58 pages • 1 hour read
Neal ShustermanThe Schwa Was Here
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004A 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 14-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary: “More Than I Ever Wanted to Know About the Schwa’s Childhood”
Antsy is angry with Mr. Schwa when the man cannot tell him where Calvin is. The Schwa is home, however, blending in. The Schwa quit working for Mr. Crawley and tells Antsy he is also finished with their friendship. The Schwa thinks Antsy was pretending to be friends because he feels sorry for him. The Schwa tells him to leave, but Antsy refuses. The Schwa finally describes his last memory of his mother.
When the Schwa was five, his mom took him to the supermarket. There, he sat in the cart and named all the foods he knew. She left him alone briefly when she forgot an item. For an instant, the Schwa forgot her as he was naming foods. She did not return. He cried and asked for help, but the shoppers and employees did not notice him. He believes that because he did not remember his mom for a moment, she disappeared. The Schwa thinks that when no one remembers him, he will also vanish. Antsy is affected by this story, but says that the Schwa was noticed, and someone did help him.
The Schwa remembers being in the police station with his dad. The Schwa took the paperclip from the policeman’s missing person’s report to show he was there. Afterward, the Schwa’s dad would not talk about his mom and removed photos and items that reminded them of her. The only memory left is the paper clip. Antsy insists that the Schwa will not disappear, and the Schwa agrees. He has a secret plan to make sure that people will see and remember him.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Vortex in Aisle Three—Can Someone Please Clean Up the Ectoplasmic Slime?”
Antsy worries that the Schwa is going to do something drastic. Lacking anyone to talk to about it, Antsy consults Howie and Ira, who suggest dramatic, unhelpful possibilities. Antsy talks to Lexie, who agrees that people do not disappear, but she says that Mr. Crawley is essentially invisible since he never leaves his apartment. Mr. Crawley states that being invisible and being unseen are different and hints they could discover what happened to the Schwa’s mom.
Not ruling out the supernatural, Antsy gets Ed Neebly, a neighbor who works for the city water department and is also a dowser, to help. Antsy, Lexie, and Mr. Neebly go to Waldbaum’s, the supermarket where the Schwa’s mom disappeared, where Mr. Neebly dowses unsuccessfully for spirits. Lexie and Antsy interview the store manager about the store’s history: He remembers that a kid was abandoned there.
Antsy wonders about the Schwa’s parents, and he wonders if his own dad could forget him, or if his mom might not return from the market someday. At home, Mom is cooking coq au vin, which smells and tastes delicious. Antsy tells her he appreciates her and wants reassurance she will not disappear. Mom explains she is not mad at Dad. She knows he cooks better, and she chose to be home in the kitchen, not follow a career like her sister. Staying home also meant she devoted her life to the family and has “all [her] eggs in one basket” (160). Antsy understands she needs something for herself. She reassures him she is not going to throw away the basket. When he hugs her, Antsy realizes that he is now bigger than she is.
Chapter 16 Summary: “A Late-Night Trip to the Land of Beef That Could Turn a Person Into a Vegetarian”
In school, the Schwa seems to be “fading” away even more. Antsy worries about him. Antsy walks Mr. Crawley’s dogs and takes him some of his dad’s stuffed focaccia. Mr. Crawley eats it all. When he thinks no one is looking, Mr. Crawley is gentle and loving with his dogs. Antsy catches him in “a moment of tenderness” and asks him about the Schwa (164). Mr. Crawley surprises Antsy by using a cane and walking to the couch. He believes that people create positive and negative events in their lives, and that Calvin is “self-destructive”; he believes Antsy should replace the Schwa with a new friend—the way Mr. Crawley replaces his dogs when they die, using the same names. Antsy thinks that treating people and pets like things is horrible. Mr. Crawley argues that is how life is. Antsy retorts that Mr. Crawley knows nothing about life because he does not participate in it.
Antsy slips out of the house at night and returns to Waldbaum’s because he believes the butcher, who avoided their eyes when they were dowsing, knows something about the Schwa’s mom. Antsy enters the meat cutting area and the scene takes on a horror-movie quality for him. He sees a tall, hunched man in goggles and a stained smock sawing up a slab of beef. Gunther, the Night Butcher, finally agrees to talk to him after Antsy asserts he is not one of the boys who taunts him. Wild-eyed Gunther has worked there for 19 years and remembers when the Schwa was abandoned. Gunther knows that someone else disappeared with the Schwa’s mom, but he will not tell the story unless the Schwa is also there.
Chapter 17 Summary: “A Traumatic Experience I’ll Live to Regret, Assuming I Live”
Lexie calls Antsy early the next morning for help with her planned “trauma therapy” for Mr. Crawley. She asks Antsy to ask the Schwa to come. She has not spoken to him since they blew up Manny. Antsy calls, then hangs up because he is not ready to talk with the Schwa about the Night Butcher. The Schwa rings back, however, and excitedly says he has big, secret plans for the weekend. Antsy knows he should be a good friend and get the Schwa to talk, but he does not, though he retrospectively wishes that he had.
