The Bone Sparrow: Chapter 25 Summary & Analysis

Everything and everyone is “jumpy” and anxious, even the Jackets and their dogs. Twenty-four people have sewn their lips shut, and 87 are on hunger strike. Subhi has saved the picture he drew for Jimmie, and he tries to tell himself stories to distract from the “fizzing” in his head. But he keeps thinking of the knife. He decides to bury it behind the toilets, where no one will find it. This doesn’t help Subhi feel any better, though. He wishes he could ask Eli for help, but Eli didn’t seem to realize that Subhi was trying to wave him over this morning. Eli just waved hello. Hopefully Jimmie comes tonight. She’ll help Subhi feel better.

Now it’s night and Subhi and the Shakespeare duck are waiting for Jimmie. The duck repeats one of Harvey’s favorite phrases, “A problem shared is a problem halved.” Deciding to see if it’s true, Subhi tells the duck about the knife. The duck scoffs and says that Subhi is “stupid,” and the two dissolve into giggles until Jimmie arrives. Jimmie, though, seems off: she isn’t wearing shoes, she didn’t bring her Thermos, and she seems confused. She doesn’t even have her mum’s book. However, Jimmie tells Subhi to read, as though she believes she brought the book. Subhi tells one of Maá’s Listen Now stories, which the duck loves. Jimmie, though, just sits with her eyes closed and doesn’t respond when the duck says she looks really sick.

Subhi starts to cry, as he doesn’t know what to do. In here, the kids look after the babies a lot, so Subhi knows what an unwell baby or little kid looks like. Jimmie is clearly unwell, and her arm is hot when Subhi touches her—while her toes are frozen. There’s a cut on her arm that’s swollen and oozing pus. Subhi asks what happened and if she cleaned it, but Jimmie just says it was the ladder. Then, she says she has to leave. Her dad will be back soon, and Jonah will bring a chocolate bar. Rather than answer if she’s okay, Jimmie says the crocodiles won’t eat her. Subhi helps her under the fence and her mum’s book falls out of her pocket. Jimmie doesn’t notice. She walks on unevenly, and Subhi rescues the book from the ground.