Arcadia

Handy’s daughter Helle has been away from Arcadia for a few months. When she returns in the spring, Bit notes her femininity and is intimidated. Suddenly, helicopters fly overhead, carrying men with machine guns. Arcadians scatter to search for cover and loved ones. Bit helps Abe, who was paralyzed from his fall and now uses a wheelchair, get to Hannah. Handy calls the helicopters an indication of President Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs, targeting Arcadia’s unconventional lifestyle. Handy is especially concerned because the land is in his name and therefore he can be arrested. He calls out to everyone to help pull hemp out of the forest.

Bit is now 14. In the last decade or so, Arcadia has grown in number, which has caused divisions within the community. The members recently planted marijuana seeds to sell to the Outside. Doing so is illegal, but they follow their own moral code. Arcadia has been suffering from poverty for a long time, so selling marijuana is their last chance to earn funding. Hannah and Abe have their own secret plot because they no longer trust Handy’s management. Abe tasks Bit with protecting the Pot Plot; if the family is caught, they risk arrest or banishment. Bit is fast and knows secret paths in the forest, so he is tasked with running away with the Pot Plot. He runs to non-Arcadian Verda’s cabin in the woods. He met her when he was six and got lost in the woods during a snowstorm. Bit came across Verda’s cabin, and she took him in; she fed him venison, which made him throw up (due to his vegan diet). Eventually, Titus found him.

On another night, Bit wakes up in the Teenagers’ Dormitory. He has a recurring nightmare based on a past experience: Years ago, Handy made an exception to Arcadia’s rule against animals. He brought sheep so Arcadians could sell wool to the Outside. However, Bit woke up one night to the sheep dead, blood everywhere. This memory haunts him whenever stressed. As Arcadia grows, so do stress and resources. Bit now has access to a library and outside perspectives due to newcomers. He has heard about Reagan, war in the Falklands, and slavery, and doesn’t want to engage with such things. Still, he has decided to leave Arcadia for college in the Outside, after which he’ll return home for good.

Bit and Helle chat about Arcadia’s newcomers, and agree some are valuable additions while others are “freeloaders.” Bit is attracted to and flattered by Helle, but tries to be reserved because she says he’s the only boy who doesn’t flirt with her. The pair bring newcomer Armand to his living space. Armand wanted to live in Arcadia House, but there is no room. He doesn’t like the look of his new home, which he shares with bitter newcomers. They believe Arcadia is not what it promises to be, that it’s hierarchal and exclusive.

Helle tells Bit that she needs him and brings him to Handy’s bedroom. Bit is nervous, as this room is normally off-limits. Helle lies on the bed, and Bit lies with her. She tells him about her older boyfriend from the Outside. She then consumes a pill and makes Bit consume one; he drifts off. Handy walks in and catches the pair. He doesn’t seem angry that they’re in his room, but reminds Helle that she shouldn’t be there without permission. She mocks him for wanting privacy so he can sleep with Fiona, who is 18. She threatens to find someone inappropriate to sleep with too. When Helle proposes Bit, who is one of Handy’s favorites, Handy advises against the pairing. He grabs her and finds plastic bags of pills in her pockets; he accuses her of stealing. When Helle runs away, Handy tells Bit that even though he and Abe don’t get along, he cares about Bit and encourages him to stay away from Helle. Bit has vivid daydreams of being with Helle, and decides that even if she loses her beauty, he’ll still love her.

Bit and other teenagers have a hiding place where they keep music from the Outside, marijuana, and the like. They wear balaclavas and call themselves the Sowers of Destruction. At night, they go to the Children’s Dormitory and lay out treats. They then place the broken wings of butterflies on windowsills. When the children wake, they are pleased to receive treats from fairies, but the wings make them worry that the fairies are dead. Bit is devastated that he hurt the children.

