51 pages • 1 hour read
Elizabeth Gray ViningAdam of the Road
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1942A 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 5-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary: “Going to London”
While they are on the road to London with Sir Edmund’s family, the ladies of the family summon Roger to play for them. The lady of the house, Lady Richenda, invites Adam and Nick to rest in the carriage with the women. He sits on the floor beside Margery. Roger tells the ladies the story of Sir Orfeo, and Adam falls asleep. When he wakes, Roger is telling the most exciting part of the story. Adam tries to enhance the excitement by striking chords on his harp, but the harp is out of tune, and he plays poorly. The ladies laugh, and Roger frowns. Margery tries to comfort Adam but unintentionally insults him further. Embarrassed, Adam slips out of the carriage and decides to walk.
While walking, Adam meets a squire named Simon, who is in love with Sir Edmund’s older daughter, Emilie. Simon asks Adam to teach him a minstrel song, and he does, also telling him about his earlier embarrassment in the carriage. The two of them laugh, and Adam feels better. Roger joins them, and the three men ride the rest of the way to Sir Edmund’s together.
Sir Edmund’s house lies between London and Westminster. He carries the glass for the windows with him when he travels from house to house, and the rest of the day is spent setting the glass in the windows, preparing the house, and settling the travelers. Adam, Roger, and Simon swim in the river behind the house.
Chapter 6 Summary: “A Blush of Boys”
The de Lisle family and their attendants have been in the house for three days, and Adam is sulking because none of the boys his age will speak to him. Whenever Adam tries to join their games, Hugh, the lofty page, leads the boys away. Adam misses Perkin and is lonely whenever he is not with Roger or Simon.
Tired of sulking, Adam decides to ride Bayard, and Simon encourages him to ride by the boys, all of whom admire the warhorse. Adam takes his advice: He offers each of the boys a chance to ride Bayard and try to knock a shield off a pole with a lance. Hugh and his two younger brothers are nephews of Sir Edmund. Two other boys are sons of Sir Edmund’s falconer, and the last boy is the son of Sir Edmund’s bailiff. Hugh’s brother tells Adam that Hugh expected Sir Edmund to give Bayard to him, but he gave the horse to Roger instead.
Adam finally gets a chance to play the game, and all the boys are impressed when he can knock the shield off the pole on his first try. Even Hugh is impressed and corrects his earlier opinion of Nick, calling him a fine dog. Adam is invited to be part of the little group. Each of the boys has work and schooling to attend to, but they play together in their free time, even including the girls sometimes. Adam spends much of his time learning new songs and stories from Roger; each of the other boys learns his own father’s job. Chapter 6 ends with the boys and girls playing London Bridge together.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Jankin”
One day, after swimming, Adam and Hugh talk about which of the house squires will be the first to become knights. Adam thinks it will be Simon and tells Hugh that Simon loves Emilie. Hugh tells Adam that Emilie is arranged to marry another man. Adam doesn’t think this is fair to either Emilie or Simon and later asks his father if it’s true. Roger confirms the rumor and tells Adam that after Emilie’s wedding, he and Adam will become traveling minstrels again but will return to the de Lisle house for Christmas.
The wedding occurs in August. There are multiple minstrels providing entertainment and the richest food of Adam’s life, including a roasted peacock. Roger receives a golden brooch from Emilie as a gift, and each of the minstrels, including Adam, receives a bag of silver pennies from Sir Edmund. Adam watches the other minstrels and notices an old man with no teeth, a handsome young man, a young woman, and a small man named Jankin. Adam likes Jankin the best because Jankin smiled at Nick and petted him.
After the minstrels receive the money, some of them go home, but others begin gambling with their money by playing dice. Roger drinks and gambles well into the night, making Adam nervous. The next morning, Roger and Adam set off on the road. Adam can tell that his father is tired and upset. Roger tells Adam to keep his coin purse close by and not to give him any of the money, even if he asks for it. He tells Adam that he gambled away all of his money and even lost Bayard to Jankin.
Chapters 5-7 Analysis
Chapters 5 through 7 take place on the road to the de Lisle house and then at the house itself. For Adam, these are still idyllic contexts. He is on the road, which he sees as home for a minstrel, for the first time at the beginning of Chapter 5. However, the road is not home for him because he does not yet consider himself a minstrel. He is content to live in the de Lisle house, which is large and full of luxury, because Roger and Nick are with him. He feels at home with them and is happy because he gets to practice his minstrelsy. While Adam’s life is shifting, he is not yet in the realm of the unknown, where he will face challenges as part of the hero’s journey. Instead, these three chapters allow the young hero to spend time with his father and mentor and unconsciously prepare himself for the journey ahead.
These chapters continue to establish Adam’s character and reinforce his role as a typical hero and coming-of-age protagonist. His interactions with the other boys at the de Lisle manor demonstrate the goodness and purity of his heart. Though Adam was initially excluded from the boys’ games, he is generous and gracious, sharing Bayard with the boys and joining their group as a minstrel (75, 77). He is innocent in the ways of the world and quick to detect injustice. He doesn’t understand why Emilie, Sir Edmund’s eldest daughter, must be forced into an arranged marriage and feels bad for her and Simon, the poorer knight who loves her (85). He is still easily impressed; he likes Jankin, another visiting minstrel, simply because Jankin smiled at his dog (91). He is thrilled when he fulfills his job as a minstrel and satisfies his audience (90).
These chapters reveal a great deal about Roger’s character as well. He fulfills the role of mentor by teaching his son the ways of a minstrel, training Adam in the art that will provide him safety and sustenance even in uncertain times. Adam takes Roger as his role model in minstrelsy and emulates him in every way he can. However, these chapters also reveal Roger’s flaw: gambling. At the end of Chapter 7, Roger leaves Adam, an 11-year-old boy, in charge of the money because he cannot trust himself with it, forcing Adam to mature quicker than he otherwise would have. This connects to the theme of Losing Childlike Innocence and Coming of Age. Chapter 7 also briefly introduces Jankin, describing him as a “little, dark haired man with sharp black eyes and a thin, vivid face” (91). Although Adam decides he likes Jankin simply because he pets Nick, Jankin is an antagonist to his father, who loses all of his money and his warhorse to him by gambling.
While feudalism is not directly mentioned in these chapters, its influence shapes the relationships Adam forms with the other boys his age. Hugh is the leader of the boys because he is Sir Edmund’s nephew and, therefore, the most powerful of the group (69). All the other boys’ fathers are servants to Sir Edmund, making the boys servants to Hugh. Just as Roger had to earn the favor of Sir Edmund, Adam had to earn Hugh’s favor to be invited into the little company. Adam’s innate desire to please his audience is useful in this situation: Whether he realizes it or not, his survival and success in the feudal world depend upon his ability to please an audience. Even when Adam rides Bayard and knocks the shield off the pole, he is performing for an audience, therefore earning his right to stay and join the festivities (77).
Adam gets to play and practice minstrelsy as part of the boys’ group and also performs with his father at Emilie’s wedding, earning his own bag of coins. This is Adam’s first treatment as a true minstrel, and he swells with pride (90). He also learns that he and Roger will be returning to the road, a recurring motif, reinforcing the idea of the road as the true place of a minstrel.
