46 pages • 1 hour read
Wendy MassJeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2006A 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 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary: “The Telescope”
The next delivery is a telescope to a scientist at the Museum of Natural History. This man pawned the telescope when he was 15 to pay for a track uniform so he could get a scholarship to MIT, and he cries when he sees the telescope because it belonged to his grandfather. Lizzy agrees to tell him where they got it if he tells them why people exist. The man agrees and has them wait while he brings the telescope to his office. When he’s gone, Jeremy sees scale models of the Earth and the sun hanging from the ceiling. A sign proclaims that the Earth would fit inside the sun over a million times, and this information makes Jeremy feel small and insignificant.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Life, the Universe, and Everything”
When the man returns, he explains how the universe was formed from a single moment that unfolded into space, creating all the matter that would ever exist. Specifically for Earth, a number of chance factors all happened to occur in the precise sequence so that all species have the same DNA building blocks. In addition, humans couldn’t possibly exist without the millions of bacteria whose daily functions make complex life possible, meaning humans are not as powerful as they want to believe they are. Despite all this, each person is unique and exists because factors aligned for them to come into existence at this moment in time. Jeremy is wowed by this new outlook, and Lizzy starts scratching, trying to get the bacteria off her.
Chapter 15 Summary: “The Boardwalk”
When Jeremy’s dad was a kid, a fortune-teller in Atlantic City told him he’d die at age 40. Though that turned out not to be exactly true, Jeremy realizes he can look for the fortune-teller and hopefully get more information when they go to an art exhibit for Jeremy’s aunt in Atlantic City that weekend. The security guards won’t let Jeremy and Lizzy into the exhibit because it’s in a casino, so the kids go to a nearby church instead, where the congregation sings popular music and healers help those who need healing. To Jeremy’s shock, Lizzy goes up for healing, and then she drags him out of the church, refusing to talk about it.
Jeremy and Lizzy meet the granddaughter of the fortune-teller Jeremy’s dad saw, who explains her grandmother told every man he’d die at age 40. Jeremy is upset and yells that the woman cursed his father. The granddaughter says it wasn’t a curse but a blessing because “we all live as if we are going to live forever. When you know you won’t, life looks different” (214). Jeremy is left to come to terms with the fact his dad’s death was just an accident, not a prophecy. He asks Lizzy again why she chose to be healed at the church. Lizzy doesn’t know why, and Jeremy accepts her answer.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Flotsam and Jetsam”
Mr. Oswald isn’t feeling well the next few days, so Jeremy and Lizzy stay home and practice their act for the state fair. The day they return to work, Mr. Oswald says it will be their last day, and though Jeremy thinks he should feel free, “all I feel is a sense of loss” (227). Mr. Oswald lets the kids pick one item from the shelves in his office to keep. Lizzy takes a doll, and after Mr. Oswald points it out, Jeremy takes an old suitcase that’s full of junk, including keys.
Chapters 13-16 Analysis
The scientist in Chapters 13 and 14 is the recipient of Jeremy and Lizzy’s last delivery, and he is yet another step on their joint and individual journeys. Jeremy’s observation about feeling small compared to the sun in Chapter 13 segues into his growing understanding of how he doesn’t need to understand everything for life to have meaning. This realization is cemented in Chapter 14 when the scientist explains that life on Earth is the result of many accidents: “[W]e are essentially a beautiful fluke, as are the millions of other species with which we share this planet” (189). This statement prompts an important insight in Jeremy, as he begins to understand The Interplay of Chance and Choice on a larger scale than ever before. Human existence is not the result of any divine or cosmic plan; it's a matter of chance, but through art, culture, and community, humans have made their lives meaningful. Jeremy, like all people, has his own choices and his own journey to make, and the meaning of that journey will be found in his relationships with others.
The scientist’s observations about bacteria are a further reminder of the importance of community. Humans, Jeremy included, tend to believe that they can manage everything on their own and only need to reach out under the most exceptional of circumstances. The fact that people couldn’t even survive without the work of bacteria disproves this theory and shows Jeremy that it is okay for him to get help on his journey. This realization foreshadows the many moving parts that facilitate Jeremy’s mission. Like bacteria, Mr. Oswald, Jeremy’s dad, and all others involved are crucial to the mission’s survival. Jeremy’s and Lizzy’s responses to learning they are covered in bacteria is a comedic way to show their different personalities and that, despite these differences, they are still the best of friends.
Learning that the fortune-teller told all men they’d die at age 40 both helps and harms Jeremy, offering further evidence of The Interplay of Chance and Choice. The prediction had no meaning. In aggregate, it was surely wrong far more often than it was right, and its near-correctness in Jeremy’s father’s case was a pure coincidence, unless—as Jeremy suspects—the prediction accelerated his father’s death by prompting him to live more recklessly than he otherwise would have. Jeremy’s dad chose to live his life as if he would die at age 40, and it’s that choice, not the random prediction, that shaped the course of his life. In the process, he learned the value of living in the moment, a message he passes on to Jeremy. The fortune-teller’s words in Chapter 15 show the power of living every moment to its fullest and exemplify the complex relationship between life and death. Lizzy’s choice to get healing at the church is an example of living in the moment. She doesn’t know why she did it, only that it felt right at the time. In retrospect, she doesn’t regret it, but even if she did, that wouldn’t matter because it is done. By undertaking this journey together, Jeremy and Lizzy are also learning about each other and deepening their friendship. Her acceptance of the experience and, by extension, Jeremy’s acceptance of her explanation shows how the two ultimately accept one another. This moment also foreshadows Jeremy’s realization that he doesn’t have to know everything for his life to have meaning.
Mr. Oswald’s parting gifts to the children in Chapter 16 exemplify The Interplay of Chance and Choice. Mr. Oswald knows the keys Jeremy needs are in the suitcase, so when Jeremy is undecided about what to take, Mr. Oswald nudges Jeremy to make the choice that will continue the mission. Stating that there are keys in the suitcase is a calculated maneuver to make Jeremy want the suitcase and to make him think that choosing the case was his idea all along. Though Jeremy believes he has found the keys by chance, his seemingly random choice has in fact been orchestrated by Mr. Oswald and, by extension, his father. Everything that happens to Jeremy and every choice he makes occurs within a web of care built by the people who love him.
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By Wendy Mass