Arcadia hosts a makeshift school run by adults. Abe teaches one of the tutorials that Bit and his friends attend: They discuss John Milton’s Paradise Lost and the idea that in order to enact change, there must be both intention and willingness to act. Abe uses Arcadia as an example, asking students what they would change about Arcadia. One of the boys, Harrison, points out that Arcadia is supposed to be a place where everyone is equal, but Handy is the leader. The boys are both nervous and excited by the conversation. Ike, Handy’s son, asks if his father is standing in the way of democracy; nearby classes overhear the conversation. Handy arrives and accuses Abe of fomenting discord. They exchange tense words about which one of them has strayed from Arcadia’s ethos; they agree to continue their argument in private, and the other adults rush to participate. The air in Arcadia is tense, but the children begin preparations for an Arcadian holiday called Cockaigne Day. Meanwhile, Bit and his parents take care of their Pot Plot, eager to sow it before the police or someone else finds it.

Helle tells Bit that in the early morning, she saw a five-year-old girl naked in the corn field, eating corn. She is distressed that this girl was alone and exposed, and wonders what’s going on in Arcadia. Bit wants to comfort her, so he tells her about the Pot Plot. He introduces Helle to Verda, another prized secret. However, she is disturbed by Verda’s isolation, and warns him against beautiful girls. Later, Bit finds fellow Arcadian Simon too friendly with Hannah. He overhears her agree to meet Simon at night. He fears his mother will break up their family and joins her. Simon is annoyed that Bit has joined them, but unveils a windmill-like sculpture inspired by Hannah.

Hannah and Bit sneak away early in the morning to pick the Pot Plot and load hemp into a secluded truck. However, Arcadia’s new leadership, the Council of Nine, calls an emergency meeting: Someone in Arcadia told the Outside about Cockaigne Day, and several news outlets have picked up the story. Visitors have snuck into Arcadia and set up camp for the event. The Council of Nine debates, but votes to let the visitors stay. Abe is incensed because they don’t have enough food to feed their own people. Meanwhile, Hannah dries hemp and discovers most of the Pot Plot is gone. When she asks Bit if he told anybody about it, he lies about telling Helle. He tries to confront Helle, but they instead have sex.

Astrid has been away starting a school in Tennessee, but returns due to the ongoing conflict in Arcadia. She and Hannah used to be best friends, but no longer talk; Bit doesn’t know why. The Cockaigne Day partying gets out of hand. Hannah tries to give a Cockaigne Day speech, considered an honor, but people barely listen to her; even Handy doesn’t show up. Hannah details the 19th-century Divinist cult that created Arcadia House, and encourages Arcadia to learn from past mistakes. Bit takes acid with other teenagers, which exacerbates the evening for him. He wanders into the forest and watches two men have sex with Helle, an act she was pressured into. He runs into Amos, a local Amish man. Amos drops off Arcadians who suffer from drug addiction, and Bit feels out of control.

Bit wakes up in the morning to screaming. A child found a dead body in one of the fields, and now the police have arrived at Arcadia. State troopers and local police arrest 153 people on drug charges, send 15 runaways home, and tear down tents. Because Handy technically owns Arcadia, he is charged with 15 counts of harboring minors, 24 counts of aiding and abetting drug transactions, and negligent manslaughter for the dead body. Astrid receives bail money from her mother, Margrete, whose two conditions are divorce and sending her and Handy’s children to live with her in Norway. Hannah discovers there is no food left at Arcadia. She, Abe, and Bit agree to stay a little longer, but if things don’t change, they’ll leave. Bit’s best friend Jincy hitchhikes to Syracuse, and Titus leaves with his family. Astrid bids her children goodbye and returns to Tennessee; Helle, Ike, and Leif will live in Norway. Helle and Ike try to convince Handy to escape jail time by running to Canada, but he insists on serving his sentence.

Bit learns newcomer Armand stole his family’s hemp (through Helle). The boys get into a fistfight, but Bit is able to return the hemp to his mother, who says it’s too late. Ike runs away, and Bit finds him in the woods; Ike is sad that his parents don’t want him. Two Amish boys run into them, and they smoke weed together. Astrid’s mother, Margrete, arrives to pick up her grandchildren; Bit’s friends Cole and Dylan also leave. Arcadia dwindles from nearly 800 members to 60, and Bit senses that “[t]here is a puncture in the world, and everything Bit knew about himself is escaping” (163). Hannah wakes him in the middle of the night to leave for good. The family says goodbye to Verda on their way out, and she gives them a considerable sum of money. As he enters the Outside, Bit sees things he’s never seen before.