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Chapter 25
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
The boys all jump. For a second, Vern thinks Ray Brower has spoken. Looking up, the gang sees Ace Merrill and Eyeball Chambers approaching from the wood, followed by Charlie Hogan, Billy Tessio, Fuzzy Bracowicz, and two other older boys. Chris claims dibs on the body, even though he and his friends are outnumbered. The older and younger boys remain locked in a standoff until Ace appeals to Gordie as the leader of the younger boys. He tells Gordie that he should show some of Dennis’s good sense and call his friends off. Enraged by the comparison to his dead brother, Gordie instead screams at Ace to “suck my fat one, you cheap dimestore hood.”
While the boys initially talked about their quest in terms of what it would do for them (make them heroes), as they’ve walked along, it has become clear that they’re less intent on seeing the body for voyeuristic reasons than to pay their respects and make sure that Ray Brower gets to rest in peace. Their motives have matured. They don’t know what reason Ace and the rest have to be there, but it’s pretty clear that it isn’t a good one. Chris and the other boys stand up for Ray as if he’s one of their own, symbolically including him in their gang.
Themes
After a surprised, speechless moment, Ace starts toward the younger boys, intent on breaking both of Gordie’s arms. Gordie, Vern, and Teddy drop into fighting stances, even though they know they’re outnumbered. But the older boys stop, stunned, when Chris retrieves his dad’s gun from his backpack and shoots it into the air. He agrees with Gordie’s assessment that the older boys are “cheap hoods” who don’t deserve credit for finding Ray Brower. He threatens to shoot if they don’t stand down.
The strength of the boys’ friendship comes under fire here. They all prepare to fight together and to protect Ray Brower as if he’s one of their group. Now Chris gets to use the gun he said he brought for bears—but the real danger isn’t from animals. It’s from other people, something Chris—the victim of such horrific physical abuse—understands intimately.
Themes
