42 pages • 1 hour read
Erin Entrada KellyLalani of the Distant Sea
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2019A 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 17-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapters 17-20 Summary
This summary section includes “Chapter 17: Ellseth’s Story,” “Chapter 18: Just Such a Girl,” “Chapter 19: Three Drops,” and “Chapter 20: You Are the Nalupai.”
Ellseth says that his people are called the mindoren, and that they are peaceful and prosperous. Isa offers everything they need to maintain their happiness, but Ellseth confesses that, at least for him, it wasn’t enough: “I had everything I needed, but I wanted more. There is a difference between ‘want’ and ‘need’” (100). Because of this, Ellseth began to steal. His thefts grew more ambitious because his dexterity made him feel superior, and he boasted about his ill-gotten gains. Eventually, the other mindoren banished him. They cast a spell to remove his eyes since he coveted everything he saw, and then they sent him away to Sanlagita. Ellseth says that he wants to make amends and offers to use his magic to help Lalani.
Ellseth explains that he stole a magical talisman from the guardian of Isa. It is called the udyo, and he can use it to grant Lalani’s wishes. Lalani assumes that the udyo is Ellseth’s walking stick. As a test, she asks him to heal her scraped knee, which he does. Ellseth makes her swear to tell no one about his power or his presence on the mountain. Lalani agrees and then asks him to make it rain. To seal their bargain, Ellseth draws three drops of blood from Lalani’s thumb using an arrowhead he keeps in a pouch around his neck. Lalani asks about the miraculous flower on Mount Isa that could cure her mother’s illness. Ellseth says that the guardian, Fei Diwata, has a garden where it might grow.
The story now switches to the perspective of Mother Nalupai, the benevolent spirit who created the two islands. She also creates a protector named Fei Diwata to watch over the land and all its creatures. Mother Nalupai says that the islands belong to those who possess life’s greatest virtue, and she whispers its name in Fei Diwata’s ear. The guardian is then given a magical talisman called the udyo to help her in her tasks and is warned to let no one steal the object from her.
Chapters 21-25 Summary
This summary section includes “Chapter 21: Hetsbi the Believer,” “Chapter 22: Under the Cloudless Sky,” “Chapter 23: Stand Right Here,” “Chapter 24: The Strongest Fish,” and “Chapter 25: Sailing Day.”
The narrative now switches to Hetsbi’s perspective. Two of his schoolmates, Bio and Dah Pasa, invite him to join their secret workers’ guild, but first there is an initiation ceremony. Hetsbi is suspicious because the Pasa boys are known for their cruel, practical jokes. To his horror, Hetsbi learns that they want him to cut off the head of a baby turtle. He is repelled by the idea but afraid to appear squeamish in front of them. As he tries to find a way out of his dilemma, Lalani staggers down the mountainside, disrupting the scene. At the same time, the menyoro is sighted, out for a walk, so the boys scatter. Meanwhile, Veyda checks on the sick baby. He isn’t doing well, and she has no means to help him because all the medicinal plants are dying in the drought.
Back at Lalani’s cottage, Drum and Kul confer with the menyoro who has arrived to check on Mrs. Sarita. The menyoro suggests that she is like a weak fish and won’t be able to fight off the disease. This comment angers Lalani. When the men depart, she whispers to her mother that she is the strongest fish.
The next morning is Sailing Day. The menyoro presides over the ceremony, and this time, a young man named Esdel and his two cousins will be sent. Esdel’s younger brother, Cade, arrives to see him go. Veyda believes that Cade has a crush on Lalani. Lalani protests that Cade is handsome while she is a sahyoon, which means “homely” or “moon-face.” After the ship departs amid much fanfare and a bombastic speech by the menyoro, Cade says, “Things will never change if everyone’s asleep” (150), suggesting that people’s lack of awareness is preventing progress in their culture.
Chapters 26-32 Summary
This summary section includes “Chapter 26: Pshah on That,” “Chapter 27: One, Two, One, Two,” “Chapter 28: Thank You, Ellseth,” “Chapter 29: Rain,” “Chapter 30: A Lesson,” “Chapter 31: Straightening Out,” and “Chapter 31: Again.”
Initially, the rain is a blessing, but as days of rain turn into weeks, the villagers see the flooding as a curse. The menyoro calls a town meeting to scapegoat somebody for the disaster. Bio Pasa points a finger at Lalani, claiming that he saw her coming down from the forbidden mountain. She protests that she only went in search of a strayed shek. The menyoro insists that she must be punished and tells Drum to discipline his stepdaughter.
