91 pages • 3 hours read
Jeff ZentnerGoodbye Days
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017A 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 31-35Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 31 Summary
Chapter 31 consists of a brief internal monologue. It’s two months after the accident. Carver wonders whether his brain is creating false memories about his friends. He has a persistent memory of hanging out with them at a playground, but he can’t recall when this happened. “If my brain wants to manufacture new memories of them, I’ll accept it and I won’t ask too many questions” (257), he concludes.
Chapter 32 Summary
Jesmyn and Carver go to the Bauers’ house for Eli’s goodbye day. Carver has a flashback beforehand, thinking of how he met Eli. Mr. and Mrs. Bauer (Pierce and Melissa) participate in the goodbye day. Adair does not. They first eat breakfast from a bakery where the Bauer family would go every Saturday. Then they drive to a waterfall where they plan to scatter bits of sand from an art project Eli made for his parents when he was little.
On the drive, Mr. Bauer muses about how the family decided, on a similar car ride, that Eli should attend Nashville Arts Academy (NAA). He references the butterfly effect, similar to the ripple effect, saying if Eli had never attended NAA, he would still be alive: “I can’t help but contemplate the singular moments—the proverbial butterfly flapping its wings—leading to unforeseen consequences” (268). He concludes that if Eli had never gone to NAA, he would never have been in the car with Mars and Blake.
The remark leads to an argument between Mr. and Mrs. Bauer. They get in many arguments throughout the day. Similar to Blake’s goodbye day (when Carver told Nana Betsy Blake was gay), Carver divulges information about Eli that his parents didn’t know. He tells them that Eli may have believed in God. This is surprising to Eli’s parents, who are atheists. Throughout the car ride, the atmosphere is tense. Jesmyn is good at breaking the ice, spontaneously sharing stories about Eli. Watching her navigate the emotionally difficult terrain, Carver realizes that he loves her.
At the falls, they each scatter some sand and say some words. Before driving back, they all use the bathroom. While in the men’s room, Carver is accosted by Mr. Bauer. He tells Carver, “I’m not entirely at peace with your role in my son’s death” (285). He also criticizes the evident growing closeness between Jesmyn and Carver, telling Carver he should not profit from Eli’s death by dating his girlfriend. Carver has a panic attack in the bathroom after Mr. Bauer leaves. On the drive home, the Bauers reveal to Jesmyn and Carver that they are getting a divorce.
Chapter 33 Summary
Carver is pulled out of his biology class and taken to the principal’s office. The detectives who interviewed him at Mr. Krantz’s office are there. At first he thinks he’s getting arrested. In fact, they’re seizing his cell phone and laptop for evidence for the case. Detectives also go through his room.
Chapter 34 Summary
Carver has an appointment with Dr. Mendez. He talks about Eli’s goodbye day, including the fact that it made him realize he has feelings for Jesmyn. Dr. Mendez theorizes that some of Carver’s guilt surrounding the accident may come from his growing fondness for Jesmyn.
Chapter 35 Summary
Chapter 35 consists of a brief internal monologue of just a few lines. Carver can’t’ stop thinking about Jesmyn: “Eli’s goodbye day opened some door I can’t shut again. Not that I’ve tried very hard” (301).
Chapters 31-35 Analysis
Eli’s goodbye day is a turning point for Carver, causing him to realize that he’s in love with Jesmyn. This development again highlights the theme of guilt and grief and how the two are intertwined. Carver has come to rely on Jesmyn for support as he mourns his friends’ deaths. However, his developing feelings for her only add to his guilt and grief, to the extent that he tries to quash his feelings.
Mr. Bauer’s character also concretely brings together two major themes: guilt and the ripple effect. Mr. Bauer theorizes that Eli’s death might have been averted if they had never allowed him to attend Nashville Arts Academy. He references the “butterfly effect,” which is often conflated with the ripple effect, in his musings. Although he doesn’t express it, his own guilt is evident. As a parent, he would have a say in where his child went to school. By sending Eli to Nashville Arts Academy, he put in motion a chain of events that ultimately led to the boy’s death. Mr. Bauer’s own guilt is presumably part of the reason why he fixates on Carver’s “role” in the accident.
Eli’s goodbye day also reveals another tangible “ripple” that seems to have resulted from the accident: The Bauers are getting a divorce. Similar to Nana Betsy’s moving back home, this is an event that may or may not have eventually happened, regardless of the accident. One could argue that Nana Betsy might have moved when Blake went to college, for example, or that the Bauers would have one day divorced anyway. However, Blake’s and Eli’s deaths seem to have played a part in these events. Carver notes that although the Bauers would often engage in intellectual debates, the arguments they have throughout the goodbye day are new and different—nastier.
Chapter 31 introduces a new phenomenon: Carver theorizes that his brain is creating new memories of Sauce Crew—memories of events that never occurred. So far, Carver has had flashbacks of his friends, had dreams about them, and even engaged in imaginary conversations with them. This new phenomenon sheds some light on the purpose of Carver’s mental activity surrounding his friends: It’s all a way of keeping them alive. Carver will never actually create memories with his friends again. This is an extremely tough fact to accept. His brain is seemingly responding by creating new stories.
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