51 pages • 1 hour read
Dead End In Norvelt
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Chapters 1-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, graphic violence, and death.
Jack Gantos is 11 years old, and he’s done with school for the summer. He plays with the items that his father—Dad—brought back from the war. As a member of the United States Navy, Dad fought in the Pacific theater of World War II, battling the Japanese. After finding a bunker of dead Japanese soldiers, Dad took their items. Dad brought back binoculars, a Japanese flag, a sword, and a sniper rifle.
On the cornfield his mother—Mom—created, Jack looks through the binoculars. He sees his neighbor Miss Volker’s roof, his school, and the Viking drive-in movie theater. Jack lives in Norvelt, a community in Pennsylvania that the federal government created during the Great Depression to help people without much money. The town got its name from Eleanor Roosevelt, who was married to then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Mom doesn’t want Jack to play with Dad’s war items, and she wants Jack to help Miss Volker in the mornings. Mom’s younger brother, Will, has a pony, War Chief. Will painted the pony so that it looked like an Indigenous soldier. Mom believes that the United States Army turned Will into a “confused jerk.”
The drive-in plays a war movie, and Mom doesn’t think Jack should watch violent movies. Whenever Jack gets excited or startled, his nose bleeds. A nearby doctor attributes the bleeding to an iron deficiency. Mom leaves, and Jack, after much effort, aims the Japanese sniper rifle at the movie screen. He’s practicing because Dad told him that he has to prepare to fight Russian communists. According to Dad, many communists have already infiltrated the United States.
When a Japanese soldier appears on the movie screen, Jack, unaware that there’s one bullet in it, fires the weapon. His mother runs to him. He’s bleeding, but he didn’t shoot himself—it’s his nose. Jack assumes that Dad will “kill” him. He’s also worried that he shot Miss Volker, as an ambulance is racing to her driveway. Mom calls Miss Volker, and she’s fine, but the gunshot made her drop her hearing aid in the toilet. In Norvelt, the plumber and ambulance driver are the same person.
Jack asks Mom not to tell Dad. Mom considers the request while grounding Jack. In his room, Jack reads the Landmark Books (1950-1970), a series published by Random House to teach young readers about history. Jack reads about the Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro, who, after firing a rifle, brutalized the “scared” Incas and stole their gold. Eventually, one of Pizarro’s subordinates stabbed Pizarro because he thought Pizarro was cheating him out of gold.
Chapter 2 Summary
As Jack dreams about gold, Mom wakes him so that he can go help Miss Volker. Outside, Jack notices that the Norvelt houses look the same. He also thinks about how he could have shot John Glenn’s spacecraft if he had fired the weapon in February when Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. More so, Jack also would have hit the UFO that Will claims to have spotted.
On Miss Volker’s porch is a box of chocolates from Edwin Spizz—an “original Norvelter” and the head of the Norvelt Association for the Public Good. Mr. Spizz and Miss Volker had a romantic relationship, but now Miss Volker can’t stand him. Aside from the chief nurse and medical examiner, Miss Volker writes the town obituaries.
In Miss Volker’s kitchen, Jack believes that she’s boiling her hands in a pot. He sees her “lumps” of “yellow flesh,” and he watches her bite the “deformed stumps.” Shocked and confused, Jack faints. Regaining consciousness, Miss Volker explains that she heats her hands in a pot of paraffin to combat arthritis. Jack thought Miss Volker had “gone crazy,” and Miss Volker believes that Jack has “gone crazy.” Nevertheless, Miss Volker needs Jack to help her write obituaries. He’ll be her “official scribe.” She got the idea from President John Quincy Adams, who had arthritis and was a scribe.
Miss Volker went to nursing school, which left her with a firm belief that healthcare professionals should alleviate human suffering. As a part of her mission, Miss Volker distributed over a quarter million aspirin tablets to western Pennsylvania coal miners. Taking notice, the Bayer Pharmaceutical Company gave her a clock shaped like a giant Bayer aspirin.
