Chapters 22–24
Summary
Chapter 22: Dogs and Cats
Mavis Bangs is giving Dawn Budgel her take on Agnis. Quoyle has just found Bayonet
Melville's head, and Mavis has noticed that Agnis has acted with "manly heart," although
the event shocked and traumatized Quoyle. Meanwhile, Dawn is paying no attention at
all, but it diligently writing one job inquiry letter after another. Mavis goes on to talk
about Mrs. Buggit, Jack's wife, who Mavis also regards as a strong woman. Mavis
wonders out loud if Silver Melville killed her husband; Quoyle, after all, said they fought
like "dogs and cats." Mavis then goes off about a ritual she and her peers practiced in
their girlhood. They would sew a mat, and then fold up a cat in it. When the cat was let
loose, the girl it went to was the next to get married. Mavis talks about her husbands,
while Dawn keeps typing.
Quoyle is driving Wavey and Herry home, when he spots an old fisherman looking at
him as if he knew Quoyle and holding a netting needle. Meanwhile, Herry notices a new
wooden dog in his grandfather's house. Quoyle then meets Ken, Wavey's brother, who
seems pleased to meet him.
Chapter 23: Maleficium
As much as Quoyle works on the family house, it still seems sadly dilapidated. The aunt
seems a little bit aloof lately, not so intent on fixing up the house. Quoyle is getting ready
to prepare dinner, and is going out to find some wild parsley when the aunt notices a man
in the road. When Quoyle looks, he sees only the stranger's footprints. Quoyle guesses it
is Nolan, their kinsman who wants to claim the old family house. That night, Quoyle is
awakened by a flashlight beam, most likely another sign of the kinsman. He suggests to
the aunt that they go look up Nolan, but the aunt does not want to go.
Chapter 24: Berry Picking
Bunny goes to school for the first time, and Quoyle is relieved that she does not
experience the same misery at school that he did. Around the same time, Quoyle and his
daughters, the aunt, and Wavey and Herry all go berry picking together. Quoyle and
Wavey find a way to steal off alone together. They watch an iceberg tip over on its side,
plunging into the water. While Wavey stands up on a rock, Quoyle grabs her by the
ankles affectionately. Imagining what might happen, Wavey avoids any intimacy by
talking about her dead husband lost at sea. Her husband was on an oil rig that was not
equipped with proper safety precautions. After she tells Quoyle the story, she feels her
grief ease a little bit, and turns to Quoyle again. They fall to the ground in each other's
arms, but when Wavey hears the sea, she thinks again of her dead husband. She gets up
and runs away. Quoyle instead of feeling heartbroken, has a kind of epiphany, feels
himself and his lifetime small against the great mass of sea and time.
Analysis
Chapter 23 builds suspense around Quoyle's kinsman. By this time, Quoyle and his
daughters have received numerous threats in the form of knotted twine. The cousin seems
to also just be lurking around the area, as if to scare Quoyle more than to claim anything
as his own. Quoyle's and the aunt's reactions to these developments show the way their
characters are digressing: while Quoyle is ready to face his family and his past, the aunt
seems less sure.
The knots in the introduction to Chapter 24 symbolize the interactions between Quoyle
and Wavey that follow. It describes two knots that many people confuse; although they
are similar, one knot is tied around another object, and the other is tied around itself. The
knots symbolically represent the way that some people tie their lives with someone else,
while some rely on the strength of their own self. Both Quoyle and Wavey are confused
by their grief over their lost loved- ones. Wavey literally runs away in confusion, and
Quoyle consistently wonders how he will pry himself from his attachment to Petal.
The images of the iceberg in Chapter 24 foreshadow the interaction that then takes place
between Quoyle and Wavey. The iceberg has two towers that tilt until the imbalance
causes the ice to fall under water. Proulx describes the one tower as "[rearing] over [the
other] like a lover." They two towers come together before plunging under, causing a
spray of "displaced water." The simile that compares the tower to a lover is juxtaposed
with the descriptions of Quoyle overtaking Wavey. They fall to the ground like the two
parts of the iceberg falls underwater; they also both have old griefs that must be
"displaced" before they can relate romantically to one another. The displaced water that
sprays up when the iceberg goes down could symbolize the old lovers—Quoyle's Petal
and Wavey's Herold.
Wavey's story of her husband's death adds another element to the theme of social and
economic change in the novel. The oilrig crash that caused Herold's death could have
been prevented had the ship been properly designed and prepared for poor conditions.
With the absence of governmental regulations, the rig failed at the slightest provocation.
