40 pages • 1 hour read
William LandayDefending Jacob
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012A 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 37-40Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 37 Summary: “After-Life”
After the trial ends, the Barber family falls into a routine. Andy is still on paid leave. The neighbors continue to distrust the family: “Jacob may not have murdered Ben Rifkin, but they had heard enough to be disturbed by him” (388). Jacob continues to be “even-tempered” (389). They fantasize about moving to Bisbee, Arizona. The lingering effects of the trial hit Laurie the worst: she is “wary” (391) and damaged after the first true difficulty of her privileged life.
Chapter 38 Summary: “The Policeman’s Dilemma”
Andy visits his father in prison to ask him why he had Patz killed. Billy denies knowing Father O’Leary despite spending six years in prison together. There is a “winking indulgence” (393) to his denial. Andy tells him that Jacob was innocent, and his intervention has done him a disservice—Jacob has been denied his day in court, and there will always be doubt in people’s minds. Billy tells Andy that he is a fool, but invites him to call the cops, tell them the whole story, and try and have Jacob tried again. The grand jury transcripts show that, while Andy confesses to the reader that Patz was murdered, he tells Logiudice there’s no way anyone could know his true fate.
Chapter 39 Summary: “Paradise”
The Barber family goes to the Waves resort in Jamaica. They feel surreally happy as they arrive in the manufactured paradise. After months of appearing emotionless in public, they are allowed to let go and behave however they want; they “do not feel like murderers at all” (403). Over the course of a week, Jacob spends time with a new girlfriend, Hope; he tells her that his name is Jacob Gold. Laurie and Andy reconnect, and Laurie begins to forgive herself for doubting her son. Andy wants to “freeze the story there” (406) but an excerpt from the grand jury transcript reveals that Hope soon disappeared.
Chapter 40 Summary: “No Way Out”
During the grand jury investigation, Andy denies any knowledge of what happened to Hope. The day of her disappearance, Jacob watched the sunset with his parents. There was something on his swimsuit—ketchup, or blood—and Andy instructed him to wash it off in the ocean. Seven weeks later, her drowned body was found with some evidence of a crushed windpipe. Andy states that Laurie was “‘shaken […] She was not herself’” (413). The two did not discuss Jacob’s possible guilt. It is finally revealed that the grand jury is investigating Laurie for Jacob’s murder. As Laurie and Jacob drove to a private school interview, Laurie sped up and unbuckled her seatbelt, then drove the two into a concrete abutment. Laurie survived; Jacob did not. Andy does not share his judgment about Laurie’s guilty, but he imagines that Jacob died knowing that both his parents loved him.
Chapters 37-40 Analysis
These chapters reveal Andy’s full knowledge of Patz’s fate and his continued willingness to lie to the grand jury. In Chapter 36, Andy told the reader that Patz’s guilt cleared Jacob from any suspicion. Here, though, he tells his father that Patz’s murder makes Jacob’s situation worse. It is unclear which story is true—only that Andy knows much more about Jacob’s possible guilt than Laurie.
Despite the lingering doubts over Jacob’s guilt, Andy takes his family to Jamaica, where Laurie’s worst nightmare comes true: another teenager goes missing, this time Jacob’s girlfriend Hope. She immediately believes he is guilty. Andy maintains to the grand jury that he does not believe Jacob is guilty, but does not overtly express his opinion to the reader.
The final chapters reveal that Laurie is the subject of the grand jury investigation: she drives into a concrete wall, killing Jacob and badly injuring herself. Rather than speculating on Laurie’s guilt, or her possible intention to commit a murder-suicide, Andy focuses on his enduring love for Jacob and does his best to protect Laurie from legal consequences.
