Into the Wild

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2003

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 5

Chapters 6-9

Chapters 10-13

Chapters 14-16

Chapters 17-20

Chapters 21-25

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 17-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 17 Summary

Firepaw and the rest of the group return to find ShadowClan has attacked the ThunderClan camp, just as both Firepaw’s and, he learns, Bluestar’s dream foretold. ShadowClan’s fearsome deputy, Blackfoot, raids ThunderClan’s nursery and attempts to steal their kits, but Yellowfang defends them. After ThunderClan drives the ShadowClan raiders out, the mothers are grateful to Yellowfang, and their attitudes toward her soften. But then despair strikes: Lionheart was killed during the battle. Bluestar’s grief at this news is great; Firepaw is unnerved to see her look so defeated. He finds comfort in sitting next to Spottedleaf and feeling her warm fur press against his. Nonetheless, Bluestar, after a brief hesitation, names her new deputy: Tigerclaw. Ravenpaw expresses distress at this news; careful to keep his voice low, Ravenpaw tells Firepaw that Tigerclaw has wanted the deputy position ever since he “took care of Redtail.” Firepaw’s mind reels—did Tigerclaw kill Redtail?

Chapter 18 Summary

Tigerclaw appears suddenly, looming menacingly over Firepaw and Ravenpaw. Firepaw quickly covers for his friend, diverting Tigerclaw’s suspicions. The next day, Tigerclaw’s first act as deputy is to establish an around-the-clock guard for Bluestar; he decrees that no cat shall approach her without this guard present. Bluestar tactfully declines, reminding Tigerclaw that the warrior code dictates that the Clan’s safety is more important than any one member’s. Tigerclaw’s focus shifts to ShadowClan; he suggests that ShadowClan attacked when they did because someone in ThunderClan apprised them of Bluestar’s absence. This accusation sows discord in the camp, which Tigerclaw feeds; he looks pointedly at Ravenpaw throughout his speech, directing the other cats’ suspicions there. Bluestar invites Yellowfang to join ThunderClan, an offer Yellowfang gratefully accepts. Firepaw is surprised to find that Bluestar’s offer means a lot to him, too. Afterward, Firepaw discusses loyalty with Yellowfang after she suggests that perhaps she is a traitor, since she fights for ThunderClan now instead of the Clan she was born into, ShadowClan. Firepaw points out that if that’s how loyalties were decided, he’d be fighting for his Twolegs. Later, in the forest, Firepaw happens upon a secret meeting between Tigerclaw, Longtail, and Darkstripe. Tigerclaw has lied to Longtail and Darkstripe, telling them that Ravenpaw disappeared for a long period of time during the journey to the Moonstone; now he plots with the two warriors to dispose of Ravenpaw. Firepaw fears for his friend; but how can he make the rest of the Clan—and especially Bluestar—believe his word against Tigerclaw’s accusations?

Chapter 19 Summary

The next day, Firepaw approaches Spottedleaf for herbs for Graypaw; Firepaw is worried about Graypaw’s injuries from the rat fight and his lingering grief over the death of his mentor, Lionheart. To Firepaw’s surprise, Spottedleaf seems worried too, but about more than just Graypaw. She does not expound on her troubles to Firepaw, but before he leaves, she shares with him the fire prophecy she received shortly before Firepaw joined the Clan. Firepaw is not sure what to make of it. His thoughts turn to Ravenpaw and how to tell Bluestar about Tigerclaw’s plot. Meanwhile, tension grows between Firepaw and Tigerclaw; Firepaw unambiguously sees Tigerclaw as an enemy, and that sentiment is reciprocated in the looks Tigerclaw gives him. Firepaw finally has a training session alone with Bluestar, and he resolves to use this time to tell her about Tigerclaw; however, he gets caught up in the excitement of learning from Bluestar and forgets to tell her.

Chapter 20 Summary

After Tigerclaw sends Ravenpaw to hunt in ShadowClan territory—an obvious breach of the warrior code—Firepaw knows he must warn Ravenpaw of Tigerclaw’s schemes. Firepaw gently prompts the truth from his friend of why Tigerclaw is so threatened by Ravenpaw, and a frenzied Ravenpaw confesses that he witnessed Tigerclaw kill Redtail at the Sunningrocks battle after all the other warriors had fled. Tigerclaw never killed Oakheart; that was Redtail. Firepaw knows he must tell Bluestar of Tigerclaw’s treachery, and it looks as though he might get his chance when Bluestar summons him for a private conversation. However, during that conversation, the confidence she displays in Tigerclaw dissuades Firepaw from confiding in her. The reason Bluestar summoned Firepaw is to tell him that at the rat fight, she actually lost her seventh life, not her fifth. She shares this only with Firepaw and expects that he will tell no one else. Firepaw agrees, disappointed that he cannot share his knowledge about Tigerclaw. Later, two kits go missing from the nursery; Firepaw notices Yellowfang slip out of camp just as the kits’ absence is discovered. Just after, the Clan discovers Spottedleaf’s body, dead—killed by a warrior blow.

