55 pages • 1 hour read
Graham GardnerInventing Elliot
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003A 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 13-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary
Mrs. Davidson, Elliot’s English teacher, asks Elliot to stay behind after class. He knows his work is good, although with so much to juggle between the Guardians, Louise, and Ben, he is aware that he has rushed recent assignments. Mrs. Davidson waits for Elliot to start talking, but when he just looks at her confused, she laughs and explains that it’s nothing serious. She has noticed a drop in the standard of his usually stellar work and is wondering if there is something going on in his life that might be affecting his work; something she can help with. Before Elliot can answer, she says she knows that is can be hard to talk about problems, and “sometimes it’s those who have the toughest exterior who have it the worst. Those with the most effective masks can find it hard to take them off” (126).
Elliot freezes. He feels as though Mrs. Davidson can read his mind and that she knows everything. His terror rises until, still looking intently into his eyes, Mrs. Davidson reassures him that everyone puts on a mask before they go out and face the word every day, allowing him to breathe as he realizes that she doesn’t know anything; that she is just a very good teacher who cares about her students. As Elliot relaxes, the hard, new voice in his head starts to berate Mrs. Davidson, telling Elliot that she has overstepped boundaries and that she is no more than an English teacher, with no right to try and interfere in his life. The voice convinces Elliot to stand up to her. Elliot shrugs, adopts an expression of disinterest, and tells Mrs. Davidson that he is “fine,” and just rushed the last few essays. Elliot watches Mrs. Davidson deflate. She is clearly confused about his reaction, second guessing her gut instinct, and embarrassed to be shut down when trying to help. Elliot takes in her reaction and his old self feels disgust at what he has done. He resents her for trying to be kind as he realizes that she won’t try and help students on a hunch again. Elliot’s new persona overrides his desire to make her feel better, telling him that he’s let her off lightly.
The day gets worse. The Guardians give Elliot two weeks to decide on the next punisher, punishment, and victim. New Elliot is comfortable with selecting a punisher and a punishment—something his old self could never contemplate doing—but he struggles with the thought of choosing a victim. His harsh voice mocks him for wavering, telling him to remember that he risks becoming the victim himself if he doesn’t comply. The knowledge that he can keep Ben safe gives Elliot little comfort as he grapples with his decision.
On Saturday, after swimming, Ben askes Elliot if he’ll go for a walk with him instead of going straight home. Elliot agrees and, to his horror, Ben heads into the woods. Before long, they reach the familiar embankment and the Guardians’ wall. Ben, sitting on the wall, clearly wants to share something with Elliot, but all Elliot can do in his panic is think that somehow Ben is a spy for the Guardians, that this is a trap, and that Richard is about to appear. Sweating, he asks Ben what he is doing. Ben happily and excitedly tells Elliot that he and his mom are moving away to start fresh somewhere new. Elliot wants to tell Ben there is no such thing as a fresh start, but instead tries to be enthusiastic for him. Ben, with unbridled joy yells to the wood “No more Guardians! […] I don’t care about you anymore. You won’t get me now!” (134).
The fear is too much for Elliot to take and he hits Ben hard on the leg while hissing at him to shut up. Ben jumps of the wall, rubbing his leg, and tells Elliot there is no need to punch him. There is an awkward silence between them, which Ben breaks by inviting Elliot to visit him. Elliot, his fear deepening, says he must go. Ben is confused; he thought they could develop some last photos, and he tells Elliot that he has a photo for him, as a gift. Unable to control himself—his masks slipping—Elliot cruelly tells Ben that he won’t come to his house. Images and sounds rage inside Elliot’s head. He feels as though he is breaking, but the new voice screams at him that he is strong, fearless and must “obliterate” the threat.
When Ben kindly offers to bring the photo to school, Elliot flips out, telling Ben that he absolutely cannot approach him at school. Stunned, Ben looks like a wounded animal. He murmurs that he won’t, turns, and walks away. The old Elliot desperately wants to run after Ben, to explain and make things right, but the new Elliot stops him by calling him stupid, saying that he is better off without Ben anyway. Exhausted and shaking, Elliot stands in the woods, chanting to himself that he is strong and fearless.
Chapter 14 Summary
The two-week deadline for Elliot to name his choice for victim comes up fast. He gathers details on a few weak students but is unable to commit. Elliot is miserable and alone with his dilemma, unable to share his problem with anyone. Louise notices Elliot’s preoccupation, so he lies and blames it on homework and swim meets. The voice in his head, which he resents, reassures him that he is doing the right thing, even though he feels terrible.
During one of their afternoons at the park Louise, encourages Elliot to read 1984 and, despite his attempts to deflect the conversation, she persists. The way Louise describes the message of 1984 is very different from Richard’s interpretation. Louise explains:
[T]he hero of 1984 is someone who doesn't have a choice. At least that's how it appears. He thinks he has to do what he's doing—which is lying about the past, forgetting history, never saying what he knows to be true […] But the point is, he does choose. He chooses to disobey the system. He obeys what he believes and risks everything. So he makes himself free..” (141).