The first obituary is for Emma Devers Salt. Jack sits in front of an old school desk and writes down what Miss Volker says about her. She was born on Christmas day and married into the Slater family. The Slaters had a “girl” who an Indigenous tribe captured in the 1830s. They took her scalp, but she survived and made a curly wig from hamster fur. Emma’s brother-in-law entered the circus after an accident left a hole in his head. He married a woman he met in the circus. Emma’s husband, a coal miner, died due to black lung, a disease that affects people in the profession. Her children don’t live in Norvelt. Emma’s funeral will feature her needlepoint portrait of the town’s alleged founder, Eleanor Roosevelt. Miss Volker promised Eleanor that she wouldn’t die or leave until the original Norvelters died.
Miss Volker uses Emma’s obituary to tell about Wat Tyler, who died on the same day as Emma. Wat led the English Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. The English people without affluence wanted a fairer distribution of land so that they could provide for themselves. When Wat met with England’s teen king, Richard II, a royal supporter killed him. Miss Volker links the people of Norvelt to the English peasants.
Miss Volker has a needlepoint map of the original Norvelt, but she can’t discuss Norvelt history with Jack today because he must type what he just wrote by hand. Since Jack doesn’t know how to use a typewriter, Miss Volker teaches him. Finished typing, Jack takes the obituary to Mr. Greene—the publisher of the Norvelt News.
Chapter 3 Summary
At seven o’clock in the morning, Mr. Spizz, using his monkey knuckles, knocks on Jack’s front door. Mom answers, and Spizz tells her that if she doesn’t cut her weeds, he’ll write her a ticket. The weeds are 22 inches tall when they can only be six inches high. Mom is polite, but after she shuts the door, she sings a song with the lyrics, “You’re not the boss of me” (51). Jack cuts the weeds and spots Mr. Spizz on his tricycle. Mr. Spizz doesn’t have time to look at the trimmed weeds because he’s delivering Sunday dinners to older people. Dad thinks Mr. Spizz is a “freak.”
Mom uses the newspaper for placemats. During breakfast, Jack reads Miss Volker’s “This Day in History” column, which Mr. Greene reprints. The day is June 18, and on June 18, 1812, an enslaved person, Paul Jennings, saved the 1796 Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington. On June 18, 1873, Susan B. Anthony received a $100 fine for trying to vote. On June 18, 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
Chapter 4 Summary
A few days later, Jack wakes up and notices a $3 ticket on the front door. Mr. Spizz is fining the family for obstructing the gutter with a big pile of weeds. After creating a “mess” in the kitchen, Jack reads about the Revolutionary War in his room. An American general, William Prescott, ordered his troops not to fire their weapons until they saw the “whites” of the British soldiers’ eyes. Jack wonders why the English soldiers died for their king, George III. Jack believes that he’d tell the king to fight the war himself.
Worried about the ticket, Jack distracts himself by mowing the lawn. Dad tells him to mow the cornfield, but Jack is reluctant. Mom plans to sell the corn to help pay for her “charity dinners.” Remembering Dad’s promise to help him fix a car—if he can find one for free—Jack obeys, and Mom is livid. Jack says that Dad told him to do it, and Dad says that he wants to build a bomb shelter in case the Russians attack the United States. Mom orders Jack to cease and returns to the house. Dad tells Jack to mow the rest, and Jack obeys.
Dad is a construction worker, and he works in different states across the country. He leaves for a job, and upon his return, he fights with Mom about Norvelt. Mom wants to stay, but Dad thinks Norvelt is a communist project that’s increasingly obsolete. He describes Eleanor Roosevelt as a wealthy “Commie woman.” Dad wants to move to Florida, where he can make more money building houses for wealthy people.
