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40 pages 1 hour read

William Landay

Defending Jacob

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

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Chapters 21-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 21 Summary: “Beware the Fury of a Patient Man”

Andy is convinced that Patz killed Ben. He begins to follow him and confronts him outside his home. Patz tells him, “‘The DA said you’d try to talk to me […] He said you were crazy’” (222). In the grand jury transcript, Andy tells Logiudice that he was wrong and that it was irresponsible to tell Patz not to talk to Andy—“the evidence pointed at Patz” (223).

Chapter 22 Summary: “A Heart Two Sizes Too Small”

The grand jury transcripts reveal Dr. Vogel’s diagnosis of Jacob: she is not sure whether he “perceives the difference between right and wrong” (229), and he likely has “reactive attachment disorder, narcissistic personality disorder” (229), and “a heart two sizes too small” (229). Andy tells Logiudice that the news was heartbreaking: “You can’t see your own kids straight. No one can. You love them too much, you’re too close” (230). Logiudice calls Andy a “master of self-delusion” (232).

Chapter 23 Summary: “Him”

Andy visits his estranged father Billy in prison, imagining him as a “leopard in the zoo” (233). Billy admonishes him for never visiting. Andy explains Jacob’s situation and asks his father if his own act of murder was an “irresistible impulse” (238). Smiling, Billy takes his son’s suggestion and agrees it was precisely that. Andy, however, thinks he is lying—and that he is a bad liar. Billy agrees to take the DNA test.

Chapter 24 Summary: “It’s Different for Mothers”

Andy states “it never crosses [his] mind” (244) they might lose the trial. The night before it is set to begin, he and Laurie hear the sounds of a cat crying. Laurie assumes it is being killed and finds its prolonged torture cruel and unnatural. She tells Andy that she isn’t strong enough for the trial.

Chapters 20-24 Analysis

Logiudice calls Andy a “master of self-delusion” (232), which perpetuates the question of whether Andy is fooling himself, fooling the reader, or truly convinced of Jacob’s innocence. Andy has heard damning information and knows it will likely emerge in court. In addition, Jacob’s diagnosis is upsetting for Andy and forces him to see his son in a new light. Nonetheless, Andy remains confident in his son’s innocence and a likely not-guilty verdict.

Andy has previously shared that he understands how a good liar operates, though he hasn’t learned this skill from his father: when Andy visits him in prison, it’s revealed that his father is a bad liar. Andy is adept at manipulating even a skilled criminal into giving him what he wants.

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