49 pages • 1 hour read
Gordon KormanThe Hypnotists
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015A 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 17-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 17 Summary
Tommy teases Jax for complaining about being chosen. Tommy wants Jax to use the power to help him gain Carol Ann Darby’s affection, but Jax knows he shouldn’t. Tommy makes a paper airplane to get Carol Ann’s attention. Jax tries to hypnotize Tommy to give him a little more confidence and stop acting like a clown in front of Carol Ann. Jax feels the link developing, but it’s not working on Tommy. He isn’t sure who he is hypnotizing.
Chapter 18 Summary
Jax realizes that someone is watching the video and getting hypnotized. He rushes out of class to go tell Dr. Mako. He calls Sentia, but Ms. Samuels informs him that Dr. Mako is in closed sessions. Jax is sure he is showing people the video Jax made.
During hypnotism history lessons, Jax can’t focus. He wants to talk to Dr. Mako. He makes a run for it through the labs and exam rooms until Wilson tackles him and drags him back to Ms. Samuels’s office. Ms. Samuels informs him that Dr. Mako is out helping Senator Douglas with his campaign.
Chapter 19 Summary
Jax has visions during breakfast and a test at school. He feels jealous but isn’t sure why. He realizes the envy is coming through the mesmeric link. Dr. Mako is still absent from Sentia. While laughing hysterically, he realizes he and Singh 2 are linked. He feels increasingly frustrated that Mako won’t see him and tells Ms. Samuels that he is going home until Dr. Mako returns. On the subway home, he feels a rush of overwhelming hatred. He realizes he and Wilson are linked. Wilson seems like he is planning to meet Jax on 45th and Third at 2 am to get rid of Jax. Jax doesn’t understand this plan but worries that he is in danger.
Chapter 20 Summary
Jax tiptoes through his apartment in the middle of the night and sneaks past the doorman. He meets up with a shadowy figure who turns out to be Tommy. They take the train to the meeting spot and notice Wilson and DeRon approaching. They bend a security guard to enter the campaign headquarters of Zachary Schaumberg, who is running in the primary against Trey Douglas. Wilson and DeRon steal many files. Jax and Tommy aren’t sure what Wilson and DeRon are trying to accomplish here and how it relates to Jax.
Chapter 21 Summary
Jax’s sleeve catches on fire during science class while a vision distracts him. He is starting to lose control of his actions. Principal Orenstein suspends him for two weeks. He asks how Jax is doing at Sentia, and Jax tells him he wants to quit. Orenstein is shocked he would give up a chance to learn from someone like Dr. Mako. He mentions that Governor Schaumberg just had a political scandal involving a casino contract, which will likely sink his bid for the nomination.
Jax runs to Sentia and shows Ms. Samuels the newspaper, telling her all about what Wilson and DeRon did. Wilson appears in the waiting room, and Jax tells him he knows what happened last night. He’s ready to rat Wilson out to Mako. Wilson laughs. Mako is the one who sent him to get those files. This shocks Jax. He isn’t sure what to believe. He remembers how Braintree didn’t trust Mako either. Mako finally rushes in, looking disheveled. Jax storms out and quits Sentia.
Chapter 22 Summary
As they walk along the Brooklyn Bridge, Tommy looks on the bright side. Jax has his life back. The blowback he gets from the video still troubles Jax. Suddenly a young man jumps up on the ledge, crying. Jax and Tommy rush to talk him down, but he seems determined to jump. Jax hypnotizes him and almost gets him to step down before losing the vision. Tommy and Jax grab him and try to pull him back onto the bridge.
Jax gives him a post-hypnotic suggestion to climb back over and value his life. The man doesn’t remember being suicidal and blames Jax and Tommy for dragging him across traffic. Tommy suggests that Jax go back to Sentia, but Jax thinks Mako is poison. As they talk about him, Tommy repeats the line that everyone says about Mako. Jax realizes Mako distributed some kind of post-hypnotic suggestion.
Chapter 23 Summary
Jax goes back to Sentia to face Mako. When Mako comes in, Jax feels a strong desire to impress him, even as he feels angry. Mako all but admits that he sent the jumper to test Jax’s powers, and he wouldn’t have cared if the guy died. Mako also admits that he has been showing the video to many people with impressive results. Jax tells Mako everything he knows: that Mako set up the break-in, that Mako bends his famous friends, and that Jax is an Opus and a Sparks.
