55 pages • 1 hour read
Susan Beth PfefferThe Dead and the Gone
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2008A 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 18-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 18 Summary
The day after Alex finds Harvey’s body, he collapses from the flu and spends a week feverish and delirious. At one point, he thinks he’s back in his normal life and that Mami is taking care of him. The next day, he dreams about Kevin, Harvey, Father Mulrooney, Carlos, and Aunt Lorraine, and Julie laughs at the things Alex says while in this state of delirium. On December 20, his sisters can’t get him to wake up, but the next day finds him alert and able to eat. He even notices that the electricity is on.
December 22 is Alex’s birthday, and he starts to emerge from the worst of his illness, which was bad enough that Bri and Julie worried that he would die. He knows it’s his birthday and that there was something significant about it, but he can’t remember what it is and simply falls back asleep. On December 23, Alex wakes and learns that Bri isn’t in the apartment because she left to light a candle for his birthday at St. Margaret’s. Julie tells him how hard Bri worked taking care of him, showing more strength than she has in months. However, she has been gone for 24 hours at this point. While Julie goes to check the stairwell for her, Alex crawls to the room his sisters share to make sure Bri isn’t playing a joke on him. He finds the room empty and, on his return to the living room, passes out.
When he wakes up the next day, he realizes that his parents have been missing for seven months and that Bri has now been gone for two days. He feels better and guesses that Bri is still at St. Margaret’s. He tests his ability to walk and decides to look for Bri at the church. He tells Julie his plan, but she informs him that she’s already gone to the church; Bri wasn’t there. Father Franco saw her there on Alex’s birthday but knew she left the church. Alex and Julie decide to check the surrounding streets for Bri in case she is out wandering on her own. They decide to get the sled for Alex, and Alex realizes that she’s likely in the basement waiting for help because she was unable to make it back to the apartment. They search the basement apartment for her but don’t find her, nor do they find her in Papi’s office. They then grab the sled and search the streets, including all the piles of bodies, as well as St. Margaret’s again, but there is no sign of Bri; she has simply disappeared. The following day, Alex has a fever again, and Julie won’t allow him to go to church, even though it’s Christmas. On December 26, Alex realizes that this is the date of the next convoy, so he tries to get Julie to the Port Authority. She refuses to go without Alex or Bri and simply goes back to sleep.
Chapter 19 Summary
The electricity comes back on the next day, making Alex want a warm meal and the chance to clean himself. He and Julie both eat and wash, planning to head out to look for Bri. They head down to the basement to get the sled in case they find Bri’s body. Because the electricity is back on, they decide to take the service elevator. Julie finds it strange that the elevator is coming from the basement, but before Alex can turn Julie away, the elevator doors open: Bri is dead on the elevator floor, holding her inhaler and her rosary beads. They realize she must have gotten into the elevator on her way home from the church only to have the power go off, trapping her inside. They wrap her in her favorite quilt and take her home to their basement apartment. Alex places her on the top of the bunk bed she shared with Julie because it is closer to heaven and says his final goodbye to her, leaving Julie alone with her to say her goodbye afterward. While he waits, he looks around the apartment to find what made Bri go down there, and he discovers a note that she wrote to Mami and Papi, further illustrating Bri’s refusal to believe that their parents are dead. Alex feels that this belief caused her death, and he feels responsible for sharing Bri’s denial and doing nothing to convince Bri otherwise.
The following day, Alex goes to St. Margaret’s to light a candle for Bri only to find it closed. He then walks to St. Vincent de Paul, where he makes his way to the chapel and prays. Sister Rita notices him and asks what he’s doing there since he’s supposed to be out of New York by now. He tells her about Bri, so Sister Rita takes him to talk to Father Mulrooney in his office. Alex explains that Bri has died, this time telling them it’s his fault in the hopes that they will see his inability to take care of his sisters and help get Julie out of New York. Instead, Sister Rita reassures him that Bri’s faith in their parents’ survival kept her going. Emotion overwhelms Alex until Father Mulrooney tells him to stop crying so they can make plans. Father Mulrooney and Sister Rita discuss a bus that takes certain church officials to a college in Georgia, where they receive service assignments and then travel elsewhere. The two discuss how they can pass Alex off as a seminarian using Mr. Kim’s identification papers; Sister Rita will verify that Julie is a postulant traveling with her. Father Mulrooney then tells Alex to return with Julie, food, and essentials the next morning, noting that chapel is mandatory.
The next morning, Julie and Alex pack what food they have left along with their personal effects, including the lipstick Kevin gave Julie. They then head to the church and out of New York forever.
Chapters 18-19 Analysis
Because conditions have not improved in any respect, the children still live day by day. Alex continues to blame himself for all that has befallen him and his sisters, especially after Bri’s death, which offers a warning about the potential dangers of hope. As Alex realizes, Bri only ventured down to the basement (and therefore onto the elevator) because she continued to insist that their parents might return. Since Alex has also struggled to fully accept his parents’ deaths, the circumstances of Bri’s death weigh on his conscience. Only Sister Rita’s reassurance—that he is a devoted brother who has done so much to keep his sisters alive—pulls him out of this despair.
The climax of the novel occurs when Father Mulrooney and Sister Rita devise a plan to get Alex and Julie on a bus of Catholic leaders and clergy. That the church ultimately provides the children with their avenue of escape is symbolically significant, as faith has played a major role in their survival throughout the novel. The moment also illustrates Father Mulrooney’s evolution as a character because he was previously very reluctant to bend the rules, even in an emergency. The knowledge that they finally have a secure plan to leave is a significant relief for Alex. Although they must lie and claim to be people they are not, Alex and Julie will be headed to what everyone hopes will be a safer, warmer place.
There is minimal resolution to the novel, however, as the last thing readers see is Alex and Julie packing what little food and belongings they’re able to take with them. They state that all they need is each other, leaving readers to assume—but not know—that they make it onto the bus and down to Georgia. This ambiguous ending underscores the book’s emphasis on hope and faith. It also reflects the novel’s status as part of a series: Whatever happens to Alex and Julie, Pfeffer emphasizes that their struggle is one of many, with similar events unfolding around the world.
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By Susan Beth Pfeffer
