63 pages • 2 hours read
Ann NapolitanoDear Edward
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaPart 2, Chapters 1-3 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2, Chapter 1 Summary: “11:42 A.M.”
On the plane, Veronica prepares for lunch service. She thinks about how she’ll spend her time in California and becomes “aware that she’s getting lonely,” something she has in common with the other passengers (152). In coach, Jordan tells Bruce that he has decided to become vegan. The news frustrates Bruce, but Jordan defends his position.
A few rows up, Linda gets sick when she smells the chicken sandwich she ordered for lunch. As she and Florida talk, Benjamin and Mark wait in line for the bathroom. Benjamin finds Mark more attractive than Veronica, and his sexuality continues to pull his thoughts to Gavin. Florida, meanwhile, tells Linda that she has never been to California, and she left her husband without telling him.
On the way back to his seat, Mark runs into Veronica and tells her he wants to kiss her. He is excited by her frank, witty response.
Part 2, Chapter 2 Summary: “June 2015”
After two years, Edward receives permission to join in physical activity. He attends the same camp as Shay but prefers activities that keep him sitting and isolated. When school starts, Edward meets his gym teacher, Mrs. Tuhane. On his first day of gym class, the loud sounds and physical proximity of basketball overwhelm him. Flustered, he shoves a girl to the ground. At dinner, Edward asks Lacey for a note to excuse him from gym.
Edward is devastated to learn that he can no longer sleep on Shay’s floor. Shay has gotten her first period, and Besa does not want them to share a room. After Edward helps him water his ferns one day, Principal Arundhi suggests that Edward start weightlifting in place of gym class. Edward takes Arundhi’s advice and starts lifting weights under the tutelage of Mrs. Tuhane.
On his first day sleeping in the basement at Lacey and John’s house, Edward visits Shay so they can read together. On the walk back to his house, he “sinks to the ground. It’s not a choice; his body just gives up and drops” (177). Edward is again losing the safety of people around him, and he is reacting physically to that trauma. He falls asleep in the cold night until Lacey and John find him and take him inside.
Part 2, Chapter 3 Summary: “12:22 P.M.”
Before the flight, Crispin called his lawyer to prepare to change his will. During the flight, he considers who to leave his fortune to. Bruce sits in Mark’s empty seat next to Jane and suggests that they should enroll Edward in a performing arts school.
In the plane bathroom, Veronica and Mark have sex. Jordan notices them go into the bathroom, and Edward is disgusted when Jordan tells him what the adults are doing.
In first class, Crispin wakes from a nap, not knowing what year it is. This loss of memory coincides with a deteriorating identity that will be reflected in Edward after the crash: “I am freezing cold. And I am no longer young. And I am alone […] headed to where I do not know” (187). Across the aisle, Jane and Mark notice hail outside the plane. They talk briefly about their respective marriages, and Jane understands that Mark lives “a life of messiness,” which she vaguely regrets not having herself (189).
Part 2, Chapters 1-3 Analysis
Jordan continues to flex his independence when he decides to change his diet, and the theme runs throughout this section of the novel. Jordan uses his independence to separate himself from others and forge his own identity, similar to the way Florida left her husband in New York to start a new life. Napolitano is careful to illustrate the difference between independence and isolation, however. Jordan is still part of his family, and Florida is developing a new friendship with Linda. Linda feels a slight loss of her independence due to her pregnancy and finds comfort in the free-spirited Florida. Likewise, Jane is jealous of Mark’s freedom.
The passengers also explore connection. Crispin’s fortune is his legacy; as he decides who should inherit his wealth, he considers the difficult relationships that he regrets losing. Mark and Veronica share a physical connection, as well, one that excites the adolescent Jordan and disgusts pre-pubescent Edward.
Edward gains his physical independence, but his emotional freedom is complicated by signs of post-traumatic stress. The basketball game in his gym class is an opportunity for him to connect with others, but his anxiety sabotages the moment. He cannot have true ownership over his physical self without control of his mental wellbeing.
Edward’s collapse on his walk from Shay’s house further illustrates his lack of control. Besa’s insistence that he can no longer sleep on Shay’s floor represents Edward’s first big loss since the crash. The sudden mental impact of the change is enough to affect Edward physically; new loss and new trauma cause him to regress, and in his confusion, he becomes infant-like.
This contrasts with Shay, who is stepping into adolescence. Edward can no longer sleep in her room because she has gotten her period, leaving Edward in childhood alone. This mirrors the rift that grew between Edward and Jordan when the eldest brother entered adolescence. Now, however, Edward is more aware of his isolation.
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By Ann Napolitano
