61 pages • 2 hours read
Stephen KingUnder the Dome
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009A 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 15-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 15 Summary: “Pink Stars Falling”
Rusty is furious to discover that Big Jim Rennie has been appropriating propane tanks from the hospital and town. He and Barbie know that he must be taken out of power. Linda tells Rusty that other children in town have had mild seizures, just as their children did; he speculates that this is some sort of side effect from whatever is powering the Dome. Barbie asks Rusty to hand the Geiger counter over to Julia so that she can enlist her erstwhile newspaper delivery crew—the teens Joe, Norrie, and Benny—to go out looking for clues as to where the alleged generator might be hidden (with strict instructions to turn back if the radiation count climbs too high).
In contrast, Rennie is not worried about the Dome at all. He realizes that the longer it lasts, the more he can consolidate his power—even murder is no longer out of the question. Junior asks his father when he should “find the bodies” in order to pin the deeds on Barbie (401). While Rennie is startled by the plural—he is unaware that Junior has done his own share of killing—he figures that he now has reason to blackmail his son, should it become necessary.
Unbeknownst to Rennie, Brenda Perkins is making hard copies of her husband’s VADER file, with the information about Rennie’s illegal activities, including manufacturing drugs and incorporating shell companies. She decides that she will use this knowledge as leverage: If Rennie will not relinquish control of The Mill to Barbie, then Brenda will expose his unlawful activity to the town—and beyond. Julia also makes plans to assist the town; she takes a call from Colonel Cox and insists that the press be allowed to cover the story. Cox informs her that the military is going to try using a high-powered acid on the Dome, to try to eat through the surface.
Meanwhile, Reverend Libby decides to confront the newly minted police officers regarding their sexual assault on Sammy Bushey. The conversation is contentious, to say the least, and there is a physical confrontation, wherein Piper is pushed down the concrete steps of the town hall and dislocates her shoulder. Her dog tries to protect her, but one of the cops shoots him in the head. The carnage might have escalated had Julia not heard the shot; she comes running onto the scene with her press card. After tempers cool, Piper informs Randolph, the new chief, that his officers have committed rape. He declines to suspend them and will even allow them time to gather their statements.
Rusty confronts Rennie over the missing propane, but Rennie dismisses his accusations and concerns. The narrator observes that several children have experienced seizures since the Dome came down, but only two adults: the Chef, who also talks about pink stars and a fiery conflagration during his drug-induced seizure, and Andrea Grinnell, who sees the Milky Way turn pink as she succumbs to a seizure caused by withdrawal. Later that night, the entire town witnesses a meteor shower, which is tinged pink by the build-up of particles and pollution within the closed-off system. One of the townspeople dies by suicide, and others will follow. The acid experiment is, like the missile strikes, a failure.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Feeling It”
Rennie muses on the fact that he is “feeling it,” as in feeling as if everything was tilting his way, like an athlete entering “the zone.” He has decided to close the grocery stores and take control of the town’s supplies and their distribution. His officers inform Chief Randolph that the assault on Sammy Bushey was “purely voluntary on her part” (451), and, even if they are not wholly believed, they remain on the force. Rennie directs Junior to give Sam Verdreaux some alcohol in exchange for showing up at the grocery store the next day and agitating the crowd.
In the interim, Barbie realizes that someone has been in his apartment—his rug is askew—and notices the missing dog tags. He knows Rennie is coming for him. He asks Brenda to make copies of the VADER file and to store the laptop in her safe. He also tells her not to take any evidence with her when she confronts Rennie—and not to go alone.
The next day, the town is understandably upset at the abrupt closing of Food City. Inevitably, a riot ensues—egged on by Sam throwing rocks, one of which hits one of the new cops, Georgia Roux—and widespread looting occurs. Julia is devastated at the behavior of her fellow residents as she records their actions. Thinking quickly, Barbie hands Rose, of Sweetbriar Rose, the bullhorn and instructs her to calm the crowd. They know and like her, so most people respond, and the crowd dissipates before more injuries occur.