This event symbolizes the inherent
Quoyle's epiphany occurs when he becomes suddenly aware of the smallness of one
human being set against the great vastness of humankind, social change, earth, sea, and
time. Seeing himself as such a small entity in part of a grander, greater system of life
seems to bring Quoyle great comfort. For someone like Quoyle who has experienced
great pain, the passing of time feels extraordinarily healing. Time is Quoyle's way out—
time will "rinse" his ancestors of their evil, just as time will allow him to heal. Quoyle
also feels optimistic about his future with Wavey, as he imagines them growing old
together. In general, this moment offers Quoyle a sense of great clarity about his place in
time and space.
Chapters 25–27
Summary
Chapter 25: Oil
Stopping for breakfast on his way to work, Quoyle finds Tert Card and Billy Pretty also
at the restaurant. Card is suffering from canker sores and is acting irritable. He and Billy
are in a quarrel over oil prospects in Canada. Tert Card explains to Quoyle that the
McGonigle field was an oil reserve that was discovered in 1980 off the coast of
Newfoundland. Card cannot wait for the economic boom that will hit when oil reserve is
ready to be harvested. Billy, on the other hand, expects that outsiders, big international
companies, will take the best of the reserve just as outsiders have all along corrupted the
Newfoundland way of life. The spills will kill the last of the cod; Billy laments the
exploitation of Newfoundland's natural resources. He reminisces about the old way of
life, while Tert Card bitterly argues the benefits of technological advancements, telling
them "'oil is strong and fish is weak.'"
Quoyle writes his column about a recent oil tanker spill. He begins by talking about a
photograph of eight old-fashioned fishing boats, and ends by saying that no one would
want to hang up a picture of an oilrig. Tert Card, upon reading the draft, hangs a picture
of an oil tanker behind his desk. He proceeds to rewrite Quoyle's column into a short
propaganda piece for oil tankers, and prints it along with his oil tanker picture. When
Quoyle sees the paper, he becomes enraged. Jack Buggit tells Quoyle to keep writing his
column as he wishes, and Tert Card to lay off Quoyle's work.
Chapter 26: Deadman
Quoyle, staying by himself in the old family house, is writing a column about the origin
of the Plimsoll loading marks—the lines on vessels that show what level of load is safe
for a vessel. At night, Quoyle has more nightmares about Petal, and in the morning, he
finds a curious piece of knotted twine on his way out to take a walk to the end of the
point. Once at the edge, he feels as if he is at the end of the world, staring down into a
tumultuous sea. He sees some caves, the rock shaped like a dog, and a body in a yellow
suit, floating. Quoyle goes out in his boat to try to save the man, but his inexperience and
precarious boat cause him to capsize. He plunges under water and then, when he comes
up, finds a cooler that had been in his boat to use as a floatation device. He has delusional
thoughts that the cooler is filled with red coals keeping him warm. Eventually, Jack
Buggit finds him, and pulls him into his boat. Jack takes him home to Mrs. Buggit, who
has much experience caring for near-drowned men, and tells Quoyle he would have died
had he not had so much fat to keep his body insulated. Mrs. Buggit is reminded of the
terrible storm that took her son, Jesson.
Chapter 27: Newsroom
Billy Pretty comes into the newsroom and tells everyone that the floating man in the
yellow suit was found to be headless, and is believed to be Bayonnet Melville's
decapitated body. Nutbeem gives a monologue of the week's sexual abuse stories; he also
says he is planning to leave Newfoundland soon. Quoyle has given Tert Card an article
about a man who caught exactly nine cod this season, and just as he was about to sell his
boat, the vessel sunk, loaded with empty nets. Nutbeem and Quoyle go out to lunch, and
Nutbeem comments that Jack Buggit has a tormenting way about giving assignments.
Quoyle and Wavey are spending more and more time together. She makes little wooden
trinkets to sell in gift shops down the coast. Although she is plain, her whole house is
filled with colors.
Analysis
The excerpt from The Ashley Book of Knots that introduces Chapter 25 is a metaphor for
the conflict between Tert Card and Quoyle and the theme of social change in the novel as
a whole. The excerpt explains how to hang a picture on a wall if an outside force keeps
tilting them askew. The introduction is referenced directly in the chapter when Tert
Card's picture of the oil tanker falls askew. This detail seems to symbolize Tert Card's
ultimate defeat in the newsroom quarrel—he is scolded for rewriting Quoyle's
opinionated column on the oil spill, and Quoyle is reassured that in the future, his column
will run just how he writes it. The tilted photograph seems to symbolize Tert Card's
tenuous hold on his authority at The Gammy Bird. On a broader level, the chapter
introduction helps develop the theme of social change in the novel. Like the picture that
is tilted as a result of outside forces, Newfoundland is undergoing massive
socioeconomic changes due to the power and whim of the outside world. The old way of
life is in essence being knocked askew.
