58 pages • 1 hour read
Jodi PicoultVanishing Acts
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Parts 2-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2, Pages 89-116 Summary: “Delia”
Delia, Sophie, and Greta travel to Arizona. Delia worries about her absent mother and questions her own life choices. The family is surprised by the hot weather and their rundown trailer park lodging. They meet their neighbor, Ruthann Masáwistiwa, a Hopi woman known for “possession reincarnation” (100).
As Delia and Sophie settle in, Delia regrets not asking her father more about her mother and feels complicit in his lies. Delia attempts to contact her mother but fails. Meanwhile, Eric needs help meeting Andrew due to different state laws. Delia decides to meet Andrew, leading to a tense encounter with unresolved questions from the past. Delia’s night brings disturbing dreams.
Upon awakening, Sophie has a fever. Delia seeks help from Ruthann, who removes a turkey feather, called a pahos, believed to carry last year’s negative energy. Sophie’s fever subsides after the removal, though they still visit the hospital. Doctors declare Sophie healthy, and Delia discusses the feather situation with Ruthann.
Part 2, Pages 117-133 Summary: “Andrew”
Andrew grapples with the challenges of adapting to prison life. The constant noise, lack of privacy, and underlying tension create continual anxiety. In this tumultuous environment, Andrew shares a cell with “Sticks.” Sticks vehemently protests Andrew’s presence, adding another layer to his anxiety.
When Andrew believes the situation resolved, his meeting with Delia takes an emotionally devastating turn. Her probing questions and palpable anger and disappointment leave him questioning his choices. As he walks the pod, Andrew struggles under the weight of his decisions.
The tension escalates when Sticks and his associates confront Andrew in the shower room, and a physical altercation results. Despite Andrew’s efforts to defend himself, the encounter takes a toll, and he loses consciousness.
Upon regaining awareness, Andrew finds himself relocated to a new cell, now sharing it with “Concise,” a drug dealer with a more easygoing attitude.
Part 2, Pages 134-156 Summary: “Eric”
Eric needs sponsorship from an in-state attorney to practice law in another state. Chris Hamilton, a friend from law school, agrees to support Eric. Eric studies at Chris’s law office before falling asleep, dreaming of his mother’s violence, and seeking solace in Delia’s house. Upon waking, he must choose to help Delia with a sick Sophie or, using his new bar card, visit Andrew.
Eric rushes to visit Andrew at the courthouse, but Andrew is already in court. Eric contacts Chris, and they barely make it in time for Andrew’s plea. Eric enters a not-guilty plea despite upsetting the judge by breaking protocol. The bail remains at $1 million. Walking out, Eric spies Delia’s mother arm in arm with another man. After court, Eric encounters Fitz, who mocks his courtroom performance. Eric asks Fitz to assist Delia and Sophie while he speaks with Andrew.
Andrew is enraged by the not-guilty plea. Eric grapples with professional ethics and prioritizes Andrew’s best interests over Andrew’s desires. He lies to Andrew, claiming Delia insisted on the not-guilty plea after their meeting. Eric assures Andrew of confidentiality, prompting Andrew to reveal how he kidnapped Delia. Andrew portrayed their journey as a vacation, but his lie about Elise’s death distressed Delia. They stayed in New York City, obtaining fake documents, and settled in Wexton, fabricating a complex web of falsehoods. Andrew explains how he ended up believing his lies, a concept familiar to Eric.
Part 2, Pages 155-167 Summary: “Fitz”
Fitz struggles to locate Delia’s trailer, eventually finding Ruthann and Sophie. He creates a voodoo Eric doll for Delia while waiting for Delia to return. When she does, Fitz and Delia talk about Eric’s lack of communication and Delia’s conflicted feelings about her interaction with Andrew. Fitz soothes and gives Delia her mother’s new name (Elise Vasquez), address, and phone number. Delia is nervous but decides to go to Elise’s house. She rushes out, leaving Fitz. Fitz rips up his notes on Andrew’s arraignment, uncomfortable with publicizing Delia’s pain.
Part 3, Pages 169-194 Summary: “Delia”
Delia visits her mother, brimming with nervousness and excitement. Elise and Delia are both surprised at how similar they look. Victor Vasquez, Elise’s husband, is introduced. Delia knew him previously but had no memory of this. Mother and daughter catch up, but the meeting is awkward as Delia has few memories of her mother, and Elise knows little about Delia. Elise returns Delia’s childhood blanket, unlocking a memory of Delia asking her father to return for it.
Delia discusses the meeting with Fitz, stating that her mother “wasn’t who I wanted her to be […] but that didn’t turn out as bad as I expected” (179). Sophie asks many questions about Andrew, which Fitz and Delia try to answer as gently but honestly as possible. Delia returns to the jail to find Andrew injured, but he deflects her questions. Delia tells Andrew about her meeting with Elise. The conversation turns tense, and Andrew admits that he took Delia away due to Elise’s struggles with alcohol addiction. Delia, who has always hated the smell and effects of alcohol, confronts her mother. Elise states she is an alcoholic but has abstained from alcohol use for 26 years. Elise pleads for understanding, but Delia leaves, hurt and angry.
Delia recalls painful memories of finding a girl who did not want to be found and of Sophie almost drowning when she was two. She talks with Eric, questioning if their relationship is a response to her mother’s alcohol addiction. Eric points out that Delia could not even remember her mother. However, he is grateful that Elise’s struggles with alcohol addiction can be a defense for Andrew.
