This Boy’s Life: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Rosemary, meanwhile, is excelling in the rifle club and having a grand time, making all kinds of friends and winning shooting matches frequently. Dwight is a member of the club too, but he never wins any matches. He buys several guns, claiming that each one is malfunctioning.

When there are shooting matches in other towns, Dwight makes Jack and Pearl come along with him and Rosemary. After each match Rosemary wins, Dwight becomes sullen and cruel, and on the drive back he berates, teases, and verbally abuses Rosemary. He always stops off at the tavern, goes inside, and drinks. Sometimes, Rosemary joins him.

During this period of time, Jack is a self-described liar, constantly trying on different versions of himself. He also becomes a thief, with a goal of saving up enough money to run away—he will do anything it takes to “get clear of Dwight.” He even fantasizes about killing the man, and sometimes, when he can hear Dwight and his mother fighting in the next room, he takes out his Winchester and assembles it. Rosemary is not the only one subject to Dwight’s violent taunts—he often turns on Jack, too, but Jack feels immune to Dwight’s complaints against him. One by one, the slights give Jack a “definition” of himself, as he begins to define himself “by opposition to [Dwight.]”

One evening, after Rosemary wins a rifle match and she and Dwight go into the tavern to drink, Pearl and Jack are left alone in the car and try to come up with ways to entertain themselves. They sing along to the radio and play games until Dwight and Rosemary come out of the tavern—Jack thinks his mother no longer looks like a “winner.” Dwight gets into the car and starts it up, but Rosemary refuses to let him drive. After a time, she relents and gets in. As they drive the twisting road home, with Dwight driving fast and reckless, Pearl, Jack, and Rosemary sit helpless in the car while Dwight laughs and laughs every time he nearly runs off the road.