Touching The Void Chapter Summary

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assignment himself. In three years, Archie has never drawn the black marble, and this time is no different. Archie draws the white marble and Goober has his assignment. This chapter breaks from the plot progression and focuses on Jerry remembering his mother's illness and death. She was a hard-working, passionate woman, and it was incredibly difficult to watch. During her illness, Jerry and his dad grew estranged. Jerry felt his father was sleepwalking through that period of time. Cormier describes a scene at Jerry's mother's funeral in which Jerry and his father shared their first and last moment of emotion, crying and hugging at the cemetery. These memories surface as Jerry watches his father sleep on the couch. When his father wakes up, …show more content…

He sold the most raffle tickets at school last year, and won a prize. He wants to sell more chocolates than anyone else. He decided to make a list of all the people he would ask to buy the chocolates. Sulkey is pleased about the fifty box quota because it means most of the other boys would have a hard time making that quota. There is a jump forward in time, to a role call a few days later. As the names get closer to "R" the class gets tense. Leon, as he does every day, calls for Renault, and Renault says no. Goober sees Brother Leon's hand trembling as he marks in his book, and "he had a terrible feeling of doom about to descend on all of them." The second section of the chapter introduces Tubs Casper, who is desperately trying to sell his chocolates so he can buy his girlfriend a bracelet for her birthday. The bracelet is $19.52 including tax, and as he meditates about wonderful she is, he plans on how he can sell enough to buy the bracelet. The third section of the chapter focuses on Paul Consalvo's unsuccessful attempts at selling the chocolates. He cannot find anyone willing to buy them, and he pities the people he sees as he goes door to door, especially the people who are "stuck in their houses and tenements with kids to take care of and housework to do." Paul pities his own parents, believing that they do not have much to live

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