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 14-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary: “Michelle Volkmann”
Michelle’s boss, Tim McGraw, goes on a cruise ship and brings back gifts for each employee, and Michelle idolizes him for his glamorous lifestyle. She mentions how he is having a meeting with Dr. Caviolini—who is associated with ILLC contracted nursing facilities—and how the doctor is a creep who tries to sleep with younger women. She is impressed that Tim takes the time to operate as a high-level executive. Tim increases her recruitment quotas, and she is unsure how she will fulfill his expectations. She works around the clock and tries to recruit as many families and patients as possible to reach her numbers, but she struggles to do so, especially with the competition of other people like her who are also at events trying to recruit patients.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Jimmie Kendrick”
Jimmie sits with Yessenia in her room, and they exchange stories about the deaths of their mothers (Yessenia’s Tía Nene). Both women died of breast cancer and this bonds Jimmie and Yessenia. Jimmie tells Yessenia that losing her mother was difficult, and it will take time to heal.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Joanne Madsen”
Joanne’s ex, Dennis, emotionally abused her. She is hesitant to open up to Ricky because she’s unsure if he is attracted to her or just flirtatious. Joanne doesn’t like big groups or socializing much, but she is content working in her job and has begun to make friends with young “crips” like Teddy and Mia. She wonders what will happen to Mia after she leaves ILLC. Teddy is nearly 22 years old and will age out, but Joanne thinks he will be relatively fine.
Joanne is a note-taker at the board meetings, and she sits in the room observing the others. She notes how none of the board members are disabled or have no experience with disabled family members, and how there is no diversity among the members. They talk about issues, such as a “new lawsuit for the wrongful death” of a former patient, donations, and Michelle’s recruitment efforts. Joanne senses there is something wrong with the attitude of the board, but she diligently takes notes while feeling invisible.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Teddy Dobbs”
Teddy and Bernard are bored, so they decide to trash the staff restroom at ILLC. On the way there, they run into Yessenia, or “Yessie,” and Cheri, who join them. In the hallways, they cross paths with Joanne, who jokes with them on her way to her next task. Teddy feels bad that he is going to trash the staff bathroom because he likes Joanne, but he realizes that she doesn’t have access to that bathroom because it’s not equipped for disabled used. He and the others set up a plan to clog the toilets and squirt soap on the windows. Cheri is the lookout, and she saves them from getting caught. Teddy realizes that he hasn’t thought about Mia, who apparently broke up with him, and he wants to get back at her by hanging out with Yessie and Cheri more.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Jimmie Kendrick”
Jimmie decides to take Yessie out to a lesbian party where Jimmie’s band is playing. Jimmie is slightly nervous but knows Yessie deserves to see more than the nursing home’s hallways. Yessie is eager and excited, though stubborn about not bringing a jacket in the cold. During the ride, Yessie asks Jimmie about her choice to wear men’s clothing, and Jimmie is happy to inform her about her gender identity—she identifies as a woman but likes to dress in suits. Jimmie knows she had to lie to the staff at ILLC to get permission to take Yessie out for the night, so she hopes everything goes well.
Once at the party, Jimmie takes care of Yessie by pushing her wheelchair around. Yessie asks Jimmie if her mom knew she was a lesbian. Jimmie happily explains that she came out to her mother as a teenager and her mother eventually got over it. During the event, Jimmie sings, and the crowd goes wild. Jimmie shouts out Yessie and after the show, the women in attendance mob them. Jimmie is glad she can connect with Yessie—she sees abundant similarities between them, such as having family members in prison and drug-addicted relatives.
Chapters 14-18 Analysis
Michelle continues to represent the capitalistic and soulless elements of health care. Rather than caring for patients, she is obsessed with social status, power, and financial gain. Her boss, Tim McGraw, is the quintessential example of a corporate talking head who says anything he can to convince his employees that they can achieve riches if they work hard enough for him. Michelle is blinded by her desire to make more money, but also slowly begins to allude to being overworked: “I’ll basically be lucky if I’m home by ten o’clock. Sometimes I feel like all I do is work, go to sleep, wake up, and work” (86).
In Chapter 16, Michelle is present at a board meeting where Joanne is narrating at taking notes; Joanne mentions that Michelle’s role as recruiter sounds “ominous” (93). Joanne’s character provides critical commentary towards the maltreatment of the disabled population. She herself experiences discrimination and belittlement, but more importantly, she observes how the institutionalized aspects of ILLC prevent the young adults from achieving any independence. She regularly makes comments like “Not that invisibility is hard to achieve when you’re a crip. We’re minor characters in someone else’s story” (93), revealing her awareness of the inequity that exists within the company; she is practically invisible. Joanne is concerned about the well-being and fair treatment of other “crips” and is taking notes (literally and figuratively) on how she can make a difference.
Teddy’s character reveals compassion for Joanne but also an awareness of her lack of support in the building as a disabled employee. His open sense of guilt in potentially affecting Joanne by ravaging the staff bathroom shows that he cares about her as an adult he can relate to, showing the importance of Joanne’s role working with disabled youth. Teddy also helps to portray the attempt of young adults in his position to live regular teenage lives with romantic problems (i.e. break-up with Mia) and mischief.
Similar to Joanne, Jimmie symbolizes the rare adult who the young people can relate with. She is a voice that speaks up on behalf of the patients and a confidante. Her attempt to expose Yessie to a different lifestyle and experience proves that Jimmie cares deeply for the young patients and wants them to feel seen. Like Joanne, Jimmie’s circumstances, racial and gender identity, and family history allow her to empathize with the youth in a way that many of the other employees cannot. The developing motif of the LGBTQ community also serves as a parallel reference for how other minority groups are treated and how LGTBQ character are able to build a community to help each other progress and heal in the face of social discrimination (which the disabled community isn’t as easily allowed to do).