Nutbeem and Quoyle's conversation concerning Jack's uncanny way of assigning stories
addresses the theme of pain in the novel. Nutbeem presents a philosophical quandary
concerning pain and healing. Do human beings heal by psychologically locating
themselves as far away from their painful memories as possible, or by confronting the
pain by repeatedly revisiting it? Indeed, the way in which the newsroom characters have
been assigned roles hardly seems merely coincidental. Quoyle had to cover car wrecks
right after his wife's accident; Nutbeem, sexually abused as a boy, writes the abuse
stories; and Billy Pretty, who has never been married, does home and hearth stories.
Quoyle comments that Jack does the same to himself, fishing every day when practically
his whole family died at sea. Proulx seems to imply that inevitably all human beings
come face-to-face with their most painful memories or deepest insecurities. In fact,
people even choose to live lives that allow them to act out their suffering. Quoyle
comments, "it's easier to die if others around you are dying." This line suggests that there
is a kind camaraderie in the way human beings are constantly reliving painful memories;
somehow, watching others suffer as you have suffered, makes you feel less alone.
Chapter 25 is a turning point for Quoyle. When Quoyle yells at Tert Card after seeing the
oil tanker rewrite, Billy Pretty understandably feels surprise. This is perhaps the first
scene in which Quoyle unapologetically stands up for himself, and he does so with
passion and conviction. In fact Quoyle gives an eloquent defense of himself; he not only
expresses anger for the first time in the novel, but he also shows that he is totally aware
of why he is in the right. One might compare this passage to the scene in Chapter 1 in
which Partridge helps Quoyle rewrite his article. In the first passage, Quoyle not only
submissively agrees with Partridge, but he also has no idea how Partridge changes make
for a better story. The scene with Tert Card shows that Quoyle is growing personally and
professionally. At the beginning of the book, Quoyle has learned to "separate his feelings
from his life," but this incident shows that Quoyle has learned to do precisely the
opposite—to involve his feelings in his life, to essentially, feel pride.
By including Quoyle's columns within the narrative, Proulx is able to explore his
character and its relationship to the theme of social and economic change. Quoyle is
taking on a role for himself—he identifies as the writer of this column, and stands by his
own opinions. The oil tanker column, the article about the failing cod fisherman, and the
article on the Plimsoll loading marks all show a sense of social conscience. Quoyle's
journalism is a vehicle for social activism. The Plimsoll article specifically exposes the
lack of safety regulations that caused lives to be lost on commercial ships; this subject
alludes back to the situation with Wavey's husband. Wavey told Quoyle that her husband
died on the oil rig as a result of the absence of governmental safety precautions.
The knotted twine that Quoyle finds before he leaves on his walk is most likely another
evil omen left by Nolan. The chapter introduction tells that the name for a loose end of
rope is "deadman" and indeed Quoyle notices a fraying end of twine as he seeks out the
dead man, and right before he has his own close call with death.
Chapters 28–30
Summary
Chapter 28: The Skater's Chain Grip
The aunt gets out of the house to take a walk, and finds the old pond where she used to
skate when she was growing up. She remembers a particular day in which she was out
skating when a boy (or man) came after her, unbuttoning his pants. When the aunt goes
back inside, she and Quoyle discuss how they will get through the winter. Quoyle has
already figured out how much it would cost to plow the road from the house, or pay
Dennis to take them back and forth to town on the ferry. (They would not be able to drive
the road in all the snow). Both options are expensive, and Quoyle has noticed that the
aunt's furniture still has not arrived. He suggests that they rent a place in town for the
winter, and use the family house as a summer house. Quoyle thinks he, Bunny, and
Sunshine could stay in Nutbeem's trailer when Nutbeem leaves, but the aunt would need
to find another room.
The aunt is taken aback by Quoyle's planning, but nonetheless asks Mavis Bangs for
rental advice. Mavis also seems one step ahead of the aunt—she has already picked up
the aunt's mail, and finished their latest upholstery project. One of the aunt's pieces of
mail is a package; she opens it to find a stack of American money, tied in blue leather—
the very same leather used to upholster the Melville's boat.
Chapter 29: Alvin Yark
Quoyle and the girls move in with Beety and Dennis just for the time being. Tert Card
makes a very suspicious call to see Beety one morning, and tries to cover up his visit by
telling Quoyle that he needs to go check up on a ship fire. The news is that the cargo ship
the Rome caught fire.
Quoyle takes Wavey and all the children with him to Alvin Yark's house to see if Alvin
can build Quoyle a boat. (Alvin is actually Wavey's uncle). Quoyle learns that the entire
community of Nunny Bag Cove, where the Yarks live, burned a few years back, and was
all rebuilt with insurance money. The children love Alvin's wife's kitchen, especially the
little teacups. Alvin gives Quoyle his thoughts on how to build a good boat, and plans to
go out to the woods to find some timber so he can get started.
