68 pages • 2 hours read
Robert CormierA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Part 7 takes place shortly after Ben meets with his father and is told from General Markhand’s perspective. Like Ben, his father also feared their first meeting since the bus incident, and he returns to Ben’s room after a meeting with the school’s dean to find Ben gone. While he waits for Ben to return, he wonders what he’ll tell his son about the bus incident and decides to start “at the beginning. Where else?” (135).
General Markhand goes over the details of the bus incident from his perspective—finding out who was involved and dispatching America’s forces to deal with the threat. When Ben doesn’t return by the time he finishes, the general sets out to look for his son. Knowing Ben as well as he knows himself, he goes to Brimmler’s Bridge. Ben isn’t there, so the general returns to Ben’s dorm, which is exactly how it was before he left. There is no sign of Ben’s return, and General Markhand reflects that it’s “as if you were never here” (141). He reads through the stack of pages beside Ben’s typewriter and realizes Ben plans to kill himself.
By Robert Cormier
Beyond the Chocolate War
Robert Cormier
Heroes
Robert Cormier
I Am the Cheese
Robert Cormier
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway
Robert Cormier
The Chocolate War
Robert Cormier
The Rag and Bone Shop
Robert Cormier
Tunes for Bears to Dance To
Robert Cormier
We All Fall Down
Robert Cormier
American Literature
View Collection
Fear
View Collection
Good & Evil
View Collection
Memorial Day Reads
View Collection
Military Reads
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Psychological Fiction
View Collection
Realistic Fiction (High School)
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection
YA Horror, Thrillers, & Suspense
View Collection
YA Mystery & Crime
View Collection