83 pages • 2 hours read
E. B. WhiteThe Trumpet of the Swan
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1970A 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 1-3 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Sam”
In Chapter 1, the narrator introduces Sam Beaver, a good natured, curious 11-year-old boy who is camping with his father in the western Canadian wilderness, comfortable independently exploring the area around the camp with only a compass to guide him. On these vacations, in the woods, Sam enjoys life away from the busy world, school, and the “problem of what to be when he grew up” (4).
Coming back to the camp after a hike, Sam debates whether to tell his father he has just seen two Trumpeter Swans, the largest birds Sam has ever seen, nesting in a swampy pond a mile and a half east of their campsite. Both are protecting their nest, with the female swan sitting on her eggs and the male cob gliding back and forth on guard. Although the swans fill Sam with wonder, Sam likes to keep some things private and appreciates the time he spends alone in the woods.
When he sees his father at lunch, Sam tells him about a muskrat and some blackbirds he saw, but chooses not to mention the swan and the cob. Sam’s father is a genial man, and while he reminds Sam to watch out for dangers in the woods and marshes, he allows his son the freedom to explore the area. After supper, Sam asks Mr. Beaver if they will be returning in 35 days, but doesn’t clarify that this is when he knows the swan’s eggs will be hatching. While his father thinks this is an odd question, he tells Sam, “I certainly hope so” (4).
Every evening before he goes to bed, Sam writes a brief summary of the events and thoughts he has had, and ends each entry with a question so “he would have something to think about while falling asleep” (5). That evening, Sam notes in his diary that, according to his bird book, baby swans are called cygnets, and that he plans to visit the swans again the next day.
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Pond”
Chapter 2 provides a more objective introduction to the pond that Sam has just discovered. Early in the winter, when snow and ice cover the pond, native animals sleep until the coming of spring, with the exception of an occasional jay or night fox. When the season changes, the birds and animals are “glad to feel the warmth” and stir “with new life and hope” (7).
That year, on the first day of spring, the Trumpeter Swans arrive with their signature sound, “Ko-hoh, ko-hoh!” (8). They have been searching for a home and a prime location to raise a family. From the air, the swampy pond looks appealing to them. After a closer investigation of both ends of the swamp, they discover a small, protected island at the end of a peninsula at the lower end of the pond.
The swan inspects the island closely and asks the cob for his opinion. He tells her it is “[a]n ideal location” that will be easy to defend from attack (11). He then puts his wings on display and watches his wife begin the first stage of building her nest, which will eventually grow to six feet in length. As he provides her with suggestions, she carefully gathers materials for the nest’s base, and he compliments her on the “fine start” (13). In love and excited to be starting a family, at the end of the first day, they trumpet and play in the water “as though they had suddenly gone crazy with delight” (14).
Chapter 3 Summary: “A Visitor”
A week later, the swan begins the days-long process of laying her eggs. After she has laid three eggs and is getting ready for her fourth, she notices Sam is sitting on a log on the shore of the pond. Alarmed, she alerts the cob, who is furious. The cob wants to attack Sam, but she notes, “This boy is not bothering me at the moment. He’s not bothering you either” (17). They remain on the alert, and Sam continues to sit, “spellbound at the sight of the swans” (17). After an hour, Sam quietly walks away, and when the swan finally leaves her nest, she notices she has laid her fourth egg.
After five eggs have been laid, the swan and the cob carefully guard the nest, making sure the eggs receive enough warmth, and that no enemies attack. After several weeks pass, the cob asks his wife how she feels. She doesn’t mind a “certain amount of discomfort for the sake of bringing young swans into the world” (19). Taking a short break to drink and eat, she doesn’t notice a red fox watching her from behind a bush. The cob, however, sees the fox and sounds the alarm, though he is not close enough to defend the swan. A stick suddenly hits the fox in the nose and they realize Sam has just saved the swan’s life.
After this, they accept Sam as their friend and are grateful to him. The cob even comes close to touching Sam, much to Sam’s joy and surprise. That night, in his journal Sam recounts the feeling of seeing a nest filled with eggs and falls asleep wondering how a bird learns to build a nest when she has never been taught.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
Sam Beaver is an atypical boy, at home in nature, valuing solitude, asking important questions, and feeling a deep empathy for the animals he loves to observe. Described as looking “like an Indian” and “walk[ing] like an Indian too” (1), he is more attuned to nature than one might expect a boy to be. Unruly stereotypically unruly boys, Sam does not “throw stones” and he isn’t “messing around”; rather, he is “simply observing” (16)—the sight of the swans gives him “the same good feeling some people get when they are sitting in church” (18). When Sam later prevents the fox’s attack on the swans, he foreshadows the unique friendship he will share with Louis.
Sam’s love of solitude is also reflected in his deep need for privacy. He does not tell his father about the swans, and indeed, misdirects Mr. Beaver on more than one occasion. When his father asks, “What’s so special about thirty-five days?” Sam replies that he “just thought it might be very nice” rather than the actual truth—35 days is the length of time it takes a swan’s eggs to hatch. Describing the swans in his journal, he confesses his lie of omission, “This is the greatest discovery I ever made in my entire life. I did not tell Pop” (5-6).
Gently, the novel suggests that wanting privacy isn’t a flaw in children. Rather, it is because Sam loves his parents that he feels independent and secure in his own abilities and talents, and trusts in his own capacity to make decisions for himself. If a young reader prefers to keep personal experiences to themselves, as Sam does, White suggests they do so.
The relationship between the swan and the cob is a gendered partnership. They play very separate roles, yet they both share a sense of responsibility to their future children. The swan asks her husband to confirm her opinion of the nesting site, which he also deems “[a] perfect place” (12). The swan is concerned with practicality and nest building, and the cob is concerned with safety and display. The swan is more aware of her husband than he is of her. She notices his tendency to “[show] off” and yet is still “proud of his strength and his courage” (12). On the other hand, the cob has a tendency to ask her how she feels and doesn’t appear to know or be able to guess her thoughts and feelings (19). Still, she appreciates the cob is “a good one,” and he accepts her advice (12). Their thoughts and behaviors illustrate the way the swans show their love and commitment to their partnership and family.
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