Meanwhile, Brenda tries to deliver the envelope with the hard copies of the VADER file to Julia, but Julia is busy reporting on the Food City riot. She delivers the envelope to Third Selectman Andrea Grinnell, who is still delirious and ill from her withdrawal; she throws the envelope on a table, where it slides off into a corner between the couch and an end table. Rennie watches Brenda’s movements from a distance, and he is prepared when Brenda comes to his door—alone. When she confronts him about his manufacturing of methamphetamines, the misappropriation of propane, and the misallocation of town money, he snaps her neck. He dresses her up like a Halloween dummy until Junior can place this body with the rest.
Chapter 17 Summary: “In the Jug”
Joe, Norrie, and Benny strike out into town with the Geiger counter. They happen to see Brenda Perkins give an envelope to Andrea Grinnell, then travel up Mill Street as they are on their way to the town commons. Joe thinks that, if there is some kind of generator powering the Dome, it would likely be in the middle of town. However, the Geiger counter registers nothing, and Norrie speculates that the generator would not necessarily have to be in the middle, but high up. The highest point in town is up on Black Ridge Road, so the three head in that direction.
Junior is worried; he does not believe that the townspeople will think that Dale Barbara killed Brenda. His father, however, believes they will, because they are scared. When Rennie talks with the Chief Randolph, he also suggests the new officers should be armed, using the riot at Food City as justification. He tells Randolph to have a cell ready: Barbie will soon be occupying it, accused of four counts of murder.
Barbie is at the hospital with Rusty Everett who is taking care of those wounded in the riot. While they try to cajole the town’s only dentist to reattach Georgia Roux’s teeth, knocked out by the rock Sam Verdreaux threw, they are interrupted by the arrival of Junior and his police henchmen. As they are arresting Barbie for the murders of Angie McCain, Dodee Sanders, Brenda Perkins, and Reverend Coggins, Barbie pulls up his shirt and holds out his arms, yelling to Rusty how there are no marks on him at the time of his arrest. While Rusty tries to defend Barbie, his wife, Linda, is less convinced: “He did it,” she says. “They found his dog tags in Angie McCain’s hand” (526). Rusty is shocked, but he also realizes how convenient such a coincidence is. His coworker, Twitch, notes that the bodies were not brought to the hospital for a postmortem exam, as is customary. The hospital’s generator then dies.
There is a scuffle during Barbie’s arrest, and tempers flare. Barbie exhorts Rusty to examine the bodies. Once he is placed in his cell, he is given a vigorous beating by the officers. Rennie comes to watch and suggests that Barbie might be the one responsible for the Dome. Rennie tells Randolph to refuse Julia Shumway’s entreaties to see Barbie. Meanwhile, the teens are climbing up Black Ridge Road, and the Geiger counter starts to register growing amounts of radiation; they also witness what look like animals who have died by suicide. As they climb the ridge further, they see something that looks like a beacon in the distance. Before they can reach it, though, they all experience seizures and visions similar to those of the Everett children and others. Joe realizes that this is exactly what they are looking for.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Salt”
Julia is shaken after her encounter with Rennie; she is frightened by how quickly events are devolving into chaos and power grabs. The Dome has only been in place for a little over three days. Linda Everett and Jackie Wettington approach Julia; they believe something is not quite right about Barbie’s arrest, as well. They decide to speak somewhere more private and walk over to the Congregational Church. Piper Libby is praying to a God she does not quite believe in when Rommie Burpee comes in to pray for Brenda Perkins. The women come in shortly thereafter. The group realizes that Barbie is innocent; he has an alibi for at least one of the murders and no motive for committing any of them.
In the interim, Rennie sends some men out to the WCIK broadcasting station where his meth lab is also located. He asks them to bring some of the propane tanks back to town. Rennie is shutting the operation down (at least for now) and intends to use the hoarded propane as leverage. However, the Chef has no intention of relinquishing his stash or all his fuel. He allows the men to take two propane tanks, his hand on the button of an improvised bomb, but he will not suffer them to return.
