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Chapter 16
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Body, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Loss of Innocence
Fate, Luck, and Chance
Confronting Mortality
The Power and Limitation of Friendship
Making Meaning through Stories
Summary
Analysis
Gordie finishes the story: Lard Ass says, “I declare this contest a draw,” goes home, and locks himself in his room. The end. Teddy and Vern don’t like it; they want to know what happened next. Gordie says it’s probably not good. The kids keep calling Davie “Lard Ass” and his dad beats him. Teddy thinks it would be better if Lard Ass runs away and becomes a Texas Ranger. And then he asks for a new Le Dio story. But Gordie is bored of those.
Like “Stud City,” “The Revenge of Lard Ass Hogan” ends on an ambiguous note. Lard Ass has gotten his revenge, but it doesn't seem to have improved his life. These ambiguous endings can be frustrating to readers, as Teddy’s reaction indicates. But they’re much truer to life, which rarely provides clear endings or straight answers.
Themes
Vern and Teddy walk up ahead while Chris stays back to talk to Gordie. He’s sorry that the others can’t appreciate Gordie’s talent, but he sees it. After a moment of silence, he prophesies that the gang will split up when they go back to school. Gordie will find himself in the “college courses” while he, Teddy, and Vern will be stuck in remedial classes. Gordie swears he’ll stick with his friends, but Chris doesn’t want them to drag Gordie down. He tries to encourage Gordie—to do the thing Gordie’s parents are failing to do—to make good on his potential. He worries Gordie will squander his opportunity to escape the small town and its limitations, an opportunity Chris longs for but knows he will never get. Even though they’re still so young, Gordie recognizes that Chris has wisdom beyond his years.
Earlier in the book, Gordie’s dad complained about Teddy’s and Vern’s intelligence. Gordie leapt to his friends’ defense (internally at least), but their reaction to his story proves his father correct. They’re not as smart or as sophisticated as Gordie, and sticking to their level alone—just telling Le Dio stories—isn’t going to be a fulfilling life for Gordie. Chris gives Gordie much the same advice as his dad did, telling him someday he's going to have to leave Teddy and Vern behind lest they drag him down to their level. Gordie can better accept this from Chris in part because Gordie leans on their friendship to give Gordie the love and support he doesn’t get from his family. Friendship has strength, but not all friendships, Chris points out, are equally strong or helpful.
Themes
In a way, Chris is desperate for Gordie to succeed because he knows his own opportunities are so limited. He’s smart enough for the advanced classes, too, but given his family’s reputation (and his own) no one will give him the chance to prove himself. He brings up the time he was suspended for stealing the milk money as an example. He felt bad, he says, and returned it to Mrs. Simons. Instead of clearing his name, she took the money and bought herself a new skirt with it, leaving him to pay the price. He never said anything because he knew no one would believe his word against hers. Gordie’s friends, he says, are “drowning guys” holding on to his legs. Unless he makes a clean break, Chris says, he’ll drown too.
Chris feels like his fate is already sealed, at least in Castle Rock, because people judge him based on his family. Unlike other kids, he doesn’t have a chance to make mistakes, because each of his missteps is taken as a sign that he's a bad person. And each time someone discounts him in this way, he becomes more and more stuck on that path. It becomes clear as Chris tells his story that he’s already lost most of his innocence. He doesn’t believe in the protection of adults or fairness anymore. And he’s trying desperately to show Gordie the truth before it’s too late for him to see that even what a person treasures most—for Gordie, his friendships—can be either an asset or a liability.
Themes