Back at the house, Cade arrives to intervene. He suggests that Lalani could come and work for his mother as part of her punishment. Drum dismisses this suggestion and sends the boy away. Instead, he forces Lalani to stand outside in the rain, holding a heavy bowl of water at arm’s length. After hours of this misery, she collapses. The next day, a group of boys discusses the punishment. Hetsbi and Cade overhear them making lewd comments about Veyda and insulting Lalani’s appearance. Cade gets into a fistfight with the Pasa boys while Hetsbi stands by helplessly. When their teacher breaks up the fight, the Pasa boys accuse Cade of starting the brawl. Hetsbi feels too afraid to contradict their lies.
Back on the mountain, Lalani visits Ellseth and begs him to make the rain stop. She offers him more blood in exchange, but he demands her eyes as payment. Lalani belatedly realizes that Ellseth is the legendary monster who haunts the mountain and steals eyes. She is about to flee when a tremendous mudslide causes the hut to collapse and slide down the hill. As Ellseth is carried away by the torrent of falling earth, Lalani tries to save him, but all she can grasp is the pouch around his neck.
Chapters 17-32 Analysis
The book’s second segment foregrounds the theme of The Virtue of Compassion. It examines the concept both from the standpoint of those who demonstrate kindness as well as those who are devoid of it. In these chapters, Ellseth is introduced in the guise of a blind hermit. He appears helpless yet claims to have rescued Lalani from the beast who lurks in the hills. Because of her trusting, kind nature, Lalani doesn’t assume Ellseth might be lying.
As he tells her about his past, Ellseth makes an important distinction between needing and wanting something. As a former resident of Isa, he confirms that the legends about the good fortune of Isa are true. Although all his earthly needs were met, it wasn’t enough for him. Ellseth is intrinsically greedy while other mindoren are generous. His poor behavior is an indication that darkness can exist even in a place of light and love, such as Isa, and that contentment comes from within. Just as the people of Sanlagita have very little, some of them are generous enough to share while others are not.
Ellseth uses Lalani’s altruism against her. When he coaxes her to make a wish, she asks for rain to relieve the suffering of the people in the village. She also hopes the rain will help to revive the dying medicinal plants that Veyda needs to cure the sick infant. The blessing turns into a curse when the rain refuses to stop, and the village begins to flood. Ellseth intentionally orchestrated this state of affairs. He depended on Lalani’s compassion to compel her to return and strike another bargain with him. She is willing to make a new deal to stop the inundation, but this time, the price will be her eyesight. She belatedly realizes her error in trusting him. Fate intervenes, and a mudslide kills Ellseth before he can collect his debt.
In this segment, all of Lalani’s actions are motivated by compassion, and her behavior is contrasted with Ellseth’s selfishness. The same polarity plays out among other characters in these chapters. Hetsbi is similar to Lalani in that his nature is kind. He wants to be liked and accepted by the other boys, but his sensitivity and timidity make him an outcast. Like Lalani, he is lured by a false promise from evildoers. The Pasa boys invite him to join their club, but Hetsbi’s acceptance hinges on his willingness to decapitate an innocent baby turtle. He struggles with doing the right thing far more than Lalani because Hetsbi is caught by cultural expectations that boys must be tough and hard-hearted. He doesn’t want to appear weak in front of his schoolmates, yet his conscience tells him that killing the turtle would be wrong. This excruciating decision is taken out of his hands when Lalani stumbles down the mountain and breaks up the initiation ritual.
These same Paso boys are equally cruel when the menyoro demands a scapegoat to blame for the torrential rains. Having seen Lalani walking down from the mountain, they are eager to condemn her. True to his authoritarian tendencies, the menyoro demands that Lalani be punished. This way he can absolve himself of the responsibility for the village’s problem. Further, he demands that Drum carry out the punishment. The latter doesn’t want to appear weak either, so he publicly demonstrates Lalani’s discipline by making her hold a heavy bowl of rainwater for hours until she collapses from the strain.
Cade tries to intercede to help Lalan, but Drum won’t listen. Like Hetsbi and Lalani, Cade senses that there is something deeply wrong with the way the Sanlagitans behave. He also has a compassionate heart and is disturbed that nobody else does. Having lost his brother during the last Sailing Day, he no longer believes that the men of the village are good role models.
In this section, Lalani, Hetsbi, and Cade demonstrate The Virtue of Compassion in their confrontations with Ellseth, the Paso boys, the menyoro, and Drum. The contrast between these characters’ emotional intelligence and empathy increases this thematic tension while highlighting the inherently flawed elements in their culture. In this way, it establishes room for positive change.
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By Erin Entrada Kelly
