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Chapter 5: Chase Ambrose
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Restart, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity, Memory, and Responsibility
Reputation vs. Reality
Masculinity
Social Hierarchies and Bullying
Loyalty
Summary
Analysis
Brendan Espinoza is trying to persuade other members of the school video club to help him shoot a video for YouTube. They tell him his video idea is crazy; when he pleads with Shoshanna, she says they’d “get arrested.” The other members of the club walk off, leaving Brendan alone at his locker to bemoan their lack of “loyalty.” He scans the crowded hallway for other potential helpers, but no one will look at him. Despite—or due to—his leadership in the video club and his academic success, he’s very uncool.
Brendan’s belief that “loyalty” should have compelled the video-club members to go along with a dangerous idea that could “get [them] arrested” sheds light on Chase, Aaron, and Bear’s prank and arrest: peer pressure and group loyalty can lead kids to do stupid, dangerous things. Meanwhile, Brendan’s lack of coolness despite his academic success shows that his middle school’s social hierarchy values athletic prowess far more than intelligence or leadership in non-physical pursuits.
Themes
Brendan notices Chase coming over to him. At first, he panics, thinking Chase will violently bully him; then he realizes Chase is trying to remember who he is. Brendan gives his name and reminds Chase that they met in the cafeteria. When Chase gives his name in turn, Brendan laughs and says the whole school knows who Chase is. Though Brendan used to be terrified of Chase, Chase seems different since his amnesia—so Brendan asks whether Chase will help him shoot a video.
When Brendan says that everyone in school knows who Chase is, it reinforces what readers have already learned: many people believe they know who Chase is whether they’ve had substantive interactions with him or not. Interestingly, however, Brendan quickly notices that Chase’s personality has changed—revealing that Brendan is more open-minded and less swayed by people’s reputations than his peers.
Themes
To Brendan’s surprise, Chase comes with him, laughs at the video idea, and says he can’t be the one “going in” because it would scare his doctor and his mom. Brendan, hiding his surprise that popular kids like Chase have parents, tells Chase that he only has to run one of the cameras. When they go to Brendan’s house to get a tricycle, Brendan’s mother reacts with alarmed hostility when she sees Chase, though Chase reintroduces himself politely and Brendan assures her that they’re working on a video together.
Brendan’s surprise that Chase has a mother reveals that the middle-school social hierarchy that deifies Chase makes him seem less human to the kids “below” him in the hierarchy: they can’t imagine him having parents the way they do. Brendan’s mother’s reaction to Chase again emphasizes that Chase has a bad reputation because he used to be a bully.
Themes
Chase and Brendan take the tricycle to a car wash. While Chase diverts the car wash attendants—which his status as local sports hero helps him do—Brendan straps a camera to his head, gets on the tricycle, and starts riding through the car wash. Chase films him from the sidelines. Water and soap suds blast Brendan as he peddles. When he gets through the wash, the car wash manager starts yelling at Chase for endangering Brendan, mentions the cherry bomb incident, and threatens to call the police. Brendan explains that he planned the video and that he’s president of the school’s video club. He promises to advertise the car wash in the yearbook—which mollifies the manager.
This scene shows the two sides to Chase’s reputation. His reputation as a successful athlete gets him positive attention; this positive attention is what enables him to distract the car wash attendants for Brendan. Yet on the other hand, his reputation as a bully means that his actions are sometimes interpreted in an unfairly negative light; this negative pre-judgment causes the car wash manager to assume Chase is bullying Brendan, not helping him shoot a video.
Themes
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On their way back to Brendan’s house, Brendan apologizes to Chase for the manager’s threats. When Chase points out that Brendan saved him from the police, Brendan says that that was only because of Chase’s “reputation.” Chase replies that it was Brendan’s reputation that seemed to save them and suggests Brendan must be “special.” Brendan is shocked to realize that Chase is right: his “record as a nerd and goody-two-shoes” is what saved them.
Brendan realizes that Chase’s reputation almost got Chase unfairly arrested—but he doesn’t realize that his own reputation as a “goody-two-shoes” saved Chase until Chase points it out. When Chase says Brendan must be “special,” it shows amnesiac Chase’s rejection of the social values of his middle school, which prioritizes athletics over intelligence or moral character.
Themes
Brendan and Chase sneak past Brendan’s mom—who would likely blame Chase for Brendan’s wrecked appearance—into Brendan’s room. They watch their footage, which makes them laugh hysterically. Brendan notes that Chase is a talented camera man. They edit the video, set it to dramatic music, and upload it to YouTube, where Brendan gives Chase a coproducer credit. Chase tells Brendan that making the video is the most enjoyable thing he’s ever done. When Brendan points out he’s likely forgotten the most enjoyable thing he’s ever done, Chase says it was great anyway. Brendan invites Chase to video club—and then thinks that, given Chase’s bullying history, he’s basically “invit[ed] a shark over for sushi.” Chase asks when the club meets.
Brendan recognizes that Chase’s reputation attracts unfair blame; for this reason, the boys sneak past Brendan’s mom to prevent her blaming Chase for the physical damage Brendan brought on himself. Yet Brendan still thinks of having invited Chase to video club as having “invit[ed] a shark over for sushi,” revealing that Brendan may still think of Chase’s bullying as an animalistic, unchanging instinct, not something Chase can outgrow. While Brendan may not be sure Chase can change, Chase’s enjoyment in helping Brendan suggests that—absent the football team and the middle-school social hierarchy constraining his behavior—he may be interested in a variety of activities, such as film.
Themes
