37 pages • 1 hour read
Gary PaulsenLawn Boy
Fiction | Novella | Middle Grade | Published in 2007A 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 10-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “Force of Arms and Its Application to Business”
Arnold stays behind, and Joey, Pasqual, and the boy jump into Pasqual’s pickup truck. They arrive at Pasqual’s home and find Rock sitting in a truck with two accomplices. Joey walks over, effectively handles the situation by force, and warns the men never to threaten the boy or his employees again.
The boy suggests next time Joey try reasoning with dialogue first rather than jumping to violence. However, Joey counters that Rock already dialogued enough when he threatened the workers. Pasqual and his cousins mumble awestruck at the scene they witnessed. The boy suggests that Joey adopts a fighter name, and Joey decides he likes “Joey Pow,” because “it’s catchy and it’s [his] name” (61).
Chapter 11 Summary: “Business and the Art of Creative Misrepresentation”
The boy returns to Arnold’s and relates the afternoon’s events. Arnold cautions him against calling the cops because his parents aren’t yet involved. On his way home, the boy resolves to tell his parents everything.
At home, rather than explaining the situation outright, the boy asks what his parents would want if they could have anything in the world. His parents both respond that they want him to have a good, fulfilling life. As the boy guides them toward a more materialistic answer, his mom notices a large man sleeping in a pickup truck outside their house—Joey. The boy reassures his parents and runs outside. Joey explains that he is guarding the boy’s house in case Rock returns. The boy promises that Rock doesn’t know how to find him, encouraging Joey to go home and rest for his upcoming fight on Saturday.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Team Management in Times of Uncertainty”
The next day begins normally. Arnold asks the boy whether he talked to his parents. The boy admits he hasn’t, and Arnold again encourages him to tell them.
Then, in the middle of a mowing job, the boy receives an urgent phone call from Arnold, who orders him to go home before the line breaks mid-conversation. The boy concludes that the strange call involves Rock, so he races to Arnold’s house, hiding behind the neighbor’s hedges. After a while, he glimpses Rock through the window. The boy realizes he doesn’t know whom to call: Pasqual is asleep, Arnold is a hostage, Joey’s number isn’t in his phone, and he hesitates to call the cops. The boy has no better choice than to seek his parents’ help.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Expertise, Its Utilization and Effects on Economy”
The boy dashes home, firmly resolved to talk to his parents immediately. He confesses everything from the investments to Joey’s sponsorship to Rock’s threats. Dad suggests calling the police, but Mom realizes that some of Pasqual’s employees are likely undocumented, so involving the police might place them at risk of deportation. Everyone agrees that contacting Joey is the next best course of action. Joey’s contact information is inside Arnold’s house, so Mom and Dad brainstorm alternative options. After a few Internet searches and phone calls, the boy dials Joey’s direct number. Joey hangs up the phone before the boy finishes explaining, which the boy interprets as agreement, and they all head for Arnold’s house.
Chapters 10-13 Analysis
One of the novel’s themes is the loyalty and responsibility employers and employees have to one another. The boy understands the duty he owes to Pasquale and the other mowers—first, concerned that they are giving up too much of their income when they pay him half what they earn, and now when he realizes that their possible undocumented status means they cannot rely on the police like he can. The boy’s position carries a certain level of privilege—though his family’s modest means clearly place him in a lower socio-economic stratum than Arnold—but he uses this privilege to protect his employees. The theme is further developed in the boy’s relationship with Joey. Joey feels indebted to his sponsor, and is happy to pay him back through physical prowess. Though the bonds between these characters were at first purely economic, they have now become to some degree emotionally entangled—an idyllic vision of benevolent capitalism.
The novel compares the power of someone like Arnold, whose wealth enables an easier life, to that of someone like Joey. Joey is not intellectual. He relies on his (literal) strength to solve problems, which makes him economically dependent on a sponsor, but also means he can come to the rescue of those who are physically in harm’s way. Fixing problems with physical power is simply for Joey: “[This is] the best way. First talk, then handle the problem, then watch them go away.” (59). Joey’s method proves effective, though even after the second encounter with Rock, the boy’s family prefers Joey gives them a “stern talking-to” and asks that Joey doesn’t punish Rock too violently (81).
This section of rising action stands out from other chapters because rather than stumbling upon good luck, the boy faces a high-stakes conflict and gathers his resources to devise a peaceful resolution. The narrative pieces are all in place: the boy’s business and wealth are established, the necessary characters have been introduced, and a threat arises in the form of Rock. Conflict builds suspense by threatening what the boy values most: the well-being of people. Losing money in the stock market produced less suspense because there were no stakes: If the boy lost his winnings, there would be no dire consequences for the boy or his community. Now, however, Rock threatens the business’s employees, which evokes the boy’s compassion and defensiveness.
The boy resolves one of the novel’s two main conflicts: He confesses his double life to his parents. The boy’s confession settles some tension, allowing the boy’s family to work together to solve the next problem, building momentum for the novel’s climax.
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