The Sun Clouded Over
Meanwhile, the aunt is staying at the Sea Gull Inn. One night, Quoyle and the girls go
over to have dinner with her. She tells them that she has taken a job in St. John's, where
there is more of a demand for upholsterers; she will be reupholstering the Rome. The aunt
plans on moving back to Newfoundland when the winter is through. When asked, Quoyle
tells her he will not be going back to New York. During the dinner, Bunny shows them
all a string trick called "The Sun Clouded Over"; she is using a bit of knotted string that
she found in Quoyle's car.
Analysis
These three chapters give insight into the aunt's character. In Chapter 20, Billy Pretty
repeats his father's wisdom concerning women: in every man's heart, there is a maid in
the meadow, a stouthearted woman, a demon lover, and a tall and quiet woman.
Undoubtedly, the aunt is the stouthearted woman in Quoyle's life. The aunt's walk to the
pond suggests a past suffering that is still a mystery to the reader. The boy or man who
came after her on the ice was perhaps Guy, Quoyle's brother, but at this point, his identity
is still unclear. This incident demonstrates a formative experience that helped shape the
aunt's stouthearted personality. Sexual abuse only seemed to make her stronger. And
even as a little girl, when the aunt found her laces broken, she knew just how to knot
them to hold her skates in place. Likewise, the aunt has always managed to hold herself
in place no matter what life threw at her.
At the same time as these chapters establish the aunt's strength, they also call her
invulnerability into question. For whatever reason, the aunt falters in the way she
manages her life and her work. Quoyle notices a few different times that the furniture she
was supposed to have shipped from Long Island still has not arrived; it seems as if the
aunt cannot follow through on her project to fix up the house. Also, in a true rolereversal, Quoyle has thought through their winter plans before the aunt has even started
to think about it. Up to this point, the aunt had always been the one to plan and step to
new challenges. Quoyle seems to be growing into a more capable character, while the
aunt regresses. The same is true in the upholstery shop, where the aunt's assistant is a step
ahead of her, finishing projects and picking up the aunt's mail for her.
Proulx uses several images to convey the bleakness of the coming winter in
Newfoundland. Instead of a portrait of a quaint, white winter, her similes suggest decay
and contamination. The fog is "as dense as cotton waste" and the fog lights "as dull as
dirty saucers." By comparing the weather to waste, Proulx achieves a sense of disgust or
revulsion. Even the moonlight, she writes, shines like a motorcycle headlight. This
comparison reduces a celestial body to a merely mundane human machine. These bleak
images set the stage for the theme of Chapter 30, which is titled "The Sun Clouded
Over." The creation Bunny makes with the string symbolizes the dreariness of the change
in seasons, and the sadness of the aunt's departure.
Chapters 31–33
Summary
Chapter 31: Sometimes You Just Lose It
In the newsroom, Quoyle is writing a story about a ship that collided into an island after the
man on watch fell asleep. Tert Card comes in, enraged at the cold weather. He talks about
heading down to Florida. The men begin swapping potential news stories. Per usual, the
stories are all perverse. Billy Pretty and Nutbeem have more stories of sexually abhorrent
men stripping in court. Nutbeem is planning his departure, preparing to sail down to the
Caribbean. Billy Pretty suggests that Quoyle will probably be the next to leave, but Quoyle
confirms that he is in Newfoundland to stay. In response, Billy Pretty remarks that he does
not believe a man can raise two girls on his own.
Chapter 32: The Hairy Devil
Nutbeem is scheduled to depart Newfoundland in accordance with a waxing moon. The local
men are all getting together for a party in his trailer. The party is a raucous affair, with
everyone drinking too much. Tert Card tells Quoyle the story of the "hairy devil." Tert Card's
father lost a friend one night in the snow. When the father followed the friend's tracks, they
led to a hole spiraling downward. All of a sudden, a "hairy devil" with red eyes jumps from
behind Tert's father into the hole, telling him he will come back for him.
The party begins to get rowdy, and a black-haired man suggests they all go down to
Nutbeem's boat, and destroy it so that Nutbeem will not be able to leave them. Quoyle, in his
drunkenness, watches the mob, and feels nothing but his own loneliness—he is left out of the
action once again. The boat is destroyed to the point that it sinks into the water. Meanwhile,
Quoyle wanders over to Wavey's home, and looks in the window to see her playing with
Herry. Quoyle ends up staying the night in a hotel room.
