63 pages • 2 hours read

11.22.63

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011

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Part 4, Chapters 20-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4: “Sadie and the General”

Part 4, Chapter 20 Summary

For the next few months, Jake spends his weekends with Sadie and his weeks observing Lee Harvey. Lee Harvey and Marina’s marriage becomes volatile. On one occasion, the whole neighborhood witnesses Lee Harvey beat Marina. Shortly after, Marina leaves him, but she quickly returns. Not long after that, Jake overhears Marina tell an elderly neighbor that she is pregnant again.

Part 4, Chapter 21 Summary

The Oswalds move into the apartment on Neely Street on March 2, 1963. Jake buys a gun, ending up with the same Colt .38 model he bought in Derry. During his trips to Jodie, Jake begins seeing a Plymouth Fury around town like the one he noticed in the parking lot of the Worumbo Mill and Weaving when he first came through the rabbit-hole. He worries it might be Johnny Clayton, but each time he sees the car, it has different out-of-state license plate.

A short time later, Marina meets Ruth Paine and begins giving her Russian lessons. Al noted in his book that Marina would be living with Ruth Paine on the day of the assassination. George de Mohrenschildt comes to the apartment one day while Marina is at Ruth’s. Jake listens to George and Lee Harvey talk. Just as it seems George is about to suggest that Lee Harvey assassinate Edwin Walker, the bug shorts out.

Jake reads in Al’s notebook that Lee Harvey will scout out the area around Edwin Walker’s home, so he goes to the same area in order to observe. Lee Harvey will hide the weapon near some railroad tracks about half a mile away, but Jake observes Lee Harvey checking out an alley directly behind Edwin Walker’s house. Jake believes Lee Harvey plans to stash the rifle in the alley, use a trash can to steady his aim, and then blend in with a crowd of church members from a nearby church during his escape, just as Jake did in Derry.

Sadie convinces Jake to tell her his real name. They talk about what he is there to do, but he refuses to give too much information in order to keep her safe.

The Monday before the attempted assassination of Edwin Walker, Jake places Al’s notebook and his two manuscripts into a safe deposit box just in case he is killed or arrested in his attempt to stop Lee Harvey.

Part 4, Chapter 22 Summary

On April 10, 1963. Jake has a plan in place to observe Lee Harvey’s attempt to assassinate Edwin Walker. However, his plan is interrupted by a call from Johnny Clayton. Sadie came home from school to find the front door open. Johnny ransacked and damaged her home and was waiting for her in the bedroom. Johnny told Sadie he was going to kill her or her boyfriend. He called Jake, put her on the phone, and cut her face, causing her to scream.

Jake races to Jodie. As he approaches the town, he calls Deke and they devise a plan. Deke is to go to the front door with a casserole dish and distract Johnny long enough for Jake to get in and confront him. However, the front door is open, so Deke just walks in and expresses shock upon seeing Sadie’s face. Jake rushes Johnny and disarms him. When Jake turns to tend to Sadie, Johnny grabs a knife and takes his own life.

Part 4, Chapters 20-22 Analysis

Once again, the past proves to be obstinate when Jake comes close to confirming George de Mohrenschildt's influence over Lee Harvey and his bug shorts out. At the same time, Jake continues to notice harmonies between the present and the past. He goes to buy a gun and the first one the pawn broker shows him is the same make and model he purchased in Derry to stop Frank Dunning. He also sees the same Plymouth Fury that was parked in the lot beside the Worumbo Mill and Weaving each time he stepped out of the rabbit-hole. This is yet another reference to Stephen King’s broader literary universe; in Christine, an automobile central to the plot that is possessed by murderous supernatural forces is a Plymouth Fury. Jake doesn’t ignore these harmonies, but he doesn’t always act on them either. He purchases the gun, but he doesn’t do anything about the Plymouth Fury which turns out to belong to Johnny Clayton.

History reveals that the rifle that took a shot at Edwin Walker in April of 1963 is the same rifle Lee Harvey used to assassinate President Kennedy. Jake hopes to witness Lee Harvey take the shot at Edwin Walker, as this would prove Lee Harvey was the lone shooter in the assassination. Again, the past proves to be obstinate when it comes to change. Just as Jake prepares to leave his apartment to go to Edwin Walker’s home, he is stopped by Johnny Clayton. Jake must choose between the woman he loves and the proof he needs to stop the assassination of President Kennedy. Jake shows himself to be human when he hesitates for a moment before choosing the woman he loves. For once embracing one of the harmonies from the past, he calls Deke and arranges for him to help take down Johnny Clayton in the same way Bill Turcotte did the first time Jake attempted to stop Frank Dunning.