52 pages • 1 hour read
Chris CrutcherStaying Fat For Sarah Byrnes
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1993A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 14-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary
Shortly after the incident in CAT, Mr. Mautz barges into class to announce that Mark attempted suicide. Ms. Lemry defends herself and her class when Mautz attempts to pin the attempted suicide on her class and her teaching. Mautz leaves and Ms. Lemry tries to process the news with her students but over the intercom she is called down the office.
Back at home, Eric and Jody are surprised when Carter, Eric’s mom’s boyfriend, suddenly breaks into their conversation to reveal that his father killed himself. Carter talks about how he struggled with his father’s decision to end his life for years and years. Eventually, he had to accept that he was powerless to save his father and change the script of anyone else’s life. After that, Eric goes over to Ms. Lemry’s house where Sarah is still hiding out. Eric learns that Ms. Lemry has been put on suspension. She and Sarah have decided to use her suspension time off to go locate Sarah’s mom in Nevada. When Eric goes home again, he finds a note on his door, telling him that a man was looking for him. When Eric calls the number, he realizes too late that he is talking with Virgil Byrnes, who tells him that he is coming for him.
Chapter 15 Summary
At school, Eric and Steve Ellerby are told to report to the office, where Mr. Mautz is waiting with Mark Brittian’s father. Ellerby decides to call his own father, too, in order to get some reinforcement in a conversation clearly meant to blame them for Mark’s suicide attempt. When Mr. Ellerby arrives, he takes Mr. Mautz to task for making the boys feel responsible for Mark’s attempt. He also very forcefully reminds Mautz about the separation of church and state and his intention to make sure those two entities are separated. Next, Mr. Byrnes appears in Mautz’s office, demanding to know where his daughter is. Eric lies, pouring sweat, feeling sure that he hasn’t escaped Mr. Byrne’s wrath for long.
Chapter 16 Summary
Driving home from swim practice that evening, Eric finally has the run-in with Virgil Byrnes that he saw coming. As he climbs into the driver’s seat, he realizes that Virgil Byrnes has been waiting in the backseat for him. Virgil holds a knife to Eric’s throat and he commands him to drive. Eric speeds the car out of control then scrambles out of the driver’s seat and runs into the woods with Mr. Byrnes chasing him. Mr. Byrnes catches up with Eric and slices him with the blade and grabs him by the scalp, pulling hair out of his head. In his excruciating pain, Eric confesses that Sarah went with Ms. Lemry. Mr. Byrnes shoves his knife into Eric’s arm and Eric passes out from the pain. When he regains consciousness, Dale Thornton is standing over him.
Chapters 14-16 Analysis
When Mark Brittian attempts suicide, a host of adults enter the scene and try to find hasty solutions to complicated situations. Mark’s father and Mr. Mautz both seek out someone to blame for Mark’s problems, rather than looking at them complexly. Ellerby and Eric are their chosen student scapegoats, but Mr. Ellerby handily intervenes, suggesting that the vice principal look at the situation more holistically than just blaming teenagers. Mr. Mautz settles for blaming the teacher who led the students in thinking about their beliefs. While this is unfortunate, the leave of absence does allow Ms. Lemry to help Sarah Byrnes find her mom. The only piece of Sarah’s situation that the group is unprepared for is Mr. Byrnes himself, who decides to carry out his revenge on Eric.
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