Chapter 33: The Cousin
In the morning, Quoyle returns to Beety and Dennis's house, where he was supposed to
spend the night, and cannot recall anything from the night before. Quoyle then goes back to
the house on the point to pick up some things. He feels eerie there all alone, and finds
knotted twine on the thresholds of his children's rooms. Knowing that this is a cruel trick
played by Quoyle's old cousin Nolan. Quoyle immediately heads up to Capsize Cove to find
him. The old hermit is a madman living in fishing grime and stench. Quoyle sees a white dog
first, and then recognizes the family resemblance in the old man. Without a fight, Quoyle
drops the twine, which the man throws in the fire.
Quoyle then goes down to help Alvin Yard finish Quoyle's boat, and after that, to go see about
Nutbeem's boat. The men have been unsuccessful in resurrecting the boat from its
destruction. Nutbeem decides he will go to Brazil, and tells the men about all the good food
he hopes to eat. Everyone feels bad about the circumstances with the boat.
Analysis
Tert Card's story of the hairy devil reflects his own demonic character, and also foreshadows
the tragic destruction of Nutbeem's boat. From the beginning, Tert Card is described as a
devil, and his story suggests that the association comes from his family history. The hairy
devil, with his red eyes and hole beneath ground, promises he will come back for Tert Card's
father—it seems the devil did come back in the form of possessing Tert Card. The reader
should note that Tert Card is the first to the party, symbolically (though not literally) leading
the force that will take down Nutbeem's boat. The story of the hairy devil foreshadows this
mob scene. The party takes place on a night when the moon is waxing—a fuller moon
symbolizes the potential for madness and savagery. When Quoyle stumbles out walking, he
notices that the moon's reflection looked like a hole in the ocean, or like the hole where the
hairy devil lived. Nutbeem's boat breaks and falls into the sea, symbolically down the hairy
devil's hole.
Tert Card's story also provides another example of Newfoundland oral literature, which tells
more about a people and a place than it gives factual information. Stories like these produce
an anthropological catalog that adds to the regionalism theme of the novel. Hell, according to
this story, looks like a hole in the ice, and the devil, like a wild animal. Although heaven and
hell may be considered universal images recognized by nearly every culture, the form they
take among any given people tells of the particular people's fears, hopes, and values. Perhaps
the idea that the hairy devil has to wash his pots an pans before coming back even speaks of
Newfoundlanders proximity to manual labor and the physical world in general.
The decimation of Nutbeem's boat in Chapter 32 echoes Chapter 10: The Voyage of Nutbeem.
The introduction to Chapter 10 defines a voyage in two ways: first, a roundtrip passage, and
second, a passage from port to port. At that point in the novel, Nutbeem still plans on
finishing his trip around the world. By Chapter 32 it is clear that Nutbeem's romantic dream
of continuing his life at sea will not come to be. In a way, though, Nutbeem still represents
the completed passage. Throughout the novel, he is associated with the lunar cycle. He
oscillates between adrenaline rushes and quiet contemplation, like a waxing and waning
moon. When he loses his boat, his loss does not last, but passes quickly into a new phase. He
is determined to move on to Brazil, to as he says "smile, forget, and fly."
Quoyle's trip to his cousin's house is the climax of the subplot that develops around the
ominous knots and the mysterious kinsman. The reader is virtually prepared for a shoot-out,
having been prepared for this meeting for many chapters. The numerous incidents that
involved Quoyle finding knotted twine, or Bunny seeing a white dog developed suspense for
this subplot. When Quoyle (and the reader) finally arrive at the meeting point, the interaction
is anticlimactic. Instead of a malicious criminal, Quoyle finds a weak, impoverished, crazy
person, but even more importantly, Quoyle finds someone who resembles himself and his
family.
The moment when Quoyle recognizes his own abhorrent chin in the face of the cousin is
extremely ironic. Nolan's so-called crimes are "loneliness," "lovelessness, "genetic chemical
jumble," or "betrayal." Quoyle may as well be naming his own life-diagnosis. Quoyle's
greatest threat is not a malicious outside force (as every story of the Quoyles suggests), but
his own self in pain. His most fearful enemy is his own debilitating weakness borne of
loneliness or lovelessness. The reader recalls the important imagery in Chapter 20 describing
Quoyle looking down into his ancestral cemetery: Proulx writes that he pulls his head back
like a snake looking in a mirror. The moment in Nolan's home dramatizes a similar kind of
mirroring.
The title of Chapter 33 ("Cousin") also provides insight into the relationship between Nolan
and Quoyle. Chapter 17: The Shipping News actually uses a definition of "cousin" ("favored
person aboard ship") as an introduction; Chapter 17 tells the story of how Quoyle landed
himself his job as the shipping news columnist. In this context, Quoyle fit the definition of
"cousin" that preceded the chapter. Chapter 33 tells the story of Quoyle meeting up with the
literal "cousin." Both men are therefore, called by the same name at different points in the
novel. The "cousin" that everyone likes is the alter ego of the madman borne of loneliness and
rejection.
