111 pages • 3 hours read
Robin RoeA List of Cages
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
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Chapter Summaries & Analyses
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BetaChapters 55-58Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 55 Summary
This three-page chapter is narrated by Adam, who is still at Julian's bedside in the hospital room. Julian won't eat anything but a protein shake, and Adam has to keep the TV on in the room because Julian says the room is too quiet. Adam goes to sleep and has a nightmare about the refrigerator box his fifth-grade teacher put him in as an experiment for his ADHD. The photos of insects that were posted inside the refrigerator box come alive, and soon there are "millions of them" flying and crawling through the air, and Adam can’t get out of the box (252). When Adam finally wakes up, Julian asks him what kind of nightmare he had, but Adam doesn't tell Julian the truth. He tells him that the nightmare was about three dates he had for the prom, a theme that mimics some TV shows they both had been watching in the hospital room.
Chapter 56 Summary
Adam continues to narrate from Julian’s hospital room as he attempts to do his calculus homework. Charlie comes by to visit Adam and Julian and confesses to Adam that he used to feel jealous of Julian because he was such a close friend of Adam's. The local ice-cream truck outside the hospital room plays a lullaby, announcing another child being born in the hospital, and Charlie tells Adam that his mother just had another baby, and the truck was playing for his new brother. Adam leaves the hospital room for the first time in days while Catherine sits with Julian and Adam goes to see Charlie's new brother. When Charlie is showing Adam the new baby, Adam breaks into tears for no apparent reason and Charlie gives him a hug. Adam is shocked that Charlie would actually ever give him a hug, as when “Charlie Taylor actually hugged [him], it would mean the End of Days. His monster arms get closer. It's the End of Days" (256).
Chapter 57 Summary
Adam narrates this two-page chapter focusing on a conversation he has with Emerald, when she stops by to bring Julian his school assignments. Emerald tells Adam she texted him (with no answer), and Adam says he's sorry. Adam feels a distant from and tense around Emerald. He believes if he hadn't listened to Emerald that he could have prevented Julian from being locked in the trunk. Catherine, who is in the room when Emerald comes in, comments that Adam acts as if he is mad at Emerald.
Chapter 58 Summary
Delores Carter, Julian's temporary legal guardian, tells Adam that he has to go back to school. Adam insists on staying because he doesn't want Julian to be alone and because Julian is still not eating solid food. Carter convinces Adam to go because she tells him that if he's branded as a truant, this could affect his mother getting custody of Julian. She also tells Adam that Julian won't be alone because there is a therapy group that he's going to attend.
Carter tells Adam that Julian will be released when he starts eating. Adam grabs some pudding from a fridge down the hall from the hospital room and makes Julian eat some of it. He tells Julian that he can get out soon if he will just eat. Julian says, "'Right'" (261).
Chapters 55-58 Analysis
Roe underscores Adam's dedication to his friendship with Julian in these chapters. When Julian refuses to eat the hospital food, Adam brings him pudding and forces him to eat it. He even dreams that he is contained in the refrigerator box from fifth grade in the same way Julian was locked in the trunk, simulating Julian’s captivity. When Carter coaxes Adam to go back to school, Adam doesn't want to leave Julian because he doesn't want Julian to be alone.
Adam wonders if he might be "having a nervous breakdown"(256). He starts crying in front of Charlie for no apparent reason, and he has repeated burning sensations in his throat and "pressure in [his] chest" (256). His mother tells him he's acting strange, and he is disconnecting from Emerald. These changes in Adam's emotional state continue until the end of the novel.
Charlie Taylor's move away from his usual detached and/or angry persona is also significant. For once, Charlie is feeling some guilt about the way he has treated Julian. He admits he was jealous of Julian, and says, "I don't know why, but it was like I-wanted-to-punch-him-in-the-face kind of jealous" (255). However, in these chapters Charlie is softening his once menacing and angry personality. He even reaches out to give Adam a hug when he starts crying.
