43 pages • 1 hour read
Mike CuratoFlamer
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | YA | 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.
Chapter 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary: “Thursday”
Aiden wakes with tears in his eyes. Elias is gone, and the friendship bracelet Aiden had made him is on the ground. Aiden wears a black hoodie and is depressed and reticent when anyone tries to talk to him. At archery, Elias doesn’t even want to look at him and Aiden eventually runs away crying. Things get even worse at orienteering, when Aiden learns that Ted has been fired because management found out that he’s gay. In the lunchroom, Aiden overhears the other scout leaders talking about Ted. One of them is defending Ted, while the other agrees that he should have been fired and suggests that he’s a pervert.
On his way to basket weaving, Aiden passes Elias, who is on the phone with his ex-girlfriend. Aiden doesn’t stop, but drops his friendship bracelet nearby. Aiden then gets into an argument with Ryan, who is tired of Aiden feeling sorry for himself. Later, Aiden is devastated when the mail comes and there’s no letter from Violet. He tells Jacob that he is going to bed early, and calls home. He wants to talk to his mom, but she is fighting with his dad. He tells his sister Tessa that he loves her and asks her to tell their mom the same.
Back at his tent, he discovers that Elias’s things are gone. He beings to cycle through negative thoughts, believing that things will never change. He feels too short, too fat, not white enough, not straight enough, and like he’ll never be safe anywhere. He cries in bed and imagines himself having a Viking-style funeral: He is pushed out to sea in a small boat and then shot by Elias with a flaming arrow while the rest of the camp watches him burn.
Chapter 6 Analysis
This chapter focuses on depicting the perspective and experience of someone going through a mental health crisis. Aiden, still emotionally overwhelmed with the events of the previous night, experiences a series of events that push him further into crisis: Elias is gone and has left behind the friendship bracelet Aiden made him, he learns Ted has been fired for being gay, he burns dinner for everyone and then doesn’t receive the letter he is expecting from Violet, and he’s unable to get his mom on the phone because she’s fighting with his dad. Each successive thing compounds, and even little things that would normally be insignificant start to feel insurmountable. Aiden’s state of mind is symbolized by the black hoodie he puts on in the morning. He wears the hood up and has his hands in the front pocket, reflecting how closed off he is. In each panel, the dark color stands out to emphasize his isolation.
Aiden’s bad mood alienates David during basket weaving. With Ted fired, there is no one else in leadership who recognizes what Aiden is going through, and how the Boy Scouts is not an inclusive space. With no support, Aiden’s self-hatred intensifies. His thoughts spiral toward suicidal ideation as the only means of escape.
Curato attempts to capture how overwhelming these feelings are on pages 282 and 283: Aiden lies wrapped in his sleeping bag, hands covering his face in the bottom right corner of the page, while a wall full of scrawled, red-tinted self-hate surrounds him. This is followed by two pages that are completely black except for a small image of Aiden, head in hands, and the words “I can’t” (284-85). This reflects his anguish and despair.