Part 3, Pages 195-213 Summary: “Elise”
Elise, so focused on her memories, struggles to complete her work. Imagining speaking with Delia, whom she calls Bethany, Elise explains her work as a bruja, a mystic in Mexican culture like a witch. Victor disapproves of this work, so Elise hides it from him. Elise recalls how she met Andrew, then Charlie, and how he tried to rescue her. Elise read his cards, and they indicated an unlucky future together, so Elise lied about their meaning. Elise states that the turning point in her alcohol addiction came after a miscarriage left her unable to bear more children. Despite admitting that she neglected Delia, Elise bought birthday and Christmas presents yearly for her missing daughter until Victor made her stop. Elise engaged in several mystical practices, including weekly tarot and a yearly offering to the saint of lost things to find Delia. Elise states that she has always loved Delia.
Parts 2-3 Analysis
Eric finds himself in a moral quandary. Eric is currently representing Andrew as his attorney. Andrew, as his client, has requested to submit a guilty plea. Legally, Eric should honor Andrew’s wishes. Eric, however, swore to Delia that he would plead not guilty on Andrew’s behalf, an act that could get him disbarred if discovered. Despite almost missing the arraignment, Eric keeps his word to Delia though this means violating legal ethics. His relationship with Delia is essential, and he fears losing her if he does not follow her wishes. Eric rationalizes this decision, telling himself his job is to work in the client’s best interests regardless of the client’s wants. However, this decision was motivated by Delia’s wants rather than the client’s best interests.
As Andrew and Eric discuss the case, both recall the past. Andrew states that he and Delia lived in New York City briefly, and Eric recalls visiting with Delia and her excitement to visit a place she had never been. Delia’s lack of memory of the kidnapping does not help Eric’s case. On the way to New York, Andrew began the lie that Elise died in a car accident, a lie that Delia has built up over 28 years to the point where she can picture the aftermath, except that it never happened. This is one of the first times the author indicates the unreliability of memory.
Spiritualism in Vanishing Acts is far more accurate than memory, beginning with Ruthann’s pahos. According to Ruthann, one of these feathers poisoned Sophie, leading to her fever. When Ruthann removes the feather, Sophie’s fever abates. A trip to the hospital reveals nothing is physically wrong with the child. Delia tells Ruthann that she does not believe in magic, and Ruthann replies that she does not either. Despite Ruthann’s stated lack of belief, she still hangs the feathers and immediately assumes the feather caused Sophie’s illness. Perhaps Ruthann does not believe in magic, as she is a magician, but she believes in something. Delia lacks the words to identify it.
Elise also plays heavily into the mysticism that permeates this book. Elise performs work as a bruja—a witch in Mexican culture. Elise casts a spell for a college student whose roommate spreads lies about her. After cleaning the apartment, the student found a cobweb, leading Elise to believe the roommate is an evil witch trying to hex the other student. Elise also performs los naipes, or tarot. When she first met Andrew, she ran the cards for him. The cards indicate good luck, but Andrew will commit a crime he cannot escape from and have a marriage he will regret all his life. She lies about the cards and distracts Andrew with a kiss. The cards, of course, turn out to be startlingly accurate, like most of the mysticism in this book.
Elise lies about the cards to perpetuate the illusion that she and Andrew are destined. It is just one of many illusions perpetuated in this section. Andrew describes the lies he told to craft the illusion of his identity as Andrew Hopkins. Delia recalls the many times she pretended Eric’s drinking was not a problem to maintain the illusion that they were fine. Some of these illusions begin to crack in this section.
As the illusions are cracking, the relationships are fracturing, and love is not enough to keep them together. Andrew cannot handle Delia’s rejection and tells her of Elise’s alcohol addiction, despite loving them both and knowing this will cause them both pain. Despite loving her father, Delia cannot overcome her anger. She lashes out at Andrew, causing him further distress. Likewise, Delia quickly accuses Elise of alcohol addiction and then leaves without giving Elise time to explain.
Fortunately, the author gives Elise a chance to explain. Elise describes her love for and gratitude to Andrew for believing she was worth saving. However, love is not enough to maintain Elise’s honesty, nor is it enough to maintain the relationship. Elise argues that she loved Andrew more than he loved her, and this imbalance caused all the problems: “You are wearing a mask, one that might slip if you aren’t careful. You wonder what he will do when he finds out. You know you are bound to disappoint him” (206). These thoughts plagued Elise throughout her marriage with Andrew, though Andrew argues that he always loved and continues to love Elise. This love, however, cannot overcome her insecurity.
These insecurities worsen when Elise loses her second child. Drowning in grief, Elise argues that this is when she truly developed her alcohol addiction. However, this feels like a lie after discovering that Elise was charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) while pregnant with Delia. Elise argues that Andrew was disappointed in her, and she drank to no longer see it. While Andrew regrets losing the baby and states that he clung tighter to Delia in response, he never indicates any disappointment with Elise. Elise’s feelings are another illusion conjured by Elise’s insecurity and depression. However, all the love the couple has for each other cannot combat this illusion. Elise falls deeper into addiction to escape: “I think there was a part of me that knew if I drove him away, I would never have to say I’d been left behind” (206).
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