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 3-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 3 Summary
On May 24, Alex and his sisters return to school, a welcome element of normalcy. Bri and Julie attend Holy Angels, an all-girl Catholic school, and Alex attends the all-boy St. Vincent de Paul Academy. Alex enters the school chapel and sits alone, avoiding his friends so as not to listen to their chatter about the disaster. He notices that all three priests are missing, as well as some of the teachers. There is also a new headmaster, Father Mulrooney, who explains various changes in the staff, including the priests’ reassignment. Father Mulrooney has come out of retirement to serve as headmaster and to teach Latin and advanced theology. He is a serious and severe-looking man who is blunt about the situation and the importance of education regardless of emergencies.
Two days later, on May 26, Alex misses his morning classes—to the disapproval of Father Mulrooney—and heads to 42nd Street to catch his bus to Yankee Stadium to search for Mami’s body. He finds the city less empty than before but still unusually quiet. When he arrives, the bus terminal is busy and chaotic. Police officers help direct him to his bus, and he reads the sheet of rules for viewing the dead at the stadium as he waits to board. Once at the stadium, workers give him menthol-scented gel to put under his nose, a face mask to wear at all times, and a bag in case he needs to vomit. Alex descends to the baseball field, where the horror of what he sees and the smell of decomposing flesh overwhelm him. He focuses on keeping his place in line—a strict rule for those visiting the stadium—and weaves his way through each row of dead, but he doesn’t find Mami. On the return ride, he prays for comfort and realizes how vastly different his life now is, devoid of the usual rules and expectations.
Chapter 4 Summary
The next day, Alex returns to school and argues with a classmate over a piece of paper his classmate crumples up and throws on the ground. The classmate eventually apologizes to Alex and says that the moon is making him crazy. That afternoon, Alex returns to St. Margaret’s for an update from Father Franco, who looks exhausted. Father Franco has learned that tidal waves have decimated all the villages on the Puerto Rican coast, though he doesn’t have any news about Papi’s village specifically. Alex asks Father Franco about the bodies at Yankee Stadium, and Father Franco says that the stadium only holds the bodies there for a few days before workers replace them with others; just because Alex didn’t find Mami’s body yesterday doesn’t mean she wasn’t there previously or won’t be there in the future. Alex also learns that the bodies are cremated after they are taken from the stadium—something Alex struggles with, as it is not customary for Catholics. He leaves the church with Father Franco’s promise to pray for him and his family.
The following afternoon, Alex gets angry with his sisters for the mess that has accumulated in the apartment and for watching TV when they should be working on homework. The argument escalates when Alex slaps Julie across the face after she demands to know where Mami and Papi are, causing her to run to her room with Bri following. When a few minutes have passed, Alex enters the girls’ room and apologizes, ashamed of hitting his sister. He explains how hard he has tried to find their parents but admits that he doesn’t believe they will be coming back. Bri begins to cry, and all three children start to realize that they are on their own.
On June 1, Alex has a conversation with Chris Flynn at school. Chris is president of the junior class, and Alex is the vice president. The two boys are rivals, and Alex feels that no matter what he does, he will never be as good as Chris. He is surprised to learn that Chris’s father has been keeping an eye on Alex and has asked Chris to give Alex his business card with instructions to contact him if Alex finds himself in a true emergency. Chris tells Alex that he and the rest of his family are going to South Carolina while his father stays behind in New York; Chris’s father fears that things are going to get much worse. Chris also mentions that Kevin Daley, his street-smart friend, is going to keep an eye on the Morales kids to make sure that they are okay in the absence of their parents. This conversation leaves Alex stunned and realizing just how much things are changing. Alex runs to the bathroom and, for the first time since the moon’s collision, sobs.
