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Chapter 26
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 can’t tell if Chris is bluffing or not, but it doesn’t really matter, because Ace and the others believe him, especially after he shoots in the direction of Eyeball’s feet. Ace warns Chris that he may be able to keep them from touching Ray Brower, but that he won’t be able to keep the gang from roughing up him and his friends back home. Chris refuses to be intimidated. The thunderstorm intensifies and hailstones rain down. Vern and Teddy and some of the older boys run for cover. But Gordie sticks with Chris, refusing to leave his side as he squares off against Ace, Eyeball, Charlie, and Billy.
Chris and Gordie stick together even after Vern and Teddy abandon them. The weaknesses and alliances in their gang become apparent under stress, and this seems to confirm the message of Chris’s warnings and Gordie’s dream that some friends may turn out to be liabilities. And, thanks in part to the strength of their bond (thanks in part to the gun), together Chris and Gordie force Ace and his gang to stand down.
Themes
After a few more threats, Ace and his gang retreat. Chris follows them to make sure they’re really leaving, while Gordie guards Ray Brower’s body. Teddy and Vern crawl out of the bushes after Chris returns, drawing his anger for their cowardice. Still, they’ve won: Chris tells his friends to start making a litter to carry the body back to town. Quietly, Gordie points out that they can’t. They don’t know what trouble Ace and the others might get them into. They might even frame them for hurting Ray. Chris lunges at Gordie but trips over the body, falling in the exact same position it was in when they found it. After a moment, he screams, thrashes, and cries in frustration. Unsure what to do—no one has ever seen Chris cry—the other boys retreat to the tracks to wait.
The boys have won, but they quickly realize that their victory is limited. Ray Brower is still dead. And now, they can’t even risk taking him home. This hits Chris particularly hard. Although his difficult life has already cost him most of his innocence, he still clearly clings to a hope that right will win out in the end. That hope dies in this moment as he realizes that life is just as unfair as he’s always suspected. His tantrum reflects the difficulty of this lesson.
Themes
