A Wish in the Dark

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-10

Chapters 11-17

Chapters 18-26

Chapters 27-36

Chapters 37-49

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 11-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 11 Summary

Now 13, Pong accompanies Father Cham on an errand into the village of Tanaburi below the mountain; an orphaned baby was found there earlier that morning and is now waiting to be blessed. When Pong questions why someone would abandon their baby, Father Cham remains quiet, prompting him to answer his own question: The family was probably starving, and the parents did what they thought they had to do. Father Cham thanks Pong for teaching him that the desperate deserve their kindness, not their judgment. The abbot performs a blessing on the orphaned baby and gives her an exquisite red-and-gold-bound cord; as he ties it around her wrist, Pong notices a brilliant golden light emanating from Father Cham’s hands. Father Cham is evasive about it when Pong questions him later, speaking instead of Pong’s unique gift for observation, but Pong later realizes that Father Cham’s blessings really come true. Pong and Father Cham notice the villagers of Tanaburi crowded around a horse-drawn carriage: Warden Sivapan and his family have come to visit.

Chapter 12 Summary

Nok’s father, now the Governor’s chief law commissioner, must convince the Tanaburi villagers to stop using fire and buy the Governor’s light orbs instead. Although ostensibly Nok is there only to accompany her parents, she knows they have an ulterior motive. Recently, Nok’s family has become the subject of gossip—and somehow, Nok is at the center of it. After her recent victory at a spire fighting (a martial arts form wherein two opponents duel with long bamboo staffs) tournament, where Nok displayed an unprecedented use of light magic, her strong resemblance to her father became the subject of many of her parents’ friends’ conversations. Nok long suspected that she isn’t really her mother’s daughter, but her mother recently started looking at her with sadness and disappointment. Nok can’t understand why, because she strives so hard to be the perfect daughter—and succeeds at it. Nok discerns from an overheard conversation between her parents that her parentage is the topic of gossip in upper society now; accordingly, her parents plan to leave her in Tanaburi to shield her—and themselves—from the rumors. Nok remembers the Governor’s mantra—”light shines on the worthy”—and resolves to prove her worth to her family.

Chapter 13 Summary

The Sivapans meet with Father Cham, who gently yet firmly denies their request that the village use the Governor’s light orbs instead of fire. After they leave, Pong begs Father Cham to remove his prison tattoo, fearing that the Sivapans will discover his identity. Pong now knows that Father Cham’s blessings, even the small ones, all come true, so why can’t the monk wish Pong’s tattoo away so he can walk freely? Father Cham explains that he once thought that his gift to grant wishes was meant to change the world; however, by taking it upon himself to do that, he ultimately caused more harm than good. That is why, Father Cham explains sadly, he cannot remove Pong’s tattoo—and, to Pong’s bewilderment, because perhaps Pong might need it someday. Crushed, Pong leaves Father Cham and plans to board a departing boat the next morning.

Chapter 14 Summary

The next morning, Nok witnesses a young boy stealing a cake from a baker in the Tanaburi village square. Nok plans to arrest the boy as evidence of her competence, but a young monk defends him. He explains that the boy is hungry, and his family can’t pay for the food. The monk will see to it that the boy rectifies his wrong, but if Nok turns the boy in now, he’ll only be whipped. The monk reminds Nok of someone, but she can’t place who it is.

Chapter 15 Summary

Pong returns to Wat Singh to discover that Father Cham has fallen ill and is dying. Pong’s grief for his teacher wars with his fear of Nok; he could escape now, before the girl catches up to him, but then he couldn’t say goodbye to the abbot. Ultimately, Pong prioritizes his bond with Father Cham. As Pong kneels before his deathbed, Father Cham reaffirms the goodness of Pong’s heart, a sentiment that is difficult for Pong to hear because he still feels so strongly that he is a bad person. Father Cham gives Pong a red-and-gold cord just like the one he gave the orphaned baby and a final blessing: “My wish for you is that you find what you are looking for” (111). Pong sees the brilliant golden light again as he is blessed; with that, Pong leaves his teacher for the final time.

Chapter 16 Summary

Nok identifies the monk in the square as Pong. She and her family arrive at Wat Singh to arrest him, but Pong escapes. Nok pursues him into a cave overlooking the river, exhilarated by the chase; it makes her feel proud to be the enforcer of law and order, and she feels a rush at thinking that she’ll be able to clear her family’s name with her actions. Nok tries to persuade Pong to turn himself in. She thinks he is a bad person because he broke the laws; Pong argues that the laws are ridiculous and unfairly advantageous to privileged families like Nok’s. Although Nok vehemently disagrees, she doesn’t have an answer for Pong when he asks who can decide the fairness of the laws. Before Nok can capture Pong, he leaps from the cave into the river below.

