A novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde
PAY IT FORWARD
PROLOGUE
The story that we are about to read has already
taken place, and we are about to learn what
happened
 Chris Chandler, a reporter at the time, and
since a novelist, is the person who has
interviewed people involved to compile the
story we will here
 Extraordinary things have happened that make
it newsworthy

PROLOGUE
Chris indicates that there have been random
acts of generosity and kindness
 It all started when his teacher, Reuben St. Clair
gave out a project, not expecting anything extra
ordinary, just changing the world in smaller
ways

THE START OF AN EXTRAORDINARY FRIENDSHIP
CHAPTER 1
Reuben seems to have experienced a lot of
judgement in the past and has seen basically the
same reaction to his appearance over and over
 It suggests that children get passed it and are
more accepting than perhaps adults
 Trevor seems curious, questioning, and genuinely
interested
 Reuben seems jaded and has had to harden his
heart and soul; he doesn’t expect much from
people

THE ONE THING I DID RIGHT IN MY LIFE
CHAPTER 2
Arlene, Trevor’s mom, hasn’t had very much
success with men
 She is a struggling alcoholic who has two jobs to
pay for bills, including a truck she co-signed with
Trevor’s father, Ricky
 Ricky was in an accident in this truck and has not
been found since – is he alive or dead? Will he
show up later in the book when least expected or
wanted?
 He leaves behind an ex-wife blames Arlene for
their breakup

AD TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
CHAPTER 3
Jerry is obviously down on his luck, but he realizes
he has only himself to blame
 It seems that he once believed in God, but even
that belief is diminishing.
 He is faced with a day to day meaningless
existence, though he hopes for things to turn
around
 He has put hopes in to answering an ad in the
paper, though when he gets there as many as 50
people end up also seeing the ad

CHAPTER 3
Trevor doesn’t expect this many people, though
some leave when they see it was only a kid who
put the ad in
 Others leave when Trevor comes up with the
idea of writing why they deserve money to get a
hand up
 Jerry is the only one left at the end showing
that he really believes in Trevor’s intentions and
that he really does have hope

BOY BEFRIENDS MAN DOWN ON HIS LUCK
CHAPTER 4
Arlene confused to find Jerry in her house and
wonders why Trevor would befriend this man
 She becomes angry enough to visit his teacher
when she finds out from Jerry it is a school project
about “Paying Forward”
 She is startled to find that Reuben is a big,
disfigured black man, though she says she isn’t
prejudiced
 She leaves feeling ashamed because she doesn’t
feel as smart or educated as Reuben

MAN ENDANGERS HIS SOBRIETY
CHAPTER 5
Arlene returns home from work at 3 a.m. to find
Jerry dismantling her car
 She drives him back to the garage where he is
working
 Jerry tells Arlene about “Paying it Forward”
 Once he receives his pay, Jerry proceeds to
blow his money and his sobriety at a bar he
frequented

CHAPTER 5
Jerry alternates in his outlook between being
hopeless and wishing for things to work out
 He’s seen and done a lot that would cause this
pessimism and yet he looks for signs (the ad,
the comets) that would give him hope
 The fact that Jerry goes down the wrong path
makes one wonder if Trevor’s circle has
stopped there

THEMES

Hope

Salvation

Human goodness