61 pages • 2 hours read
Susan NussbaumGood Kings Bad Kings
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “Mia Oviedo”
Mia’s narrative begins as she awakens to one of the night workers, Jerry, sexually molesting her. Jerry mounts her and touches her, stuffing her mouth with a towel so she can’t cry out. She pleads for him to stop, but he doesn’t pay attention to her. When he is finished, he tells her not to tell anyone, and out of fear, she obeys. The next day, Jimmie helps her clean up for the day. There is vomit and blood, and Jimmie kindly offers assistance and asks if Mia is on her period. Mia doesn’t tell Jimmie what happened, although she mentions that she likes Jimmie, even though she is new there. Later that night, Jerry returns, and Mia feels petrified. She has to endure another night of sexual molestation, and the next day, she feels ashamed, sick, and isolated. She leaves the table.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Joanne Madsen”
Mrs. Phoebe—the program director—assigns Joanne to backlogging 10 years worth of data for the patients at ILLC. It’s grueling and disorganized work, but Joanne is efficient and professional. She mentions how comfortable her wheelchair is and how much capabilities it has—something the children at ILLC do not have. She takes a break to use the restroom but comments how there are “no accessible stalls” for employees (65). Sometimes, Mrs. Phoebe condescendingly pats her on the head as she walks by, which Joanne does not appreciate.
After work, Joanne and Ricky go for food—something they do about twice a week. Ricky invites Joanne to his nephew’s party, and she is surprised but kindly declines. Ricky doesn’t mind. The conversation shifts to work, and Joanne tells Ricky that during her data-entry, she noticed that a high amount of the patients go to the hospital for tests. She and Ricky discuss how ILLC treats the patients, and Joanne jokes there is a conspiracy going on—though she seems to have some belief that there is something odd happening with the students who are taken to see Dr. Caviolini so frequently.
A waitress interrupts, speaking only to Ricky and ignoring Joanne; this upsets Joanne, since it makes her feel invisible, but she doesn’t show her disapproval. As they continue eating, Joanne tells Ricky: “I like you... You always make me feel better. I—I love being with you” (71). Ricky responds in kind. They look into each other’s eyes, but Joanne isn’t used to flirting and looks away.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Yessenia Lopez”
Once again, Yessenia is in a fight with her roommate, and three houseparents—including Jimmie—pull Yessenia off the other girl. Yessenia says that her roommate—who she jokingly refers to as “Shamu” because of her large size—steals from her, and they fight daily. After separating the girls, Jimmie suggests they should move the two into different rooms since they don’t get along. Yessenia likes Jimmie because she sees her as someone who isn’t afraid to make the right decisions (unlike some of the other houseparents). Yessenia also comments on how Jimmie is a lesbian and how the other workers might be lesbians, too.
In her new room, Yessenia likes her roommate, Cheri. Cheri is sweet and timid, so Yessenia says she has a lot to teach her about toughening up. Yessenia explains all the “dumb-ass” rules at ILLC, including how to ride the elevator, going outside, and taking the bus—all of which require passing a “bullshit test” to prove you can do those tasks (76).
Chapter 13 Summary: “Ricky Hernandez”
Ricky must take Pierre to the “time-out room” again. Ricky thinks Pierre might be sick and should go to the nurse instead, but Mrs. Schmidt tells him to do what she says. Ricky doesn’t approve of how Mrs. Schmidt seems to mistreat the students, but when he later suggests to Pierre that he can take him to the nurse, Pierre reacts negatively. Ricky does as originally instructed.
Ricky likes Pierre because the kid reminds him of his nephew, Pucho, who is similarly obstinate and defiant. Pucho is in a gang, and Ricky disapproves and wants his nephew to pursue his artistic talents instead of smoking and being in the streets. Pucho ends up in juvie, so Ricky visits him. Ricky thinks about solitary confinement and remembers visiting his uncle and brother in prisons, and it reminds him of juvie. Ricky’s memory jumps to a time when he was at Joanne’s place and he saw she was reading a book about the cruelties of prison and how it can damage a person’s brain development.
Ricky is attracted to Joanne. They haven’t “made love” yet, but he doesn’t know why Joanne is so concerned about her body’s appearance because he is attracted to her regardless. He is thinking about this all while waiting for Pierre’s punishment to finish. The chapter ends with Ricky waking up Pierre in the time-out room and offering his hand to walk him over to lunch; it’s the first time Ricky has made contact with Pierre besides “tackling” him.
Chapters 10-13 Analysis
Although Mia was a peripheral character earlier in the text, she now has her own chapter, thus providing an additional perspective to the narrative—another young, underserved, Puerto Rican girl. Her situation is dire, as she is an extremely vulnerable young woman who is sexually abused by an employee at ILLC. Jerry physically silences her voice, emphasizing the exploitation of disabled women and how they become targets because they aren’t able to defend themselves. The silencing of Mia’s voice is also significant because of Mia’s work later in a social justice group; she finds her voice and encourages the voices of others like her. Mia’s development from a “silenced” individual into an advocate develops the theme of “The Value of Social Advocacy and Self-Sufficiency.”
Whereas Mia’s situation highlights the individual exploitation of disabled bodies, Joanne’s work at ILLC begins to unfold a more systemic critique of the flawed institutional aspects. Her disapproving tone of how ILLC operates poorly and sends kids to the hospitals so often underlines a deeper problem of treating the young patients as experiments. Structurally, Joanne’s chapter is longer than the rest, and this also hints at the importance of her character’s ability to speak out against what she sees is wrong—something the other disabled characters are unable to do. Joanne’s work as a data entry worker foreshadows a more sinister operation occurring at ILLC. Furthermore, the working conditions for Joanne as a disabled employee are humiliating: “None of the staff bathrooms have accessible stalls, of course. At ILLC, all crips are children, including me, apparently.” The institution and Mrs. Phoebe fall into the trap of considering disabled people weak, incapable, and vulnerable, like children, but consistently fail to offer the facilities that might encourage their self-sufficiency.
Yessenia also feels degraded at ILLC, but her dehumanization comes from the rules that keep the patients from wandering around independently. From riding an elevator to taking a public bus, the physical mobility of the young patients at ILLC is representative of how limited they are in navigating social normals and expectations. Unlike most other teenagers—who experience a growth and liberation in their movement during post-adolescence—these teens are still treated like children who don’t know how to ride elevators. Yessenia’s past as an independent, street-savvy girl who has survived on her own in the “ghetto” proves that she is more capable than what she is given credit for.
With most of the narrators being women, Ricky’s perspective adds layers to the mistreatment and abuse of vulnerable young men (i.e. poor, disabled, brown, etc.) by the system. He sees how the young, voiceless patients receive punishment instead of helped. His growing relationship with Joanne also exposes him to new ways of thinking, since she is critical of the US prison system. Ricky’s thoughts on solitary confinement followed by his compassion for Pierre suggests Ricky is seeing the deeper implications of his job. It’s evident that Ricky wants to change the system from within with small acts of love. Ricky’s wholehearted attempt to appreciate Joanne also represents his willingness to see people for who they are, despite any physical or mental handicaps. In these chapters, the main characters are showing their strengths and determination to overcome obstacles in their paths—whether those be personal or societal—to achieve self-love and fulfillment.