Mako finally reveals his plan to have Jax send out a post-hypnotic suggestion for Douglas to win the election. Jax immediately refuses. Mako threatens him by telling him he has planted a post-hypnotic suggestion in his parents and if Jax doesn’t cooperate, he will become an orphan. Jax tries to hypnotize Mako and succeeds for a moment before Mako forces him out.
Mako takes him to the lab to record the message. Jax worries about what the blowback will be when millions of people view his message.
Chapter 24 Summary
Jax starts experiencing the blowback. Tommy tries to help him, but Jax doesn’t know what to do. He can’t tell his parents, or they’ll go to the police and Mako will know he ratted on the plan. Tommy pledges to support Jax in whatever he decides to do. Jax starts getting the visions faster and faster and has to go home from school. At home, he pretends to be happy in front of his parents. He sees his father open the computer and watch the video of him. He feels incredibly guilty.
Chapters 17-24 Analysis
This section features a major plot reversal as Jax learns the truth about Sentia and Dr. Mako’s nefarious plans. Korman introduces a new level of threat and situates Jax’s experience within the broader context of his community. Korman also expands on the themes of Indirect Versus Direct Control and Morality in the Face of Temptation by showing how hypnosis interacts with fundamental values like democracy and choice.
Jax's character undergoes significant development in this section, as he learns the true gravity and potential harm of using hypnosis on a large scale. He becomes more aware of the dynamics surrounding Mako and the way he uses his hypnosis to bolster his social influence, which in turn gives him greater access to more hypnotists like Jax, who buy into his elite status and appearance of benevolence. Jax begins to see the ways that he has been vulnerable to Mako’s coercions and makes more concerted efforts to push back. His eventual decision to quit Sentia and stand up to Mako demonstrates his increasing independence and willingness to stand up for his own beliefs, demonstrating his Heroism Against Destructive Forces. His sense of empathy and duty to his community impact his decision to stop Dr. Mako from dismantling democracy. He also feels a duty to his own family to respect their autonomy, understanding how coercion can erode trust among loved ones.
This section also develops Dr. Mako’s character by revealing his true moral core and personal ambition. Unlike Jax, Dr. Mako does not believe in honoring other people’s right to choose their candidate or maintain autonomy over their own lives. He demonstrates that his primary commitment is to his political and personal agenda, and he is willing to place his students at risk to achieve his aims. Korman emphasizes the hollow nature of Dr. Mako’s relationships since hypnosis predicates them all. Jax begins to understand that Dr. Mako’s reputation is a sham, built on a network of post-hypnotic suggestions instead of meaningful trust. Korman shows how the hypnosis erodes trust in a relationship, as Jax can no longer believe in Dr. Mako, seeing him as a figure with a compromised moral compass. Korman emphasizes just how deceptive the indirect social control he inflicts can be.
The novel continues exploring Morality in the Face of Temptation through Dr. Mako’s actions in this section. He crosses several moral and legal lines, as his ambitions become clearer, and he reveals his willingness to endanger others. When Jax learns that Mako sent Wilson and DeRon to steal the campaign files, his understanding of his function at Sentia changes. Sentia exploits its students, putting them in danger and pushing them to break rules to service Mako’s ambitions. When Jax encounters the jumper, he finally sees clearly that Mako would kill innocent people if it would help his ambition. Temptation is built into the framework of Sentia, providing Mako with infinite opportunities to exploit others for personal gain using both his own and his students’ hypnosis. Korman highlights the danger of unchecked power and the way institutions can both obscure and exacerbate abuse.
Korman combines both Indirect Versus Direct Control in this section as Mako employs both strategies on Jax. Mako exerts direct control on Jax when he shows the video to others and causes painful, disorienting blowback. Mako exerts indirect control on Jax when he reveals that he planted a post-hypnotic suggestion in Jax’s parents that will kill them if he says the trigger word. Through this threat of violence, Mako can coerce Jax into doing whatever he wants. There is an illusion of choice as Jax is not being directly hypnotized, but the threat of harm to his loved ones all but guarantees his compliance. This abusive strategy causes Jax to feel complicit in Mako’s plans and personally guilty for the harm they cause, complicating his ability to act heroically against dangerous forces. By using Jax’s powers without his knowledge and consent, Mako appropriates Jax’s role in the story, recasting him as the villain spreading harm as opposed to the hero saving the day. Jax’s visions of himself mirror the way this conflict will play out, as he must face off against his power to embody Heroism Against Destructive Forces.
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By Gordon Korman
