47 pages • 1 hour read
Tom FranklinCrooked Letter, Crooked Letter
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 16-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
Silas wakes up in the hospital bed next to Larry’s. After surgery, the doctors told him that his arm will likely recover after some extensive therapy, and Silas asked to be put into the same room as Larry. Silas was surprised when French agreed. Now in the same room together, Larry turns on the news, which covers what happened between Silas and Wallace. After being shot by Silas, Wallace ran into the woods and shot himself. The police find new evidence in Wallace’s trailer, like a wallet belonging to Tina Rutherford, and Wallace becomes the top suspect in her murder. Once Larry realizes Silas has woken up, Larry mutes the television and tells Silas, “You’re a hero” (254). However, when Silas tries to pick up the conversation, Larry turns the volume on again. Silas tells Larry that they are brothers and asks Larry if he knew. Larry understood there was some strange connection between them, especially after his mother gave Alice and Silas their old coats. Silas tells Larry he used to wish he was him, and Larry returns, “Bet you don’t wish it now” (256). Larry calls for the nurse and asks for her to start the paperwork to transfer him out of Silas’s room. The nurse explains Silas will be checked out of the hospital before they can complete that request, but Larry puts the order through anyway.
Chapter 17 Summary
Larry’s only visitors to his room have been police officers, but he notices that Silas has a bevy of visitors, including Angie. Larry has drawn the curtain between him and Silas, but he can hear Silas and Angie talking, discussing their future, and kissing. Angie introduces herself to Larry, and he thanks her for being the one to find him after being shot. Angie tells Larry she’s sorry for what he’s been through and invites him to come to her church.
The next day, Voncille visits, followed by the mayor of Chabot, and then some deputies. French returns, asking to speak to both Silas and Larry, telling them that they found several firearms and drugs at Wallace’s place. The zombie mask Wallace stole from Larry had Larry’s blood on it, confirming Larry’s claim that Wallace shot him. French also believes that Wallace was responsible for the murder of M&M, the drug dealer whose body Silas found in Chapter 1. French tells Larry and Silas that news crews are desperate to speak to them but warns them against “getting too personal” (260). Silas is discharged from the hospital but promises to visit Larry. The nurse offers to take Larry to his new room, but he decides he’d rather stay put.
Chapter 18 Summary
Silas gives an exclusive interview to Shannon, the town reporter, who hopes the story will win her a Pulitzer. Angie drives Silas to his office and waits for him outside as he goes in, expecting to be reprimanded. The mayor offers to let Silas stay on full-time and hire someone part-time to do the jobs he can’t with his wounded arm. Silas thanks them for the thought but says he can’t accept the job yet: “You got to wait till the paper comes out” (262). Silas gets babied by Angie at her apartment. The next day she helps him dress and offers to go with him to the hospital, but Silas says he’ll go alone and confesses he doesn’t know what to say to Larry. Angie advises Silas: “Just go sit with him. See what happens” (263).
Silas follows her advice and sits on the edge of Larry’s bed as Larry ignores him and watches TV. Silas tries to make conversation about Wrigley’s Field showing on the television, so Larry changes the station. Silas tells Larry he’s been gathering the chickens’ eggs and giving them to Marla. He advises Larry to hire someone to cut the grass and tells him he’ll return tomorrow with Larry’s mail. Silas visits Ina, who doesn’t recognize him. He drives to the Walker place, which has been abandoned and overgrown with kudzu, and thinks about Cindy, wondering “was her ghost in there, leaving a trail of smoke dissolving as she passes one room to the next” (264). The next day, Silas returns to Larry’s home, taking off the police tape. Angie helps him clean. Looking through the house, Silas finds the old rifle Larry once loaned him and feels like “a boy again, the world the world it had been a long time ago, a world full of unknowns, a world full of future and possibility” (265).
Chapter 19 Summary
Silas continues to visit Larry, who enjoys his visits but doesn’t let on. Silas does errands for Larry, like bringing his checkbook to pay bills and caring for the chickens. Dr. Milton examines Larry and tells him to eat healthier and exercise. Larry responds that he didn’t know he “was allowed” to wander the halls, and Dr. Milton confirms that he is. Larry explores a bit and goes downstairs briefly to look at the news crews, though they don’t notice him. Later that night, Larry sneaks out of bed, dresses, and sneaks out of the hospital so he can go home. Larry doesn’t have any money or his keys, so he decides to walk the four miles. Larry has trouble walking but pushes himself on.
Silas receives a call from an orderly at the hospital that Larry has checked himself out of the hospital. Silas drives along the road, anticipating where Larry will go, and finds him. Silas offers Larry a ride home, and Larry accepts. Larry tells Silas he needs to fix his carburetor. Silas asks Larry if he can bring his jeep by the auto shop, and Larry refuses at first, then changes his mind: “I suppose you could bring the Jeep by here tomorrow” (271). Silas watches as Larry goes into the house, knowing that it will be different than Larry left it: clean, full of food, with satellite television. Silas drives home. Larry wanders his empty house and reminds himself to tell Silas to pick up the carburetor kit at the auto shop.
Chapters 16-19 Analysis
With Wallace linked to the murders of Tina Rutherford and M&M, Larry cleared of all charges, and the truth about Silas’s and Larry’s shared paternity revealed, it seems as though all the loose ends of the narrative have been tied together. However, Franklin establishes that the recovery for his characters will not be so neat and tidy. Silas has months of rehabilitation ahead of him for his arm, and his in-depth interview at the local paper may jeopardize his position as town constable. Larry has been cleared of all suspicion by the local authorities for the murders of Cindy and Tina, but it remains to be seen how people in town will react to him, and if the name “Scary Larry” will continue to follow him.
Further, the years of solitude have left Larry unequipped to deal with society. In Chapter 19, Larry learns from Dr. Milton that he’s free to roam the halls of the hospital, which at first seems to excite him, until Larry encounters the news crews waiting for him in the lobby. Larry has lived a quiet, private life for so long that this much attention and invasiveness is scarier than going back to a life of solitude. At the first opportunity he can get, Larry sneaks out of the hospital, desperate to get someplace familiar and comfortable, even if he has to walk the entire way: “If he could just get to his shop he’d be okay” (268). Larry may have been overwhelmed by loneliness in his old life, but it is the only life he has known for the past 25 years, and he feels safer in his self-imposed cage.
However, Franklin leaves some hope at the end of the novel. Silas anticipates that Larry will want to retreat to his home but ensures his quiet life will be much nicer for him now, with ample food, occasional visits from supportive people in the community like Angie and Marla, and satellite so Larry can enjoy his time alone. Further, the entire narrative has revolved around the past and how it informs the present. At the end of the novel, for the first time, Silas and Larry both think of the future. The last line from Silas’s point of view reads, “He sped up, his eyes focused on what was before him, and drove toward home” (272). Similarly, Larry thinks about calling Silas the next morning to instruct him to get something from his auto shop. Both characters have spent most of the text thinking back to events in the past, haunted by their lives before; now Silas and Larry both look to the future, symbolically moving toward putting that past and all the hurt behind them.