Colors act symbolically throughout these chapters and in the novel as a whole. In Chapter 33
when Quoyle goes to see his cousin, Quoyle expresses his pity for him by thinking that he
probably sees "bloody rain and black snow"; Quoyle's pity is based on an idea that the
cousins world exists not in clear and white (rain and snow) but in red and black.
Chapters 34–36
Summary
Chapter 34: Dressing Up
Quoyle reluctantly agrees to go out for a drink with Tert Card. Card tells Quoyle he is
leaving Killick-Claw to go work in St. John's, writing a newsletter for oil suppliers. Much
to Quoyle's disgust, Card is apathetically leaving behind his home and family. Card also
makes threats to Quoyle about the change the jobs will take at the newspaper.
The Christmas pageant is a huge tradition in Killick-Claw. Bunny and her friend Marty
Buggit perform a song together, but the real star is Beety, who does a skit in which she
tells and acts out a story about Billy Pretty and another local old woman, Auntie Flizzard.
Christmastime brings up painful childhood memories for Quoyle, but mostly, he cannot
stop thinking about Petal. He and Wavey exchange gifts, but Quoyle is thinking about
Petal's only gift to him; Petal did not buy Quoyle anything for Christmas, but once went
into the refrigerator and presented him with two brown eggs that Quoyle had bought
himself. The day after Christmas, Quoyle and Dennis Buggit take some homemade bread
up to Nolan and talk about getting him put in a home.
Chapter 35: The Day's Work
Jack Buggit tells Quoyle that he will be the new managing editor (and will have a host of
other responsibilities), now that Tert Card is leaving. They will also be upgrading the
"home" section to a "lifestyles" page, which will address social and technological
changes instead of provincial recipes and crafts. A new guy, Benny, will take over the
S.A. stories, replacing Nutbeem. Quoyle takes over Tert Card's desk, removing the oil
tanker picture from the wall. He finds Benny's sexual abuse stories far less interesting
than Nutbeem's. Quoyle begins his work covering all kinds of local stories, and vows he
will never let a typo go by. He sends a copy of the new masthead (with his name) to
Partridge and sends the aunt a clip about Silver Melville. As it turns out, Silver and the
steward from her boat were captured in Hawaii.
Chapter 36: Straitjacket
Partridge calls Quoyle to tell him about a tragic end to their old paper. A rioter went into
the office and killed almost the entire staff, including Al Catalog and Ed Punch.
According to Partridge, riots are sweeping the country. Quoyle realizes he might be dead
if he had stayed in Mockingburg, New York.
Jack and Quoyle have a meeting about the paper diromg a cod-gutting session. Jack is
upset over fishing quotas and the overall disempowerment of local fishermen. Quoyle
asks if he can stop running fake ads in the paper, and replace them with news stories.
Quoyle is trying to figure out if he (as next of kin) should sign the papers that would keep
his cousin Nolan in an institution for life. He and Wavey go down to St. John's where she
enjoys shopping while Quoyle goes to visit Nolan in the asylum. Quoyle brings a
photograph of a poodle as a present, and Nolan feels ashamed for his past malicious
gestures toward Quoyle. Quoyle thinks he will look into another home in Killick-Claw in
an attempt to get Nolan out of the crazy-bin. Nolan tells Quoyle a story of the aunt
aborting a child as a result of a sexual encounter with Guy; it seems obvious that he raped
her. Quoyle leaves, and he and Wavey have a lovely night together in St. John's. Nolan
did not seem so crazy, but in the morning he has stabbed everyone with the glass from
Quoyle's photograph gift.
Analysis
Tert Card's departure symbolically cleanses the narrative of evil forces. Card makes his
final appearance at the bar where he and Quoyle have a post-work drink, and this scene
dramatizes the polar extremes that Quoyle and Card represent in the book. First of all,
Card is moving to take a job where he will represent the new, multi-national oil industry,
while Quoyle remains in Killick- Claw covering local stories, and therefore representing
local people's interest. Secondly, Card is not only leaving his wife and children behind in
Killick-Claw, but he acts outraged that Quoyle would think anything different; Quoyle
claims that part of the reason he is staying in Newfoundland is for his girls who have
settled into this place and made friends there. When Quoyle leaves Tert Card at the bar in
favor of going home to his children, the narrative shows these two characters moving in
exactly opposite directions.
