Jasper Jones: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

The day after he digs the hole, Charlie meets Jeffrey in the street to play cricket and listen to a cricket match on the radio. He tells Jeffrey about a nightmare he had last night about The Wizard of Oz, but he neglects to mention that he was dressed as Dorothy, or that his mother was the Wicked Witch, cackling at him. Jeffrey mentions that Laura is missing, and jokes about Charlie abducting her. Charlie is secretly nervous, but he manages to joke about the matter, and Jeffrey seems not to notice his discomfort.

Charlie bowls to Jeffrey, who easily hits everything he receives. After about half an hour of this, Charlie notices two low-flying airplanes above him. For a second, he imagines that the planes have come to arrest him. Although the cricket match is about to resume on the radio, Charlie tells Jeffrey he’s going home. Jeffrey is confused, but says he’ll talk to Charlie later. Charlie arrives home, where he notices that his father is out helping with the search for Laura. Charlie’s mother asks if he wants lunch, and he politely says no.

A few hours later, Charlie hears a tapping at his window. Charlie is sure that it’s Jasper, and so is surprised to see Jeffrey instead. Jeffrey is excited because his favorite cricketer, Doug Walters, did well in his first professional game. In the middle of the conversation, very casually, he tells Charlie that some of his family died yesterday. Charlie doesn’t know what to say, but he asks Jeffrey what he means. Jeffrey explains that his uncle and aunt were killed in a bombing of the village where his mother grew up. Horrified, Charlie asks Jeffrey if he’s all right. Jeffrey says that while he didn’t know his aunt and uncle personally, he feels sorry for his mother, who can’t stop weeping. He adds that his parents are trying to arrange for his cousins, aged twelve and four, to stay with them, even though this is highly difficult to do. In the meantime, his family is sending money to the people who are taking care of his cousins.

Charlie tells Jeffrey that he’s sorry for his family’s loss. Jeffrey mentions that his mother has begun saying “fuck,” which causes both of them to laugh. They spend the rest of Jeffrey’s visit talking about trivial things like toothpaste and men’s nipples. Then Jeffrey says he has to go. Charlie senses that he should say something, but doesn’t know what.

Later in the evening, Charlie sits and watches television with his father and mother. There is a news story about Laura’s disappearance. Wesley expresses his surprise that Laura hasn’t turned up yet. When Charlie asks him how the search has been, he mentions that Laura may have been meeting someone by the river. Charlie begins to panic, but before he can ask anything else, his mother tells Wesley that they shouldn’t be discussing the matter in front of Charlie. Charlie angrily says that he deserves to know about Laura, and his mother tells Wesley that he and Wesley are exactly the same. She leaves the kitchen and slams her bedroom door behind her.

Alone, Wesley reminds Charlie to be diplomatic, adding that he already tells Charlie more than enough about Laura. Charlie asks Wesley if he can come on the search party, but Wesley says that he can’t under any circumstances. Charlie senses that Wesley is right in everything he’s said, as usual.

In his room later that night, Charlie thinks about Vietnam, and wishes he’d asked his father about the matter. He realizes that the bombing in Vietnam seems like one of the least violent things that he’s experienced lately. He also realizes that he wouldn’t care so much about Vietnam if he weren’t friends with Jeffrey, and this distresses Charlie.

Charlie wonders what will become of Laura. Perhaps the search party will never find her body, and he and Jasper will never find out who killed her. Charlie wonders if he’ll ever be able to forget Laura, or if her family will, if her killer isn’t brought to justice. He concludes that it’s impossible to be completely satisfied with an unsolved mystery. One always craves the truth, especially if it’s about something as important as murder.

Charlie gets in bed and thinks about Eliza. She is his only comfort when he’s feeling anxious about Laura. He imagines the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz melting into nothingness, and thinks that it would be interesting to experience death—it might even come as a relief.