Joe, Norrie, and Benny return from the ridge, excited that they have likely found something related to the Dome. When they are told that Barbie has been arrested, they are devastated and disbelieving. Rusty Everett already believes in his innocence, but he wants to speak with his wife, who earlier disagreed. He is informed that Sammy Bushey has left the hospital, leaving her baby behind. He goes home to Linda, and she tells him that she has her doubts, and she supports his conducting a clandestine postmortem on the bodies. The kids show up at the Everett house—Rusty is the only other adult the kids trust with their information—to get some advice. “I think we found the generator,” Joe tells him. “Now what are we supposed to do?” (592). Rusty tells them to sleep on it, for now.
Julia puts out a special edition of the Democrat detailing the riot, covering Barbie’s arrest, and containing an editorial about the lack of democratic protections afforded the prisoner. Colonel Cox reaches out to Julia to find out what is happening; she tells him Barbie has been framed. While they are speaking, the town’s fire sirens go off again: Rennie has instructed Junior and his fellow officer, Carter Thibodeaux, to set fire to the Democrat and to blame it on “friends of Dale Barbara.” The townspeople begin to turn, en masse, on Barbie.
Chapters 15-18 Analysis
Big Jim Rennie is feeling good, like he is an athlete “in the zone,” for much of this section. He feels that events are turning his way, that his consolidation of power is inevitable, that his end game justifies his actions: “Big Jim Rennie felt remarkably good for a man who had committed murder the night before. This was partially because he did not see it as murder” (399). In fact, Rennie sees the Dome as an ally, as it furthers his amassing of power and aids in the cover-up of his corruption. Only his son, Junior, could potentially ruin him. Still, Rennie reasons that, if necessary, Junior is also expendable: “[I]f Mr. Barbara is somehow able to squirm free of the frame,” Rennie thinks, “there’s always you,” indicating his son (402). The reader is aware, however, that the VADER file exists, detailing Rennie’s many illegal activities, including drug manufacturing, money laundering, and racketeering. The reader is also aware that the copies of the file are in the hands of Third Selectman Andrea Grinnell and backed up on the laptop in Brenda Perkins’s safe. This knowledge foreshadows the nearly inevitable downfall of the novel’s primary antagonist.
In this section, the reader also sees how the Dome creates problems for the environment. For example, the weather remains unseasonably warm inside the Dome. The longer the Dome remains in place, the higher the temperatures will rise in the closed conditions. The Dome also traps pollution, which affects the residents’ ability to breathe and provides an unnatural color of light, such as the meteor shower that appears pink.
The riot at Food City marks a turning point in the narrative. Julia Shumway is so dismayed by the chaos that “she sees only strangers in the viewfinder [of her camera]. A mob” (475), rather than people who have been her friends and neighbors. The author once again breaks the fourth wall during the scenes of the riot: “See Rose Twitchell looking around, bewildered and frightened”; “Listen to Georgia Roux howl” (474). These moments of direct address pull the reader into the story as if they were part of the mob.
The chaos creates the ideal condition for the “discovery” of the murdered bodies, and the subsequent scapegoating of Barbie. Rennie is a savvy operator, knowing that closing the grocery store would inevitably incite panic and certain that an out-of-towner will be an easy suspect in the murder of locals. He even lays the blame—somewhat absurdly—for the Dome itself at Barbie’s feet: “And it seems to me that the people who did it [lower the Dome] had to have at least one inside man. Someone to stir the pot. And who’s better at pot-stirring than a short-order cook?” (546). By the end of these chapters, Rennie has commandeered the remaining Indian pumps, and has taken charge of food, fuel, and firefighting equipment.
The spectacle of the Dome, the riot, the seizures, and the various murders enable the story to take an even more spectacular turn. As readers follow the exploits of Joe, Norrie, and Benny, they come to realize that the Dome might be supernatural in origin, which is further supported by the strange animal deaths that seem to be self-inflicted, the dramatic religious prophecies of the Chef, and the seasonal setting of Halloween. Indeed, the dome has enabled a clash of what might be otherwise understood as fringe beliefs and behaviors.
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