Christmastime brings many of Quoyle's painful memories to the surface and this renewed
pain creates suspense for the remaining portion of the novel. These chapters still leave
open the possibility of Quoyle reverting back to a hurt, miserable place. In Chapter 34,
the narrative juxtaposes Petal's unkindness with Wavey's generosity, and still Quoyle
chooses Petal. Dennis tells him of Wavey's charitable benevolence toward Nolan, and
Quoyle imagines telling Dennis of Petal's charms. Wavey knits Quoyle a sweater for
Christmas, showing a great deal of thoughtfulness. The explicit reference to the fact that
the sweater is not too small shows that Wavey knows and accepts of Quoyle's physical
form. And though Petal always found Quoyle's body disgusting, he still only thinks of
Petal's terribly thoughtless "gift" of eggs out of their refrigerator. The end of Chapter 36
shows the same, discouraging obsessions still linger within Wavey as well. Even after a
lovely day with Quoyle in St. John's, she still lies in bed with him commenting that this
was the same hotel she came on her honeymoon.
The color images in Chapter 36 reflect the ambivalence of Wavey's and Quoyle's
feelings. As they set out driving, the early morning is the color of "salmon fillets," the
sky is a soft green, and inside the car, gold and maroon. The bright colors parallel
Wavey's bright, colorful home, and symbolize the possibility of Quoyle being with her.
Then, all of a sudden, the day turns plain black and white, symbolizing the lack of color
or lack of passion in Quoyle's life.
Quoyle's fear and malice toward Nolan has grown into pity and forgiveness. His choice to
take food to his cousin at Christmastime and then visit him at the asylum shows not only
that Quoyle has forgiven Nolan's threats, but that Quoyle has forgiven all the sins of his
ancestors and family. He tells Nolan, "It's all in the past. Don't blame yourself." This
quote suggests that Quoyle is letting go of his familial past and his own personal past.
Quoyle, who has always been the first to call himself a failure, now says out loud "don't
blame yourself." The question of who might be the object of this advice (is Quoyle really
talking to his cousin, or talking to himself?) alludes back to the meeting between the
cousins in Chapter 33 when Quoyle recognizes himself in the face Nolan. Their identities
are ambiguously similar; Quoyle's advice to his cousin may therefore be seen as advice to
himself as well.
Chapters 37–39
Summary
Chapter 37: Slingstones
Bunny gets in trouble at school for pushing a teacher. As it turns out, the teacher had
been scolding and mocking Herry for having to go to the bathroom. The aunt comes up
from St. John, and she, Quoyle, and Bunny storm the principal together to stand up for
Bunny. Wavey has a special relationship to Bunny after this incident. One day, they all
go down to Alvin Yark's where Quoyle helps him on the boat. Alvin asks Quoyle when
he is going to "do the deed," referring to Wavey. Alvin then tells Quoyle that Wavey's
husband Herold was a hurtful womanizer.
In March, seal hunting begins. Jack Buggit goes out hunting. One day Wavey brings
Quoyle a seal flipper pie, as an excuse to spend the night with him. Wavey and Quoyle
talk about their old lovers, exchange their hurtful stories. Seal season turns to herring
season, and Jack makes the switch. Wavey and Quoyle cook herring by the shore while
their children play. Bunny finds a dead bird and Herry calls Quoyle "Dad."
Herring fishing turns to lobster fishing, and Jack gets his slingstones (anchors for the
lobster pots) ready. Dennis could fish for lobster if Jack would turn7 over his license to
him; Jack does not want him to get it. Meanwhile, Quoyle gets ready to welcome the aunt
back to Killick-Claw.
Chapter 38: The Sled Dog Driver's Dream
Alvin and Quoyle are finishing the boat when Alvin notices that there is bad weather
coming in. Later, all of Quoyle's friends come over welcome the aunt back (Quoyle and
his family are living in the house of the Burke's, who have moved to Florida). Bunny
happily shows Quoyle the present that Wavey has given her—a white husky puppy.
Quoyle comes downstairs and kisses Wavey in front of everyone.
The terrible storm comes in, and Bunny has a nightmare that the family house came
undone from the rock and collapsed. A few days later, Quoyle realizes that the family
house is gone, disappeared into the sea. The aunt grieves over the loss, and asks what
happened to the outhouse. Quoyle tells her he knows about the sexual abuse she suffered;
the aunt cries for a minute, then straightens up and starts making plans again.
Chapter 39: Shining Hubcaps
Finally, Quoyle's boat is finished. Meanwhile, Dennis cannot find work, and is talking
about moving his family up to Toronto. One night, Quoyle takes a bath, looks at himself
naked in the mirror and does not find himself detestable. That night, Dennis calls to tell
Quoyle that Jack had not returned from his fishing trip; they finally find him, drowned.
Jack had caught his foot on the line of a slingstone, and been pulled overboard. Quoyle
starts planning a special issue of the newspaper as a memorial for Jack.