Even though the hero loses in the end, Louise explains that no one really wins, but by choosing not to accept the rhetoric or follow the party line, the hero at least achieves freedom. Before Elliot can discuss the book further, Louise jumps up, late to meet her mom. Before going, she asks Elliot to see a movie with her. Elliot is surprised, unsure how Louise perceives him, so he hesitates, making Louise blush and backtrack. Elliot cuts in quickly, telling her that he would love to go. His joy fades when she has gone and thoughts of his upcoming decisions and their discussion about 1984 swarm back into his mind. He wonders how Richard, who is always right, could be wrong about the book’s message, or—as Louise saw it—how it could be possible for someone to become free by losing.
By the time he gets home, Elliot is tired and irritated. He sees his father sitting as usual, watching the television, and before he can stop them, vicious thoughts wishing his father was dead cloud Elliot’s mind. Horrified at himself, he runs to his room and lies down, willing his mind to go blank. At dinner, Elliot and his parents eat in silence. Later in the evening, Elliot’s mom tells him she has picked up another work shift so he needs to help with dinner on Wednesday. Elliot panics—the Guardians meet on Wednesday—so he snaps at her, asking why his dad can’t do it. Elliot’s mother, who is suffering and overworked, explodes in anger and hurt. She slams down the mug she is holding, breaking it as she yells at Elliot that she sees how he looks at her, that she’s not good enough anymore. She calls him an “obnoxious, ungrateful little monster” (146), who can’t even be bothered to ask how she is but still blames her for everything. She tells him, “It's not just you who has a life, you know […] I'm not just a robot that does the laundry and cooks the dinner and handily isn't around the rest of the time” (147).
Elliot is stunned and silent; it hadn’t occurred to him that the move was as important for her as it was for him, that she was also hoping for a fresh start. His mother turns back to the sink and tells him to get out of her sight. At 2:30 in the morning, Elliot gets up to use the bathroom but hears his mother crying. For a moment, he thinks about going to comfort her, but as he recalls their last conversation, he creeps back to bed instead. He is desperately sad and fights the urge to cry himself by putting on his headphones, drowning out his mother’s sobs.
Chapter 15 Summary
Elliot’s deadline has arrived, and Richard is demanding answers: the punisher, the punishment, and the victim. Elliot’s reluctant answers are: Sean Ashmore (punisher), fight (punishment), and Simon Kilworth (victim). Choosing “fight” was easy: It is the least humiliating of the punishments and easy for the victim to submit quickly. Choosing Simon was harder, but Simon is a short, fat kid who gets good grades, making him an obvious target who will hopefully not fight back, keeping the punishment quick.
Elliot feels nothing. He has been numb since the incident with his mother in the kitchen. Even swimming is no longer an escape; all he thinks about in the pool is Ben, unable to shake the image of Ben walking away, no matter how hard he swims. The only place Elliot feels any emotion is with Louise, and he thinks about their upcoming movie date as he turns to leave the meeting. Richard blocks Elliot’s path and, smiling, starts to talk about Louise. Elliot is initially horrified that Richard knows but recovers quickly and explains that he is just friends with her. Elliot relaxes when Richard seems to just want to give him some friendly, “expert” advice about girls, and decides to listen to him.
Elliot and Louise enjoy the movie, and Louise slips her hand into Elliot’s halfway through. They leave the theater holding hands and Louise accepts Elliot’s offer to walk her home. Elliot gets progressively more nervous as they reach the top of her road, not sure what Louise is expecting from him. She gently asks for a “goodnight hug” and, as they hug, Elliot is overcome with emotion. He wants to tell her everything, including his love for her. She whispers “I like you” (153) into his ear, stopping him in his tracks. Richard had told him that any sign, even an “I like you,” is a signal that the girl wants you to make a move. Every fiber in Elliot’s body just wants to stay in the hug, to hold Louise and be still with her, but his insecurity takes over and he follows Richard’s advice. Elliot lets his hand drift down from Louise’s back, causing Louise to rip away from him, hurt and offended.
Elliot is confused, assuming that was what Louise wanted. Richard couldn’t be wrong, so Elliot thinks it must be his fault, that he didn’t hear Richard correctly and didn’t listen well enough. Miserable, Elliot stands in front of Louise thinking about what she is going to tell everyone at school, that he will be “finished.” He says he should go, but Louise stops him, mocking his apology, “Sorry you missed out on a good grope, you mean” (155), and then stuns Elliot by letting it slip that she is worried about what he will spread around the school about her. He reassures her that he won’t say anything if she won’t, seeing a glimmer of hope in their friendship, but Louise quickly puts him in his place. Unable to keep his air of control, Elliot blurts out that he had been told that girls expect that move, that he had been told to do it. Louise’s disappointment is clear, leaving Elliot fighting to hold back tears as she turns and quickly walks away. She turns back once, to make sure he promises not to say anything and to wish him good night, to which he eagerly responds with the promise and a goodnight. His new voice calls him tells him that he’s pitiful.
