lot of work to do. A woman comes into the shoe store and complains about the lack of salespeople, and Rack easily charms her. The SQUIP informs Jeremy that since this “TARGET FEMALE” is occupied with Rack, they ought to leave the store (105).
Chapter 22 Summary
The SQUIP instructs Jeremy to buy a new shirt immediately with his remaining money and his mother’s credit card. It begins to correct his posture and his outdated use of slang, informing him that he needs to “BE MORE CHILL” (108). Jeremy buys a sweatshirt from Lil’ Bow Wow’s fashion line and an Eminem t-shirt because the SQUIP tells him that rap and hip-hop music are the dominant trends in youth culture. When Jeremy goes to meet Michael so that they can go home, the SQUIP tells Jeremy to go buy a frozen yogurt instead. It claims that because it is a quantum computer, it can see into parallel realities. Therefore, it knows that certain decisions will be more beneficial than others. Jeremy obeys, and he sees Anne from his math class at the frozen yogurt shop. He sits down with her. Chloe, one of the “hot girls,” joins them. With the SQUIP telling him what to say and how to change his posture and expressions, Jeremy successfully compliments her and asks her to hang out. However, the SQUIP forces him to ignore Michael. Instead, he asks Anne if he can ride home from the mall with her.
Chapter 23 Summary
Jeremy listens to Anne complaining about Jenna, which the SQUIP claims girls do when they like you. Jeremy remembers that Christine started their conversations by complaining about Mr. Reyes and wonders if that means she likes him. Jeremy also presses his leg against Chloe’s leg, and she does not object; this causes Jeremy to become aroused. The SQUIP tells Jeremy that the rapper Eminem has just been declared dead after a street hockey accident and that he should share this fact in the conversation. Jeremy asks how the SQUIP knows this and the SQUIP replies that it is based on its quantum capabilities and instantaneous information sharing networks that connect all SQUIPs. Jeremy reports the news about Eminem, claiming that he read it online. As they drive home, the radio announces that Eminem is really dead, impressing the girls and causing them to feel emotional about the tragedy. Jeremy asks for Chloe’s number, and she willingly gives it to him. The SQUIP remembers the information for him so that he does not need to write it down and then Jeremy goes home so that the SQUIP can watch television and gather more information.
Chapter 24 Summary
Jeremy’s mother tells him that Michael called, but Jeremy says he will call back later. The SQUIP instructs Jeremy to go look at himself naked in the mirror so it can assess his body. It criticizes his lack of defined muscles and his uncircumcised penis. The SQUIP then tells Jeremy to watch more of the show Dismissed so it can learn which women are considered the most attractive by mass media, not just by Jeremy. As they watch the show, the SQUIP points out that the men on the show have much more muscular chests and abdomens than Jeremy, which makes them more desirable. They devise a system: Jeremy will keep his favorite food, Oreo cookies, next to the television. Whenever he sees someone on television with a body like his, he can eat a cookie. Whenever he sees a muscular man, he must do a push-up. Jeremy does many push-ups, which impresses his mother. His physique becomes more muscular after two weeks of this routine.
Chapter 25 Summary
That evening, Jeremy begins to masturbate, but the SQUIP tells him that this will make him less attractive to girls and that he should do more push-ups instead. Michael calls and is upset with Jeremy for ignoring him at the mall. Jeremy justifies his actions by saying that he was trying to get Chloe’s number, and the situation was delicate. When he reveals that he succeeded in getting Chloe’s number, Michael gets angry and hangs up. The SQUIP tells him not to call Michael back because he needs to prioritize making other friends. Jeremy is reluctant, but the SQUIP convinces him by saying that this will not be permanent; eventually, he can include Michael in his social activities again. The SQUIP does Jeremy’s math homework for him and explains that its quantum abilities allow it to deal with more complicated problems than a simple binary computer can. Jeremy is impressed, does more push-ups, and goes to bed. He has a sexual dream about being inside his own body and seeing the SQUIP praising him for being cool.
Chapter 26 Summary
Jeremy wears his Eminem t-shirt the next morning, but his mother objects to it. He changes into another shirt but takes the Eminem shirt with him so that he can change while he walks to school. In a good mood, Jeremy makes up a song to sing, but the SQUIP criticizes it for not being rap or hip-hop. At school, Jeremy meets with Rich, and the SQUIP gives him a special code to say so that Rich will know he also has a SQUIP now. The SQUIP tells Jeremy to give Rich the rest of the cash he has as a finder’s fee. In exchange, Rich introduces him to a group of cool girls. They talk about Eminem’s death and the television show Dismissed, which the SQUIP tells Jeremy to say that he watches to cope with his sadness from a breakup with Katrina. When one of the girls calls out his lie, the SQUIP provides Jeremy with a humiliating insult to say to her about a past sexual embarrassment. Rich, Jeremy, and two girls named Abby and Brooke relocate to a “dank and creepy spot” away from the others (144).
Chapters 21-26 Analysis
As the SQUIP begins to transform Jeremy’s social life, it simultaneously reinforces his social anxiety and negative self-image issues, demonstrating that social performance can reinforce toxic mentalities and behaviors. When the SQUIP talks to Jeremy inside his head, it often insults him and even prevents him from doing things that he enjoys. When Jeremy uses outdated slang, the SQUIP tells him that its task will be much harder than those that are assigned to other SQUIPs because, “YOU ARE A SERIOUS DORK” (107). When Jeremy looks at himself in the mirror, the SQUIP remarks, “WE CAN’T HAVE THAT” (126). It then compares his lack of muscles to the bodies of men on television, informing him, “THEIR PECS ARE ON AVERAGE 1.4 INCHES MORE PRONOUNCED THAN YOURS” (128). As Jeremy walks to school, he sings a song that he wrote, but the SQUIP tells him to stop because “IT IS ANNOYING” (138). Despite the technical, unemotional language that the SQUIP usually speaks in, it still manages to insult and degrade Jeremy, functioning as an internal bully rather than as a supporter.
In conversations, the SQUIP often recommends that Jeremy behave crudely and unemotionally, displaying no empathy and using profanity. For example, when Jeremy is asked about Eminem’s death, which is (falsely) reported in the book, the SQUIP tells him to “BE JADED AND PROFANE” (141). While the SQUIP is only a piece of technology trying to accomplish a goal, it acts cruelly and immorally. Social success, this implies, requires a person to act unempathetically and destructively. Jeremy is achieving the social acceptance that he desired, but this is not helping with his anxiety, body-image issues, or confidence. If anything, the SQUIP validates his worst fears and tendencies, rather than helping to fix his problems. While the technology was not created with malevolent intent, it has a negative impact on Jeremy.