Wavey convinces Quoyle to let Bunny go to the wake, to show Bunny what it means to
be dead. At the wake, with Dennis and Mrs. Buggit staring over the body, Jack begins to
cough. Bunny shouts, "he woke up!" Quoyle and Dennis follow the ambulance to the
hospital and Dennis exclaims that now his dad can give him his lobster license.
Meanwhile, Wavey tries to explain to Bunny that Petal will never wake up, even though
Jack did. They go back to look at the dead bird, and finding only a feather, Bunny
assumes it flew away.
Jack begins to recover from pneumonia, and Quoyle marries Wavey. He begins to
"[experience] moments in all colors" and believe that "love sometimes occurs without
pain or misery."
Analysis
The shared knowledge of abusive old lovers creates a turning point in Wavey and
Quoyle's relationship. The charm of the seal flipper pie is a detail that adds an element of
local color to this love affair. Only in Newfoundland could you share kisses that tasted
like seal flipper. Wavey's and Quoyle's parallel experiences lead them closer to each
other. It seems as if neither has ever spoken the cruelties of their old lovers out loud.
When they do, they each understand how the other came to be stuck loving such a lousy
partner. They are soul mates in the sense that they each have felt the same masochistic
longing for someone else, and this longing in a way guides them toward one another. The
image of Herold and Petal running through "rat holes" of their memories suggests that
these old lovers are finally being taken off their pedestals and starting to be recognized
for the worthless rodents they are.
Bunny's character develops more fully by the end of the novel. As the first of the next
generation, her strong, normative personality symbolizes Quoyle's success in overcoming
his family's terrible history. Bunny is neither the object of cruelty, nor is she the
perpetrator. Quoyle's offer of forgiveness to his cousin, his knowledge of the aunt's
secret, and the destruction of the house on the point all lead up to this exoneration.
Bunny's acceptance of the white dog suggests that her anxiety has been allayed, in part
because of the way that Wavey requires Bunny to face her fears. The real white dog
seems to symbolize the end of anxiety regarding the Quoyle's ancestry. Bunny's
contemplation of death shows that she is still recovering from Petal's loss. One may
wonder if perhaps Wavey's counseling is as much for Wavey's own good as it is for
Bunny's. They are all still trying to understand the permanency of death.
The box of chocolates that Quoyle imagines as potential love experiences shows Quoyle's
potential to feel beyond misery. Quoyle does not know how to feel love without pain,
mostly because he has never been offered it as such. The chocolates provide a new way
of conceiving love, a new center that feels gentle and warm instead of painful. The colors
that Quoyle now begins to see function the same way symbolically. He is not trying to
retrieve an old color (or chocolate) that he knew before, but rather, convince himself that
other colors exist.
The subplot with Dennis and Beety is reminiscent of Partridge's goodbye at the beginning
of the book. Quoyle responds with the same sadness and fear, the same sense of losing a
home he has come to love. This development comes close to the end of the book, while
Partridge's move came close to the beginning. This time, however, the plot gets down a
different way, without Quoyle having to say another good-bye. The idea of a departure is
especially anxiety inducing at this point, when, as Quoyle says, those who leave get
caught up in a bigger life, and never come back. Dennis and Beety symbolically choose
the old way of life by staying behind in Newfoundland. The discouragement that Dennis
projects before Jack's accident turns to great enthusiasm upon getting to take over the
lobster license; part of the local humor of this resurrection is idea that fishing is the first
thing on Dennis's mind when his dad comes back to life.
The situation with Jack alludes back to the title and introduction of Chapter 31:
Sometimes You Just Lose It. The introduction tells that lanyards are used to tie down any
loose objects on board so as not to lose them overboard. Indeed, Jack (almost) loses his
life because of a loose knife that falls out of his pocket. Chapter 37: Slingstones also
foreshadows Jack's accident by introducing the chapter with an explanation of the
slingstone hitch (the knot on the lobster net anchors). The reader should also recall that
Jack has been associated throughout the book with an uncanny sense about the sea. If
anyone were to exhibit super-human powers at sea, it would be Jack.
Jack's wakeup creates a surprise ending that undermines the serious tone surrounding
death and good-byes. The reader almost feels tricked by the author, after Quoyle and
Wavey have been working so hard to understand the deaths of their loved one, and
Wavey is trying to teach Bunny, too, about death. It almost seems as if the author
intervenes, telling the reader and all the characters that death is not real after all. The
lesson Bunny learns is that people wake up, and dead birds fly away. The novel ends in
this moment of imaginative happiness, but the happiness is not so much pure joy as it is
the absence of suffering. Jack is not dead. Quoyle does not feel pain. Quoyle's hubcaps
shine, and reflect more colors than black and white alone.