In the garage, Dad shows Jack the J-3 plane he bought. During the war, America used the plane for training and spotting enemy submarines. The bomb shelter is a cover for the runway that Dad plans to build so that he and Jack can fly the J-3. Realizing that the rest of her cornfield is gone, Mom bangs on the garage door. Unaware that Dad is in there, she mentions that Jack used Dad’s Japanese war items. Dad is upset, but he lets Jack escape Mom and play baseball.
Chapters 1-4 Analysis
In the novel’s opening chapters, it combines aspects of the coming-of-age and historical fiction genres as it depicts Jack learning lessons from history. Jack’s central guide for history is Miss Volker, who provides a history of the dead women with her obituaries and then a general history. This introduces the theme of History as Guidance, which plays a central role in the narrative. In Chapter 2, after writing about Emma Devers Salt’s life, Miss Volker pivots to the actions of Wat Tyler. Emma, like the people in Norvelt, didn’t have much affluence, and in England during the late 1300s, Wat fought for people like Emma. Additionally, the Landmark Series teaches Jack about violence throughout history. He learns how conquerors from Spain brutalized the Aztecs and Incas. Jack’s reading reinforces his conscientiousness and sensitivity, and his opinions on history showcase an allegiance with oppressed and marginalized people. Dwelling on the American Revolution, for example, Jack says, “I was thinking that I would tell the king to go fight his own war” (57). As with Miss Volker, Jack stands against tyranny and violence. Thus, characters like Miss Volker play a key role for Jack during his summer of growth, particularly regarding his ability to use history to guide him.
Gantos also introduces the theme of Confronting Death and Violence in these opening chapters. Before Jack becomes Miss Volker’s “scribe,” he consumes death and violence through the Landmark books and the movies at the drive-in. Dad, having fought in World War II, also has firsthand experience with violence and destruction. Despite experiencing the brutal elements of the world, the characters are not jaded. Though Dad wants to leave the community, his faith in the J-3 reveals that he has hope for a better future. Mom is dedicated to the community, growing a cornfield so that she can use the money to cook food for Norvelters. Through Miss Volker, Jack feels The Force of Community. Her staunch, iconoclastic demeanor forges a deep bond between her and Jack. Miss Volker often uses history to show that the world isn’t entirely cruel and murderous. For example, in her June 18 “This Day in History” column, she acknowledges Susan B. Anthony and Amelia Earhart—figures who represent nonviolent progress.
Chapter 1 introduces a central motif: nosebleeds. Jack explains, “The moment something startled me or whenever I got overexcited or spooked about any little thing blood would spray out of my nose holes like dragon flames” (13). The nosebleeds symbolize Jack’s awareness and compassion. He’s an observer, and he cares about Norvelt and what’s happening in the world. The events of the world have a palpable impact on him. Each time his nose bleeds, Jack shows that his relationship with his world isn’t superficial. He literally bleeds due to factors in his environment that provoke, upset, or excite him.
Humor and allusion are two key literary devices that Gantos uses in these chapters. The humor creates a contrast with the serious issues and themes. One example is how, to avoid misusing Jesus’ name, Jack uses the phrase “cheeze-us.” Another example occurs after he accidentally fires the sniper rifle and thinks, “If I’m not already dead I soon will be” (16). Humor is a significant part of Jack’s characterization, as well as that of Dad, Mom, and Miss Volker. Even when they’re in a serious situation, the characters use humor to underscore their perspective.
Miss Volker’s arthritis becomes a source of comedy. For example, in Chapter 2, Jack believes that Miss Volker is burning her hands instead of stimulating them to bring relief to her symptoms. In her obituaries, Miss Volker regularly alludes to black lung, a disease formerly known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. In the story, almost all the men who worked in the mines died from it. The deaths allude to history’s violence, as neither the coal union nor coal corporations wanted to decrease their profits by worrying about the impact of coal dust on the lungs of its workers. Here, Miss Volker alludes to the exploitation facing the coalminers.
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