Chapters 17-20 Analysis

Treachery both within and without is the primary theme in Chapters 17-20. Tigerclaw’s secret is revealed, and the threat of ShadowClan intensifies when Brokenstar’s warriors raid ThunderClan’s camp and later abduct the kits in Chapter 20. The urgency to save Ravenpaw after the reveal of Tigerclaw’s crimes creates tension and drives the narrative forward at a quicker pace.

Chapters 17-20 bring new losses for the characters and position them to move into the ordeals preceding the climax. While ThunderClan is victorious against ShadowClan’s first attack in Chapter 17, it comes with a heavy price—Lionheart’s death. Afterward, Firepaw is unnerved because “it was the first time Firepaw had seen Bluestar look utterly defeated, and he felt a chill run through him” (197). This devastating loss, following so close on the heels of Firepaw’s realization of Bluestar’s vulnerability, establishes a grim mood and foreshadows more loss to come.

Tigerclaw is unambiguously established as the antagonist in these chapters. After Lionheart’s death in Chapter 17, Bluestar names Tigerclaw her deputy; however, she hesitates, signaling to the reader that Bluestar may on some level be aware of Tigerclaw’s dubious loyalty (198). This is reinforced by Ravenpaw’s reaction, when he mutters, “Oh, no!” and alludes to Tigerclaw’s desperate desire for power ever since “he took care of Redtail” (199). This is the first time Firepaw considers the possibility that Tigerclaw killed Redtail; immediately after, in Chapter 18, Tigerclaw interrupts their conversation. As he looms over the two apprentices, Firepaw “felt a cold shiver ruffle the fur on the back of his neck” (200). The chilling, menacing mood established around Tigerclaw signifies him more strongly as an antagonist. However, it’s not until Chapter 18, after Firepaw hears Tigerclaw plotting to get rid of Ravenpaw, that Firepaw resolves that Tigerclaw is an enemy. This adds a new dimension of conflict for Firepaw: how to tell Bluestar the truth about Tigerclaw and get her to believe him. In the meantime, however, Firepaw explicitly considers Tigerclaw his enemy: “Warrior and apprentice, for a heartbeat [Tigerclaw and Firepaw’s] eyes were locked as enemies” (213).

Chapter 20 brings several revelations that foil Tigerclaw and Firepaw more sharply and prompt the reader to consider some of the narrative’s thematic statements on loyalty. The revelation of Tigerclaw’s treachery resolves the murder-mystery subplot and highlights the theme of Greed and Ambition Versus Loyalty and Fellowship. Although there have been subtle hints to the reader about Tigerclaw’s true nature, it is now clear to Firepaw as a character that despite all the admiration Tigerclaw receives from others, his loyalty is a sham and he is only motivated by his own greed. This is reinforced by the conversation Bluestar has with Firepaw in which she reveals that she lost her seventh life, not her fifth. The reader wonders why she did not confide in Tigerclaw, prompting the reader to consider the foil between the trust Bluestar has in Tigerclaw and the trust she has in Firepaw. The juxtaposition between Tigerclaw’s treacherous, self-interested loyalty and Firepaw’s honorable, selfless loyalty reinforces the thematic statement on the destructiveness of ambition.

While the loss of Bluestar’s seventh life in Chapter 16 was an ordeal in Firepaw’s journey, Spottedleaf’s death and the disappearance of the kits at the end of Chapter 20 marks the “supreme ordeal” in which the hero faces new heights of loss; it is also a major turning point in the novel’s action. Spottedleaf’s death completes the foreshadowing established by Lionheart’s death and Bluestar’s resulting grief; moreover, Spottedleaf’s innocent death marks Brokenstar’s warriors as truly irredeemable and beyond the bounds of the warrior code. Spottedleaf’s death rouses anger in Firepaw: “Fury rose in him like a dark cloud, and he felt the blood roaring in his ears. Who had done this?” (231). For the first time, Firepaw feels the desire to kill; this foreshadows Firepaw’s momentary temptation toward darkness in the climactic battle in Chapter 24.

The dire circumstances in Chapter 20 intensify suspense and heighten the narrative’s stakes. Spottedleaf’s death and Tigerclaw’s treachery reflect a growing turmoil that drives the narrative to its climactic battle and resolution in the remaining chapters.