59 pages • 1 hour read
Elvira WoodruffGeorge Washington's Socks
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1991A 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 4-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
In the woods, Hooter shows a fear of snakes and Q of spiders. Tony tries to scout, but he doesn’t move ahead very far. Tony brings up the lake’s legend, surprising Matt, who didn’t know any local lore. Tony relays how the old name of Levy Lake was Lake Levart and that his grandfather told him of the disappearances of individuals whose remains were never found. People who did return “were never the same” (19). They told strange tales and seemed mesmerized by the lake. According to the stories, a rowboat took each missing person out into the water.
Tony also says that his grandfather’s friend Adam Hibbs was one of those who went missing; Adam never returned. Tony’s grandfather investigated the disappearances and discovered that with each, the moon was in its three-quarter phase.
Chapter 5 Summary
Matt grows fearful as Tony speaks. Tony says when his grandfather began to tell him about the name Levart, Tony’s mom interrupted; Tony never learned the “clue to the mystery” (22).
Q, who reads up on astronomy, determines the moon is in its three-quarter phase. Katie mentions that the marshmallows she was carrying are missing. Ten minutes pass as the boys walk and talk about Tony’s grandfather’s story; finally, Matt realizes Katie is gone.
The group hears a splash and runs for the lake. A rowboat drifts toward the shore where Katie stands staring and smiling. She doesn’t even turn as they yell for her attention. The boys near the boat and feel compelled to get in, just like Katie. Matt and Q begin to row, and as a cloud darkens the moon, the boat disappears.
Chapter 6 Summary
The setting changes to a dark, snowy, freezing night. Matt, the other boys, and Katie hold on hard as rough currents push the boat through drifting ice. Katie stands, and when Matt and Hooter reach for her, the boat tips, and she falls out. Matt can’t see through the fog; he wants to save her but can’t tell where to jump. He cries in grief and frustration, visualizing his parents reacting to the loss of Katie.
Tony sees a name on the boat by the light of Q’s flashlight—Emit Levart. According to his grandfather, that name connects to the lake’s legend.
Chapter 7 Summary
The boys see Katie on a large piece of ice that floats up against another boat. She calls out, very much alive. A tall, strange-looking man pulls her into the boat and covers her in his cape. Other men stand in the boat wearing ragged clothing. They have chapped faces and hold guns, and they command the boys to stop “in the name of the Continental Army” (34). Matt thinks the tall man’s hair and strange uniform make him vaguely recognizable. The man announces that his name is General George Washington, and he demands to know if the boys are “friend or foe to the Revolution” (35).
The men in the boat point long guns and comment on the boys’ speech and clothes. General Washington is mystified when Matt says he’s from Nebraska. Q recognizes the scene from their history books and claims they have “gone back in time” (36).
Matt is speechless and horrified. He closes his eyes, a behavior he resorts to when he is deeply afraid and unable to face circumstances.
Chapters 4-7 Analysis
These fast-paced chapters have a snappy, direct flow of events. The moon, the rowboat, and the strange compulsion to go out on the lake are all foreshadowed by Tony’s grandfather’s legend, and the reader recognizes the boat’s inscription because the name Levart is a part of the legend backstory. Readers have all the clues they need to determine the new setting and situation when the boat makes its time-jump—the cold, the icy river, the uniforms, and demeanor of the men and their leader—even before the boys realize where they are.
The author sets a mood of looming danger through imagery in the woods and lake scenes. The reader can see the shadows and moon and hear the screeching of the bird. The connotation of certain words and phrases like “rustled,” “eerie,” and “engulfed in a thick velvety darkness” (27) contribute strongly to the atmosphere of these chapters. Word choice conveys the strange, unexplained compulsion the boys experience that draws them into the boat: they stare at it “transfixed” and Matt feels it is “beckoning to him” (26).
The mood shifts strongly when the scene changes to the Delaware River, again established through imagery; the reader sees the fog, feels the icy coldness and damp freezing rain, and hears the odd speech of the Revolutionary-era soldiers. The atmosphere conveys a foreign and disorienting scene; it contributes to a mood of panic and confusion.
Matt’s reactions demonstrate additional traits in these chapters. He has no qualms about leading his friends into the woods until Tony reveals information about mysterious disappearances. Despite Matt’s trepidation, he does not stop the quest. His unease increases with the story of Adam Hibbs and the realization that the moon is indeed in three-quarter phase, but there is no chance to revoke his decision once Katie turns up missing. In panic mode, all thoughts turn to finding her and envisioning having to face his parents.
Matt’s tendency to close his eyes in avoidance of a scary situation becomes clear throughout the book, and this group of chapters ends with a notable occurrence of this habit. His denial that the circumstances are real is tied up in his increasing feelings of responsibility, which will be developed as themes throughout the book; as Chapter 7 ends, he is “wishing they could go back, back to the safety of a few hours ago, when his life had been normal and safe” (37). The comforts of a familiar, “normal” life is a motif introduced here as well.