At noon, Antsy shouts outside Mr. Crawley’s door that Lexie has fallen down the stairs and is calling for him. Mr. Crawley fearfully opens the door, and, after a few tentative steps, hurries down to Lexie. It is a ruse, however, and Lexie’s car service driver takes one side of Mr. Crawley and Antsy takes the other and they bundle him outside, into the car. Mr. Crawley is furious and frightened. They blindfold him and drive to a pier. Antsy helps him walk to a waiting helicopter. Lexie tells Mr. Crawley he can remove the blindfold, but he refuses. Antsy feels bad for Mr. Crawley but is excited to ride in the helicopter himself. He knows the Schwa would have enjoyed it. Antsy vividly describes for Lexie what he sees as they fly over New York City, then realizes that Lexie really wants him to describe for her grandfather. Mr. Crawley finally removes his blindfold and stares, rapt and silent. As they drive home, Mr. Crawley tells Lexie and Antsy that he will punish them both and will never forgive them for their stunt.
Chapters 14-17 Analysis
Shusterman continues to expand on themes of Building a Sense of Self and the Role of Family Dynamics as readers learn more about how the disappearance of the Schwa’s mom affected him and learn how Antsy’s mom and Mr. Crawley perceive themselves and the world. These insights help Antsy recognize the importance of being truly seen and known by others and help him understand more about himself and his place in the world. Beneath his wiseass exterior, Antsy illustrates the spirit of true friendship in his efforts to help the Schwa.
The Schwa thinks that he is to blame for his mother’s disappearance because he briefly forgot about her in the grocery store. This traumatic childhood loss informs his life going forward. The abandonment by his mother and the Schwa’s feelings of guilt result in his belief that he will vanish like her when people stop remembering him. Mr. Schwa unwittingly aids his son’s unhealthy misconception by removing all tangible memories of his wife from the home—completing her disappearance in the Schwa’s mind. Mr. Schwa’s difficulty remembering things, including his son, contributes to the Schwa’s feeling of invisibility. The Schwa fears disappearing, but he also contributes to being unnoticed. Mr. Crawley’s asserts that the Schwa exhibits “self-destructive anonymity” (165). The Schwa is a ghost in his own life. He dresses to blend in and bleakly accepts what he thinks is his fate, commenting that Buddhists believe “the state of nonbeing is the perfect place to be” (148). It’s a self-pitying comment that Antsy hotly rejects. At the same time, the Schwa plans to ensure that everyone remembers him, suggesting that he wants to be a part of the world.
Being a part of the world, feeling known and visible, is an intrinsic part of Building a Sense of Self. Antsy worries that his mom feels invisible, commenting that “My mom was anything but invisible, but maybe she didn’t know it” (159). Antsy understands that people need external validation to help construct their sense of self. Mom “chose” to be a homemaker, but she recognizes that she has been living for others and losing her sense of self.
Antsy empathizes with the Schwa after hearing about his abandonment: The story sends Antsy’s “heart halfway up [his] throat” (150). The tale, coupled with what he knows about Mr. Schwa and the Schwa’s home life, makes Antsy insecure about his own family’s stability. He worries that Dad might forget him, or Mom may not return from one of her trips to the market or may find someone she likes better than Dad. Antsy’s concerns show that he is fearful about the changes happening in his family—adult issues he has not previously faced. Hugging his mom, Antsy envelops her, rather than the other way around, and he realizes he is transitioning to adulthood.
Informing the theme of Being “Seen” and the Perceptions of Others, Mr. Crawley and the Schwa are invisible in different ways though Mr. Crawley argues that he is, instead, “unseen” because people in the outside world still talk and wonder about him. Antsy criticizes him because he is a recluse with little knowledge of the world outside his door. Antsy sees that Mr. Crawley fears leaving his apartment, that the outside world represents an unknown and long-dormant part of himself. Lexie’s “trauma therapy” drags Mr. Crawley out of his comfort zone—the environment he controls completely—and makes him vulnerable. In the helicopter, Mr. Crawley initially chooses blindness; he leaves the blindfold on to hide from life. Antsy narrates the view for Mr. Crawley in the helicopter, and his colorful descriptions persuade the man to see for himself. Shusterman shows how characters can be willingly blind to things they fear.
Seeing the vast city, Mr. Crawley’s silence suggests not only that he is in awe of the city’s marvels but also that he is unpleasantly aware he is only a small part of the greater world. It’s a humbling realization that threatens his sense of self. Though Lexie acts out of love, the effect on Mr. Crawley is to diminish him. Antsy almost feels sorry for Mr. Crawley, seeing that “He was broken” (178). Antsy recognizes again that Lexie can be insensitive—or blind to—others’ emotions. Blindness symbolizes a refusal to see the truth, or reality.
Finally, Antsy shows the strength of his friendship with the Schwa and Lexie. When the Schwa believes Antsy is only pretending to be his friend out of pity, Antsy proves his friendship by refusing to leave the Schwa on his own, saying “Sitting there like a rock was the strongest statement I could make about our friendship” (148). Antsy’s solid support reveals the strength and Nature of Friendship. He feels empathy, rather than pity. Antsy shows his commitment to his friend in other ways such as by taking the initiative to discover the truth behind the Schwa’s mom’s disappearance. Similarly, despite Lexie’s emotional manipulation, Antsy remains friends with her. Antsy’s friendship is a unifying element in the novel, and he helps each character learn more about themselves.
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