The walk home allows Elliot to clear his head, and he decides that he must never let the old Elliot to take control again, that he needs to “kill the old Elliot” (157). As he tries to get to sleep, the two Elliots in his head fight for control. Distorted images of Louise pulling away from him, of Richard leering at him, of Mrs. Davidson shouting at him, and of Ben being beaten by the Guardians while screaming at Elliot that he could have saved him, eventually fade into a restless sleep.
Chapters 13-15 Analysis
The deepening roots and tightening stranglehold that new Elliot has on the old Elliot reach new, disturbing levels, first when Elliot first crushes Mrs. Davidsons’s spirit and offer of help, followed by his cruel attack and alienation of his only real friend, Ben. Both actions, so uncharacteristic for the old Elliot, are driven entirely by the Overriding Power of Fear, not by any desire for personal power or control. With Mrs. Davidson, the trigger for Elliot’s terror—and his resulting sneering putdown—is when she says, “Those with the most effective masks can find it hard to take them off” (126). He is so terrified that someone will find out he is acting that he assumes her innocent comment indicates that she knows his secret. Even when he realizes she is talking in general terms, the new Elliot is already fueled up and ready to attack. Similarly with Ben, who is brimming with excitement at his good news and happy to be sharing it with Elliot, fear overrides Elliot’s natural reaction.
Ben has no idea why Elliot is treating him so badly and acting irrationally. Elliot is unable to see past his fear and understand that Ben and Mrs. Davidson could help him, even if only to provide moral support. Elliot is not just afraid of what the Guardians will do if he exposes them, but he is afraid, with every fiber of his being, of returning to the role of victim. On top of that is another layer of fear: of judgement from Louise, his mom, and Ben if they find out what he has become. Elliot is completely alone, with no one to “share his misery with” (140). The scars of being bullied run deep and he is in a no-win situation.
In addition, Elliot is struggling to choose the next punishment victim, leaving him mentally exhausted and unable to make good choices with the people he cares about. His new voice is getting stronger, urging him convincingly to “Just choose someone, anyone, and get it over with. What do you care who it is? Remember: If it’s someone else, it isn’t you” (129). Telling himself that at least he can keep Ben safe brings Elliot little comfort, but when Ben tells Elliot he is leaving even that small consolation is gone. Frustrated and feeling powerless, Elliot misdirects his anger towards Ben: “you can’t just leave. I was going to take your name off the List: That was the one good thing I could do. Now I can’t even do that” (133), but this response also shows that old Elliot, with his feelings and emotions, is still hanging on. Expecting nothing except congratulations and warm wishes from his friend, Ben is completely blindsided by Elliot’s punch and nasty, demeaning words.
Ben has been through so much pain and humiliation at the hands of the Guardians. However, there was a glimmer of joy and hope in his friendship with Elliot, so to have that crushed in such a terrible, “predictable” way—by Elliot bullying Ben—is tragic. Here, Gardner gives the reader another glimpse into the devastating effects of bullying, specifically how it destroys trust and instills a sense of fear and foreboding in every situation. By already establishing the effects of bullying on Elliot, the reader understands the consequences of Elliot’s actions for Ben; thanks to this betrayal of trust from his friend, Ben is not going to share his talent and life with anyone else in a hurry.
Through Elliot, Gardner is also able to demonstrate the effects of bullying on the bully; Elliot does not get power from bullying, and instead ends up more alone and isolated by aligning himself with the Guardians. New Elliot isolates Elliot further by discouraging him from sharing his secret and true feelings with Louise. When Louise shares her interpretation of 1984 with Elliot, contradicting Richards “no choice” philosophy and explaining that the hero does make a choice, by risking everything to disobey the system, she sows seeds of doubt in Elliot’s mind. While this ultimately is what sets Elliot free to be himself again, at this point in the book it simply adds to his confusion and distress.
The uncharitable thoughts he has towards his father and his obnoxious behavior towards his mother are all signs that Elliot is reaching breaking point. His mother’s speech about how unvalued she feels and her obvious distress almost cracks Elliot’s hard shell, but he still doesn’t comfort her or acknowledge that he understands how her life has been destroyed, too. By cultivating his disaffected mask, he is becoming completely numb; swimming brings him no relief and he feels nothing while watching a brutal punishment. Elliot’s insecurities are still in full force, so he mistakenly takes Richards unsolicited advice on how to act with Louise, ruining their friendship and further isolating him as a result. The battle between old and new Elliot intensifies, with new Elliot threatening to kill old Elliot. For the first time old Elliot answers back; You’ll never kill me. How could you? I’m part of you. I am you” (157). The torture of perpetuating his lies and multiple masks is close to destroying Elliot, and losing Louise is the last straw. He is being destroyed by the choices he is making, but unlike the hero in 1984, the choices he’s made up until this point are not true to himself; none of them are choices the genuine, original Elliot would have made.
