58 pages • 1 hour read
Jodi PicoultA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Eric remembers his childhood dream of finding the perfect woman and his grief upon waking. He finds Sophie and Ruthann making traditional Native American food and is shocked that Sophie, a picky eater, eats it happily. At work, Eric expresses frustration that a year after Andrew abducted Delia, the law changed to make his crime carry a lesser charge. Eric meets Andrew. Andrew explains that his prior assault conviction prevented him from revisiting the custody agreement, as he feared he would lose all rights to Delia. Andrew states that the day he kidnapped Delia, he took her home first to find Elise unconscious on the floor.
Eric wrestles with his memories of his mother when Delia tells him about a call from the prosecuting attorney. Delia refuses to work with her, and the attorney tries to remove Eric from the case on the grounds of witness tampering. Eric narrowly avoids this removal and possible disbarment but is sternly warned by the judge.
A cancer center calls for Ruthann, who firmly tells Eric they have the wrong number. He decides they both have their secrets. Eric attempts to revisit Andrew, but Andrew refuses to see him. Eric eventually convinces Sherriff Jack to bring him to Andrew, now in disciplinary segregation. The two agree to start over.
Andrew struggles amidst the racial tensions in prison. Elephant Mike threatens Andrew that the only way to stay safe is to follow his kind, but he later finds Elephant Mike sexually assaulting a young inmate. Andrew meets with Delia daily, though some conversations, specifically those involving Elise, are challenging. Andrew tries to defend the young inmate, Clutch, in the yard, only to be attacked and sprayed with feces by Elephant Mike later. The officers blame Concise for the attack, but Andrew states it was Mike and asks Clutch to corroborate the story. Mike goes into strict disciplinary confinement, and Clutch dies by suicide.
During a cell inspection, Andrew claims Concise’s moonshine is his, which sends Andrew to disciplinary segregation. Andrew reluctantly discusses his prior marriage with Eric. Upon leaving disciplinary segregation, Andrew finds that his actions have raised tensions between the prison’s racial groups. The groups schedule a fight, and Concise helps Andrew prepare. Andrew fights fiercely, blinding one of Stick’s eyes, but wonders at the person he has become. Sticks loses a makeshift bullet in the fight, which Andrew swallows.
Delia, Ruthann, and Sophie attend a Hopi festival, and they share more of each other’s histories. Ruthann convinces Delia to train Greta for desert searches, thus allowing Delia to work in Arizona. Their first practice ends early when Greta is scared by a javelina and jumps into a cactus. Frustrated, Delia expresses to Fitz her hatred of Arizona and her desire to return home. Fitz forces Delia to confront her feelings about her parents and current situation. Delia decides to stay longer.
Fitz lies to his editor, fabricating articles to stay in Arizona and help Delia. He talks with Andrew at the prison, surprised Andrew would meet with a reporter, regardless of their relationship. Fitz, Delia, and Sophie meet Elise. The meeting is awkward but not entirely unpleasant. Fitz remembers his role as Delia’s labor coach. He attended all the classes but fainted at the sight of the epidural needle, hitting his head and requiring 60 stitches. Eric arrives, his hands shaking with withdrawal symptoms. Fitz pushes Sophie into Eric’s arms, making sure the shaking ends before fully releasing Sophie.
Fitz’s editor threatens him until he reluctantly relents and writes the article on Andrew’s trial.
Once again, Eric jeopardizes his career as an attorney to soothe Delia. While Eric blames Delia and his insecurity about their relationship for his actions, it is essential to note that he does not tell Delia until much later that he could face disbarment for feeding her information. Instead, Eric lies. Eric lies to the judge, swearing that he has not given Delia any information, and he lies to Delia, stating that he has everything under control. In the meantime, he tells so many lies and half-truths that he cannot even refuse a cup of coffee convincingly.
Ruthann tells Sophie and Eric a story about Rabbit and the sun. It was too hot for too long, and Rabbit wanted to teach the sun a lesson. Rabbit tried to shoot the sun with his bow and arrow, but the sun was always too fast. One day, the sun moved too slowly, and Rabbit hit him. The wound bled fire, scorching the earth. Rabbit tried to find shelter, but only one bush would help him. To this day, the bush starts green but turns yellow with sun exposure. At the end of the story, Ruthann tells Eric to watch his aim. Eric’s attempts to control everything, from Delia to the court case, will only hurt him. Eric does not take Ruthann’s cryptic warning to heart.
Andrew is also aiming at things that can only hurt him. Andrew believes he can handle prison, but, despite his remarkable adaptability, Andrew is constantly struggling to survive. Andrew tries to stay true to himself by helping Clutch, but the simple interaction of asking if Clutch could play basketball ends with assault, disciplinary segregation, and suicide. Andrew’s every action snowballs into something vast and unwieldy until it ends in violence. In this section, Andrew partakes in the violence to survive.
Andrew’s only reprieve comes from his meeting with Delia, but even these are fraught with tension as Delia begins to remember her past. Andrew tells Delia her actual birthday, almost a year after the one on her fake birth certificate. Delia remembers a party, with a cake that fell and crying. However, this story is one altered by Andrew. In truth, Elise threw the cake on the floor, ending the party. This sets the reader up to question exactly how many of Delia’s memories have been subtly altered by Andrew to make them more palatable. While Andrew fed Delia altered versions of events to protect her, it only made her memory more unreliable. Delia is hurt at the end of this conversation though if her hurt is in response to Elise’s behavior or to Andrew’s lie is unclear.
While Elise’s parenting is questionable, Ruthann takes over the role of a mother figure in Delia’s life. Ruthann forces Delia and Sophie out of the trailer to experience a world beyond Andrew’s trial. She soothes Delia’s identity crisis by sharing stories of her daughter. Ruthann explains how her daughter “was named for her father’s clan, but she belonged to mine […] when she got initiated, she got a new name. And in school she was called Louise by the teachers. What I’m saying is that what you’re called is hardly ever who you are” (278). Thus, Delia can be Bethany and Delia without affecting who she is. For Delia, who is struggling with her identity, this acknowledgment that her past does not change her identity becomes a welcome relief.
Fitz, too, helps Delia reaffirm her identity. While Eric tells her not to worry and Andrew lies to protect Delia’s feelings, Fitz allows her to discuss her concerns. When Delia expresses her frustrations and desires to go home, he does not talk her out of it. Instead, he lets her vent and come to her own decisions. Delia, who has had so many choices taken by others, needs this autonomy to find herself again. Fitz tells her, “if you don’t want someone to change your life for you again, Dee, you’ve got to change it for yourself” (290). While Andrew and Eric coddle and protect, Fitz and Ruthann push. They hound Delia to work, to grow, and to find herself.
By Jodi Picoult