65 pages • 2 hours read
Catherine Ryan HydePay It Forward
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 27-29Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 27 Summary: “Arlene”
Trevor’s extended family shows up to a home viewing of Chris’s interview with Trevor. Trevor is so excited that he repeatedly asks Arlene if she is taping the segment. Arlene listens to the narrator talking about Sidney G. and the previous segment, and is ecstatic when she hears Trevor’s name mentioned on television. She is very proud of Trevor.
They watch as a televised Trevor explains how he’s been feeding the stray cats and keeping Mrs. Greenberg’s garden nice in memory of her. She asks Trevor if Reuben is coming, and Trevor says that Reuben will try, but Reuben never shows. Arlene does not drink.
Arlene’s mother says that “Arlene woke up sick” (241), and asks Arlene if she’d been drinking. Arlene says she’s been sober for more than a year, but her mother does not believe her. Her mom says she might be pregnant, but Arlene pushes the thought out of her head. Arlene tells Trevor she’ll get him a new bike and that she’s proud of him. Trevor says he doesn’t need a new bike.
Arlene feels sick again the next morning again. She is upset Reuben missed the showing. She finds a note from her mom telling her to call Chris. She calls Chris’s phone number and listens to a message telling her he’s coming out to Atascadero in person to speak with her.
Trevor opens fan mail, and Chris comes to see the McKinneys. Chris wants to tape an interview for Citizen of the Month with Trevor, and says that Trevor gets to go to the White House to meet the president with Arlene and Reuben.
From The Diary of Trevor
Trevor is excited about going to meet the president, and writes that he’ll be too busy to write in his diary for a while.
Chapter 28 Summary: “Reuben”
Reuben, Trevor, and Arlene fly to Washington D.C. Trevor talks constantly on the way there, “endless strings of breathy speculation” (247). He discusses the history of the White House, among other things, then asks if he can call the president Bill, and Arlene is aghast. Trevor hopes he gets to meet Chelsea, who he classifies as “a major babe” (248). Arlene and Reuben sit next to each other but do not speak on the plane ride. Reuben wonders why he brought the engagement ring for Arlene, but doesn’t tell her he has it. They are met by a guide at the airport. Trevor asks to see the Vietnam Memorial.
The guide acknowledges Reuben’s service, and Reuben thinks back to his seven weeks in Vietnam. The guide gives the tour to Arlene and Trevor, but Reuben hangs back. Reuben looks for Artie’s name. Trevor asks who Artie is, and Reuben explains how Artie dropped a grenade in high grass, and Reuben tried to save him, resulting in Reuben’s deformity. Reuben wonders what would have happened if he hadn’t tried to help Artie, and Arlene says that’s not the person he is. They hug, and Reuben says he understands why she went back to Ricky, then gives her the ring. Trevor falls asleep early, and the next morning Arlene is sick again, which worries Reuben.
They meet with the president, who tells Trevor that Trevor can call him Bill. Trevor tells him that Arlene and Reuben got engaged, and tomorrow is his birthday. During the interview, Trevor says he’s glad Clinton won and that he didn’t think he had a chance, which makes Clinton laugh. Reuben is incredibly nervous, but Trevor thinks the whole thing is like a birthday party. He receives a plaque from the president. Reuben wonders how he didn’t know that tomorrow was Trevor’s birthday.
On the drive back to the hotel, Trevor asks if Reuben thinks he’ll ever get another day as good as this one, then admits that he still has one more pay it forward to go. Arlene and Reuben say he’s done enough, but Trevor thinks he needs to do just one more.
Chapter 29 Summary: “Gordie”
Gordie dates and lives with Sandy, a middle-aged man who makes Gordie feel safe and beautiful. Sandy buys Gordie clothes and a fake ID, taking him to upscale clubs on Saturdays. They go out to a gay club. Gordie and Sandy eat with Gordie’s friends, who are jealous of Gordie’s youth and litheness.
From The Other Faces Behind the Movement
Gordie reflects on how he was finally becoming happy, and how he and Sandy nursed each other back to health: “I just wish the Boy had picked somebody else to help” (258). He thinks that if other people hear his own story, they’ll understand.
When Gordie and Sandy leave the club, they are accosted by a group of young men. One holds a knife to the guard’s throat, while others beat Sandy with a baseball bat. As the men beat him, Gordie detaches from reality. He hears a boy’s voice just before he collapses on top of Sandy.
Chapters 27-29 Analysis
Trevor finally understands the success of the movement and is momentarily famous. However, the audience cannot enjoy this high point as they know that Trevor will soon die. Again, the author uses dramatic irony in order to increase the tensions within these otherwise tonally-happy chapters. Trevor repeatedly mentions how his life cannot get any better than it is right now.
The audience also witnesses the reunion of Reuben and Arlene in abrupt fashion. After Arlene learns more about Reuben’s back story, Reuben again proposes to Arlene and they get engaged. The reader is again made privy to how openness in lines of communication is necessary to a happy relationship. Similarly, in order for Arlene and Reuben to empathize with one another and have an effective relationship, they must communicate aspects of their past that hurt them: Reuben tells Arlene how he became disfigured, and Arlene explains that she is pregnant and the father may be Ricky. The reader sees the baby as being a potential for cracks within Reuben and Arlene’s relationship, although this fear does not come to fruition.
