37 pages • 1 hour read
Anne TylerA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
As Pearl lies dying in her bed, she tries to speak to her son Ezra. She remembers when her firstborn son Cody developed croup; she told her husband Beck that she wanted “more children […] some extra” (7) in case Cody died. She had three children: Cody, Ezra, and Jenny. Over the past years, Pearl has been “falling into disrepair” (8). She remembers her family and her struggles to find a husband until—aged 30—she met Beck, a salesman. They met at church (though Pearl was a “nonbeliever” (10)) and married when Beck was transferred by his work. They “moved, and they moved again” (10), which became harder when they had children. With each transfer, she became slightly more disconnected from her family.
In 1944, Beck told Pearl that he “didn’t want to stay married” (11). He promises to send money but “won’t be visiting the children” (12). Beck leaves and Pearl struggles to tell the children. Weeks pass. She tells no one and, when Jenny cries, Pearl says that “there was a war on” (14), and Beck was needed. After a month, Beck sends a note and money but it is not “nearly enough” (14). Pearl takes a cashier job. Beck sends $50 every month and sometimes includes a brief note. Pearl dreams of Beck. Eventually, she realizes that Beck is not returning. She struggles to tell the children. Pearl works at the grocery store and works on the house, sealing it up “as if for a hurricane” (17-18). Cut off from the world, she develops a reputation as “unfriendly, even spooky” (18).
Ezra pours his mother a glass of water and reminds her that Dr. Vincent is arriving soon. Pearl is certain that she has pneumonia and does not want to go to the hospital. She has had to be a strong person ever since Beck left. She raised the children alone; eventually her sons “started helping out financially” (21). Though the children have grown into “attractive, likeable people” (22), Pearl senses “a kind of trademark flaw in each of their lives” (22): Cody angers easily, Jenny is flippant, and Ezra has never fulfilled his potential. Beck still sends occasional letters. Pearl dreams that the house is on fire and, on waking up, asks Ezra to check for her. When he returns, she tells him about who she wants invited to her funeral.
The doctor arrives; he tells Pearl that she must go to the hospital. Pearl remembers a time when she had a wound become infected. She had a reaction to a penicillin shot and nearly died. She insists that she is not going to the hospital and begins to think about death. Jenny arrives; she and Ezra talk about whether Pearl should go to the hospital. Pearl smiles as she listens to them debate. She imagines lying in a bed that carries her to a beach where “three small children” (33) run toward her.
With his father, Cody trials a new bow and arrow set. His mother picks flowers nearby and his siblings watch. His father tries to teach Cody how to use the bow; the first arrow bounds off the target that has been hammered into a tree. Next is Ezra’s turn. Thoughtful and clumsy, Ezra “just looked all wrong” (36) with the bow in his hands. He hits the target dead in the center. Cody jokingly points the bow at Ezra, who panics and knocks Cody down. The arrow flies loose, hitting Pearl in the chest. Cody blames Ezra as their mother bleeds. Cody has previously blamed Ezra for other mistakes made by Cody.
Cody remembers how his father had left. It was a long time before the children discussed it amongst themselves. Cody asks his mother about the issue, but she tells him nothing. Cody meets Darryl Peters, who asks to see Ezra. Peters is a salesman from Peaceful Hills Memorial Gardens, responding to a mail-in coupon bearing the name Ezra Tull. Peters leaves and Cody returns upstairs, where Lorena Schmidt is waiting for him. They discuss Ezra and his occasional fits. Cody drinks beer though he is still underage. He often plays pranks on Ezra and dreams about their father. Entering the ninth grade, Cody keeps his social life and his family life separate. He pranks Ezra relentlessly, even hiding Ezra’s beloved whistle. Pearl has occasional bursts of rage, and the children sneak silently through the home and clean up after her. They contemplate running away from home but “don’t have anyplace to run to” (47). They sit at the dinner table and listen to their mother criticize them and complain about their bad behavior. Furious, Pearl labels her children “parasites” (49) and says that she wished that would “all die, and let me go free” (49). She storms out, and the children clean the kitchen.
Cody befriends a girl named Edith Taber. On Thanksgiving, the family play Monopoly, allowing the fiercely competitive Cody to play (even though he cheats occasionally). After, Cody is disgusted to learn that Ezra also knows Edith. A few days later, Edith seems to be avoiding Cody. He discovers that he has a “reputation” (53), and now Edith is more interested in other boys. Cody wanders home and wishes he could move to a new town. In his bedroom, he arranges his empty alcohol bottles around a sleeping Ezra and takes a picture. The children shop for their mother’s Christmas present. They reminisce about past holidays, and Jenny realizes that their father is “really not ever coming home again” (57). One morning, Cody opens a letter from Beck to Pearl. His mother returns home having developed the film in the camera. She is angry to see a shot of Ezra, surrounded by empty bottles. She admits to Cody that she finds her life difficult, and Cody admits that the picture was a joke; he admits to being “naturally mean” (59). At Christmas, he cheats at Monopoly.
The opening two chapters of the novel provide insight into how the narrative will function, particularly regarding the idea of competing narratives. Over the course of these two chapters, the audience is presented with the same events but seen from different perspectives. There is the point of view of Pearl, who lies dying in a bed and reflects on the tough life she led, trying to raise her three children after her husband left; and there is the point of view of Cody, the eldest of her sons and the only one who is yet to arrive at her bedside. Cody’s perspective is very different from Pearl’s perspective and—by examining the differences—it is possible to find the actual truth of the narrative buried deep inside.
The second chapter begins with an event that the first chapter hinted at: An arrow hits Pearl. In her version of events, Beck is to blame. She believes him to be stupid for buying the children a dangerous weapon, and he is generally treated as the root cause for many of her problems. In Cody’s version of events, the incident is described in more detail. The audience becomes aware that Cody is hyper-competitive and holds a dim view of his younger brother Ezra. When Ezra shows skill at the bow and arrow, Cody jokingly threatens his younger brother, and the two fight. Cody accidentally fires the arrow and hits his mother in the chest. Whereas Pearl blames Beck, Cody blames Ezra. Neither blames Cody, who should perhaps endure the most of the responsibility for the incident. As such, both Cody and Pearl reveal their insecurities and their biases. Pearl will always resent her husband for leaving and permanently altering the course of her life; Cody will always look to exculpate himself of guilt and demonstrate his own resentment of his little brother (whom he knows is Pearl’s favorite). By offering different perspectives, the audience does not necessarily discover the truth of what happened. Rather, the different perspectives offer additional insight into the characters themselves.
By Anne Tyler