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Chapter 30
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
Ace—or someone—makes an anonymous phone call leading to the discovery of Ray Brower’s body. But no one else finds out about the adventure. Neither of Chris’s parents noticed his absence because they had left Eyeball in charge for the weekend. Teddy’s and Vern’s mothers both fall for the ruse of the lit flashlights. After a few vague questions, Gordie’s dad drops the subject. And Milo never says anything.
Gordie’s obsession with the pot in Chapter 28 hinted at the idea that an older kid or an adult might have been responsible for Ray Brower’s death. The fact that none of the parents worried when the boys didn’t return on Saturday—and the fact that Chris’s parents left his brother in charge—reinforce the plausibility of his fears.
Themes
