56 pages • 1 hour read
Maria PadianWrecked
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A 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 10-12
Chapter 10 Summary: “Richard”
Prior to Chapter 10 beginning, the small italicized passage is focused, again, on Brandon Exley, who has finished concocting “his masterpiece” (99). The boys all “drink, long and deep” (99).
Chapter 10 starts with Jordan’s uncle, Bruce Bockus, finding Richard on his way home from classes. Uncle Bruce introduces himself and asks to speak privately to Richard, without Jordan present. Richard tries to get out of talking to him, but Uncle Bruce insists, and they sit in the common room of Taylor House. Richard feels frustrated by the whole situation, feeling annoyed that “he’s getting sucked into the black hole of Jordan’s mess” (102). Richard tries to explain that he isn’t involved at all, and Uncle Bruce explains that Richard is only one of two people who Jordan confided in about having had sex that Saturday night at the party.
Richard reiterates what he said to Jordan, telling Uncle Bruce that he won’t lie if directly questioned, and Uncle Bruce reveals the true reason for his visit: if Richard will serve as Jordan’s advisor, then he will be able to act confidentially and be protected from testifying. Richard feels angry and protests, despite Uncle Bruce’s insistence that he is just trying to keep Jordan “out of jail” (105). The two reach a compromise that Richard will do it, but he won’t have to attend all the meetings.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Haley”
The italicized excerpt preceding Chapter 11 describes Jenny drinking with several other girls, looking in the mirror and not recognizing herself.
Haley decides to go on a sunset walk along the river path to clear her head and get a break from Jenny, who just got the news that Jordan has responded to the assault claim in a one sentence statement in which he asserts his innocence. Furious, Jenny explained how she would have wanted more and answered her phone to talk further about it, which is when Haley slipped out.
On the walk, Haley reflects on her changing social situation: how difficult it is to “support” from the bench and how hard it is to live with Jenny, who “haunts their room” (111). Richard interrupts her thoughts, as he’s out for his daily run. Since she can’t jog alongside, he sprints to the end of the path and back so that he can walk with her. They strike up a casual conversation, and he invites her to dinner.
As Richard explains where they could meet to walk over to dinner, Haley figures out that he lives next to Conundrum House. She feels stunned that “he lives in the house, sleeps in the house, right next door to where Jenny was raped” (115). Trying to act casual, she asks Richard about the partying nature of the two houses, and he explains that he isn’t as interested in that aspect.
Richard quickly heads into his house to shower and change while Haley waits outside. In Taylor House, a group of housemates are discussing where to go to dinner; their plans are complicated by the fact that Jordan keeps insisting on going to the Grille instead of the main dining hall but won’t explain why. Haley can hear the conversation through the window and hears one of the boys use the name “Bockus” (117). She can’t place where she’s heard the name before, and Richard comes back out, interrupting her train of thought. They head to the Grille since Richard has a gift card.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Richard”
Before Chapter 12 begins, the italicized excerpt describes Jenny and the girls, now tipsy, singing along with music in a dorm room.
Over dinner at the Grille, Richard realizes that Haley “has no idea how attractive she is” (120). They banter over a plate of fries and make plans to go apple picking that weekend. When Haley goes to get a refill of her drink, Richard realizes that Jordan is also at the Grille and is approaching their table. Jordan tries to joke about Richard’s new relationship with Haley, and Richard brushes him aside; Jordan remarks, “Afraid I’ll interrupt whatever you’ve got going with your new little lady friend” (123). Jordan walks away from the table, passing Haley, to whom he makes a short comment. When Haley returns, Richard asks, “What did Jordan say to you?” (124) and Haley looks surprised.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
Wrecked relies on the perspectives of multiple characters to weave together; this structure naturally raises the question of each person’s reliability and integrity. This is an intentional authorial choice: Padian makes it impossible for the reader to rely on any one character’s thoughts or feelings as absolute truth. Two key ways she raises tension is through the trial process and through Richard and Haley’s roles as advisors. As the procedures of the case unfold, Jenny receives Jordan’s statement, which concisely asserts his innocence, it builds an important conflict that is common to sexual assault cases on college campuses. The case will revolve around which narrative—Jenny’s or Jordan’s—can be believed. Yet, by avoiding sharing his own perspective, Jordan makes it more difficult to ascertain his innocence or guilt. Meanwhile, Jenny’s heightened emotional reactions, an important characterization of her trauma, make her a less reliable witness and narrator.
As the two advisors to Jenny and Jordan, Richard’s and Haley’s perspectives are also made centrally important to the rising conflict of the novel. Both students are required to keep the case matters confidential, creating a simmering tension between them; Haley avoids talking about the case to Richard even as she develops an understanding that he might know the people involved. In a different way, when Richard is to become Jordan’s advisor, he feels an immediate conflict regarding his own integrity: Jordan is not someone he wants to support. As a result of Richard’s insistence that he won’t lie for Jordan, Richard ends up serving as Jordan’s advisor. This workaround of the system makes it so that even Richard, who appears to be an honest person, ends up having a conflict about his reliability and uprightness. Through each of these characters’ budding issues regarding their honesty, Padian paints an important and nuanced portrait of the difficulty of finding the truth.
