79 pages • 2 hours read
Pittacus LoreI Am Number Four
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2010A 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 16-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
Four notices that Sam is avoiding him at school, so he decides to go to his house unannounced. He lets himself in and finds Sam in his bedroom. Sam pulls a gun out of his drawer and points it at a surprised Four. Sam demands that Four admit what he is because he can’t be human based on what he did in the woods. Four manages to talk him down and convince him that his obsession with alien conspiracies has gone too far if he thinks that he could actually be an alien. Sam lowers the gun and seems pacified.
Four asks where the They Walk Among Us subscription comes from. Sam says that the magazine just started arriving one day, but he doesn’t remember ever signing up for it. There are no website or publication details in the magazine. Four asks to see the last issue where the article about the Mogadorians was printed. The article claims that there is an alien race called the Mogadorians from the planet Mogadore of the ninth galaxy. They have already taken over one planet and are determined to gain world domination. Sam lets Four borrow the issue.
After they’ve eaten dinner, Four notices Sam isn’t wearing his glasses. Sam admits that he doesn’t really need them, but he wears them because they belonged to his dad, who disappeared when he was seven years old. He hesitantly confides in Four that he thinks his dad was abducted by aliens, worried that Four will judge him for it. Four suddenly understands why Sam is so interested in aliens and tells him that he believes him.
Chapter 17 Summary
Henri is at the kitchen table the next morning with his laptop and the two issues of They Walk Among Us that Sam let Four borrow. He tells Four that after a lot of digging and cross-referencing, he was able to find the contact information for a man connected to the publication and plans to call him. Henri has been thinking more and more lately that nothing makes sense about the fall of Lorien, like the disappearance of the Elders or how they were defeated so easily. To keep it from happening again, they have to understand what happened in the past.
The next morning, Four and Bernie Kosar run to school as part of Four’s new training regime. Four challenges Bernie Kosar by running as fast as he can to see if Bernie can catch up. Bernie Kosar runs as fast as he can, then runs straight into the woods and disappears. Suddenly he jumps out from the woods 10 feet in front of Four. When they get to school, Four tells Bernie Kosar it’s time for him to go home. As Bernie Kosar trots away in the direction of home, Four thinks how amazed he is at how much Bernie Kosar seems to understand.
When Henri picks up Four after school, he says that he found out They Walk Among Us is being written, printed, and mailed from Athens, Ohio. Henri calls the number related to the publication when they get home. A man with a deep voice picks up, and Henri informs him that he is calling with a question about the publication, specifically the article about the Mogadorians. The man sounds shaken as he tells Henri not to call again. He abruptly hangs up.
Chapter 18 Summary
Henri decides he is going to go to Athens, Ohio, but he will be home early enough for Thanksgiving dinner with Sarah and her parents, who have extended an invitation to Four and Henri to join them. He gives Four the address and phone number of where he will be heading. Four has a bad feeling, but Henri assures him of its importance.
Hours later, Henri still hasn’t come home, and he hasn’t answered any of Four’s texts. Four is starting to feel frantic. At dinner, he meets Sarah’s mother and father and her siblings. Watching them makes him wish that he had a real father and brothers. He tells them that Henri got caught up with something but will arrive soon. As they eat, Four can barely focus because he is panicked that he will never see Henri again.
They pose for pictures after dinner. As he is staring at the camera, anxious but trying to look normal, he accidentally shatters the lens of Sarah’s camera with what he realizes is telekinesis. Worried he will never get the chance to tell Henri, he tells Sarah he has to go. When he gets home, Bernie Kosar also seems anxious, as if he knows something is wrong. Four runs to the chest and is relieved that he can’t open it because that means Henri is still alive. Four calls Sam and asks him for help.
Chapter 19 Summary
Four practices lifting objects around the house with his telekinesis while he waits for Sam, who arrives on his bike 25 minutes later. Four confides in Sam that he believes Henri has been captured by the writers of one of the articles in Sam’s magazine. He claims that Henri loves aliens just as much as Sam and alien conspiracies have been a long-time passion of his. Sam says they can take his dad’s truck to Athens. Neither of them has their license, and Athens is two hours away. Sam insists, however, because he would do it for his dad if the situation were reversed. With Sam behind the wheel, Four, Sam, and Bernie Kosar take the truck to Athens.
Chapter 20 Summary
When they arrive at the address Henri gave them, they see an extremely large man with a goatee and a shaved head walk out the front door. Four tells Sam to follow him while he goes inside to look for Henri.
Inside, a man attempts to attack Four with a baseball bat, claiming that he is “one of them.” Four disarms him with his strength and his new telekinesis ability and ties him up. The man tells Four that he and his kind will never succeed and to leave Earth alone. Four chokes him until the man tells him that Henri is downstairs in the basement.
Four finds Henri tied up with blood on his face and smelling of urine. He clearly has been there for a long time. As Four works to untie Henri, the man Sam was following arrives and points a gun at them. The man claims “they” warned them that the enemies would be coming and that they would look like humans. Henri says they are delusional if they think that he and Four are the real enemies. Four uses his telekinesis to throw a roll of duct tape at the man’s nose, which flows with blood. Henri is ecstatic and proud that Four’s telekinesis has finally shown up. Four knocks the man out and ties him up. Then they hear Sam’s voice at the top of the stairs, calling to see if he and Henri are there.
Chapters 16-20 Analysis
At this point in the novel, Four is still at the stage in his hero’s journey where he must face obstacles in his path to reach his true potential. Rescuing Henri is a significant test for Four because for most of Four’s life, Henri has been guiding him as his mentor, and as of late he has been teaching him how to hone his Legacies. It only seems natural that Four should have to test his new abilities to save the one who has protected him for so long.
Henri’s disappearance also signifies to readers just how important Henri is to Four. Although it has been clear that Four and Henri are close, it becomes especially transparent how much Four loves and needs Henri when he realizes he might never see him again. He fears that he will be alone. Even with Henri, Four feels a deep sense of loneliness since he is unable to make a life for himself on Earth. The only solace he has is that he has Henri. Without Henri, Four would be lost.
Sam coming to Four’s aid in this section reveals much about his character. When Four first met Sam, Sam seemed like a quiet loner who mostly experienced adventure through his conspiracy magazines. When the time comes to actually take action in a dangerous situation, however, Sam doesn’t hesitate. He is not the quiet or timid boy that readers might have thought, but someone who will fight alongside his friends when they need him. Sam’s accompaniment all but seals his role as Four’s sidekick.
This section of the novel also gives Sam more of a backstory that reveals his motivations. By sharing with Four that he believes his dad was abducted by aliens, Sam indicates his personal reasons for scouring conspiracy magazines. This information also provides some context as to why Sam would so readily help Four rescue Henri: He lost his own father, and he wouldn’t want to see his friend lose his as well because he knows the pain of that loss.