Chapter 17 Summary

Pong climbs aboard a barge that is fortuitously passing by. He doesn’t realize it’s bound for Chattana until it’s too late.

Chapters 11-17 Analysis

Chapter 11 opens with a time jump: Four years passed, and 13-year-old Pong is now a trainee at Wat Singh. He has a close relationship with Father Cham, but that doesn’t quell Pong’s internal conflict over his inner darkness. Nok’s character develops through a more balanced alternation between her perspective and Pong’s; the juxtaposition between the two characters develops, too, as Nok’s primary internal conflict is introduced. The narrative moves into a new setting, which sharply contrasts Namwon and Chattana. In Tanaburi, the people still use fire for light, and Pong feels that he is treated with respect and care by the adults around him for the first time in his life. If Namwon is a microcosm of current Chattana society, Tanaburi is a microcosm of what life was like before the Governor—and of how it might be again.

The Freedom from Darkness theme develops in Chapter 13 after Pong discovers Father Cham’s ability to grant wishes. Pong is desperate to escape from the Sivapans, fearing they will discover him, and he implores Father Cham to use his power to erase Pong’s past. Although Pong is bewildered by Father Cham’s response that Pong may one day need his tattoo, this moment foreshadows Pong’s ultimate resolution of finding a balance with his darkness. Father Cham’s comments about his arrogance in attempting to change the world reflect Buddhist ideals of balance and humility; this ultimately helps Pong realize the importance of embracing darkness and light. The situation Father Cham alludes to from his past, wherein he tried to use his power to change the world, foreshadows the later reveal that the Governor’s powers came from one of Father Cham’s blessings.

Chapter 12 introduces the internal conflicts that direct Nok’s actions. This develops her character by demonstrating that she is a victim of social prejudice just like Pong, although Nok doesn’t realize it yet. The rumors circulating about Nok’s parentage forced her parents to relocate her to Tanaburi to escape the insidious gossip; Nok is confused because she is “the perfect daughter” (80). Nok internalizes the Governor’s “the law is the light” (23) principle and applies the philosophy of law and order to her own person. If she is perfectly controlled and achieves highly, then she is worthy of light and praise. Just as Pong internalized the Governor’s words about his own darkness, Nok internalizes the rumors and feels that she can resolve the situation if she can only “prove to her parents—to everyone—that she was worthy of being called their daughter” (87). The social prejudice against Nok’s scandalous birth, reflective of the insidious framework of crime and punishment that governs Chattana, pushes Nok to embrace the oppressive system rather than to reject it.

Although Pong feels powerless to change his own darkness, the narrative demonstrates that his burning need for justice has not quite left him. In conversations with Father Cham in Chapters 11 and 14, Pong shows compassion for others. After he learns that “the desperate deserve our compassion, not our judgment” (68) in Chapter 11, Pong applies that lesson in Chapter 14 by protecting the young boy Nok catches stealing food, despite Pong’s fear that she will realize his identity. Likewise, the narrative demonstrates that Pong’s fear and mistrust are ultimately overruled by a greater force: the care he has for others. Although he is conflicted over whether to run while he has the chance in Chapter 15, Pong decides to stay because of his love for Father Cham. The abbot gives Pong a final affirmation of his goodness, but Pong cannot accept it; he still feels that “He wasn’t good. He was a liar and a thief and a runaway” and is “so ashamed that he had to fight off tears” (110). This moment deepens Pong’s conflict over redemption but ultimately signals his goodness to the reader by demonstrating that Pong is motivated by care and compassion for others.

The near-capture scene between Nok and Pong in Chapter 16 introduces an important thematic question for the novel: Who has the power to decide laws and justice? While Pong is adamant that the law is not always just, Nok refutes him by saying that he cannot decide for himself what is and isn’t just (120). When he asks her who can, then, Nok finds that “she had no answer” (121). This continues to develop the theme of Laws versus Justice.

Chapter 17 ends on a note of suspense, as Pong realizes that he’s headed back to Chattana. As the plot returns to the setting where he initially faced such formative despair, the narrative positions him to face new challenges and develop a greater strength to face old injustices.