Chapter 5 Summary
On June 3, the siblings are discussing plausible reasons why Mami might not have called over a dinner of spaghetti. Bri suggests that she was hit in the head and has amnesia or is so traumatized that she can’t think clearly enough to contact her children. They also discuss which saint is best to pray to in times of emergency and shock. The next day the power fails again, so Alex listens to the radio for news. He learns that officials are evacuating lower Manhattan because of constant flooding. Julie becomes upset at Alex for listening to the radio all the time and storms off to her room. Bri explains that Julie is upset by the horrible things she hears on the radio and is having nightmares. Alex goes to Julie and apologizes, explaining that he listens to the radio because he needs to listen for updates and know what’s going on not just in New York but the world. Julie doesn’t want to know these things because they scare her, so Alex agrees to listen to the radio with headphones.
At school the next day, Alex listens to his classmates argue over whether the government knew how severe the situation with the moon would be. He’s grateful for the lunch the school supplies, as he knows that the food in his apartment is dwindling. During lunch, Father Mulrooney taps Alex on the shoulder and informs him that Father Franco would like to see him. Because Alex believes Father Franco has an update on Papi, Alex leaves the school at once, defying Father Mulrooney. As he runs to St. Margaret’s, he’s aware that the weather is unusually hot. When he arrives, he waits his turn until he’s able to see Father Franco. Father Franco doesn’t have any updates on Papi but instead shares an opportunity for Bri to live upstate at a convent with a farm where she will work and receive her education. Knowing that Bri will be safe and fed comforts Alex and will leave him and Julie better able to survive on what they have in their apartment. Father Franco tells Alex where to meet the nuns with Bri. The next day, Alex struggles with the thought of sending Bri away, but he estimates that their food will only last another two weeks. He searches the apartment for the required documents to send with Bri; the smell of his parents’ room gives Alex a sense of longing for them, making the separation from his sister that much harder.
On June 9, Alex begins packing everything Bri might need, making his way through the room she shares with Julie. In addition to clothes and toiletries, he packs a postcard of van Gogh’s Starry Night and a family picture. He then heads to Holy Angels to pull her from class and get her to the van that will take her to the convent. As they walk to their destination, he explains the situation to Bri, who listens quietly and agrees that this will be for the best. They cross Central Park and arrive at St. Benedict’s Church to join the other girls waiting for the van. While they wait, Bri demands that Alex vow to remain in their apartment so she will know where to find them when she returns. Alex agrees and waits with Bri until the van arrives. Bri boards the van, and Alex walks alone back to the apartment, thinking about how to help Julie grow up a little and feeling proud of how he is taking care of his sisters. When he gets inside the apartment, Julie attacks him, hitting him repeatedly and demanding to know where Bri is. He explains, adding that Julie now needs to step up and take over the cooking and that she needs to obey him just as she would Papi. Julie agrees to do her part if Alex promises not to leave her.
Chapters 3-5 Analysis
The tension in these chapters continues to build as the Morales children, especially Alex, learn to cope with the fact that they are on their own. They have not heard from their parents for three weeks, and while they know that Carlos is okay, he cannot help them navigate the worsening situation. The negative interactions that begin to occur among the siblings illustrate this tension, especially when Alex slaps Julie—something he swore to himself he would never do after Papi hit him years ago. Nevertheless, the children are still able to work well together and to apologize and forgive when the need arises.
Likewise, Alex’s character is growing and developing. He has previously taken his role as leader of the household seriously, but now that the reality of his parents’ absence has sunk in, Alex is feeling more pressure. As his decision to send Bri away demonstrates, it is no longer enough to ensure their short-term survival; he must begin making long-term decisions on their behalf to ensure their continued well-being. The disappearance of the rules and guidelines that Alex values so much also tests him. He loves knowing exactly what’s expected of him, but this dynamic environment forces him to take care of himself and his sisters without any guidelines.
These chapters also work to cement the consistent imagery of and reference to religion and prayer. The Morales family, like many Puerto Ricans, is Catholic. The children attend Catholic schools, go to Mass regularly, pray often, have faith-based discussions, and look to church leaders for help and guidance. While their outlook on religion is mostly positive, Alex’s faith does occasionally show signs of stress and weakness—for example, when he tries to pray for the dead at Yankee Stadium but finds the act “offer[s] him no comfort” (65).
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