45 pages • 1 hour read
Alan ArmstrongWhittington
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2005A 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 28-37Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 28 Summary: “Dick’s Cat Returns”
Whittington’s story resumes with Dick a 16-year-old. He buys a share of Fitzwarren’s business. His cat returns aboard the Unicorn; she tells Dick that she fought the Great Rat in Tripoli and although she won, he crippled her leg and she has lost some of her teeth. The king of Tripoli nursed her back to health himself, but because her injuries meant that she could no longer continue as a ratter, he allowed her to return home. She has left plenty of offspring behind to continue her legacy there. Dick joyfully reunites with his cat, and the two plan to go to Persia together. Dick learns that Sir Louis owns the Unicorn.
Chapter 29 Summary: “A Hawk Attacks the Lady”
A hawk attacks the Lady, ripping out some of her valuable tail feathers. The watch crow, Gregory, and his murder of crows retaliate on the Lady’s behalf and chase the hawk away. The other animals in the barn comfort the Lady after her fright; the horses give her some of their favorite feed, and Whittington offers to guard her so that she feels safe again. The Lady thanks her friends, whom she calls her family, for protecting her.
Chapter 30 Summary: “Ben Goes to Reading Recovery and Meets Miss O’Brian”
Ben observes a Reading Recovery session and is surprised to see that other students struggle with the same problems he does, and that there are people who can help him, like Miss O’Brian, the reading coach. She and Ben read together, and she feels confident that she can help him. Ben thanks her but knows that he will be teased by his classmates when he returns to his class.
Chapter 31 Summary: “The Cat’s Operation”
Dick takes his cat to a surgeon who operates on her injured leg. After months of recovery, Dick’s cat regains some movement in her leg. Dick notices that his cat’s rear paws are dark purple—a color said to be the mark of Ancient Egypt’s sacred cats, who were said to possess god-like powers. Whittington stretches his paw out to his audience to show them that he too has a dark purple paw.
Chapter 32 Summary: “Dick Meets Will Price Again”
Dick reunites with his old friend Will Price when the latter brings Dick a message from Sir Louis. On Sir Louis’s instructions, Dick reads Marco Polo’s account of his travels. Dick learns about places like India and Persia and observes the shrewd business acumen underlying Polo’s account. Sir Louis hopes that having Dick read this book will make the boy more receptive to the proposal Sir Louis will impart to him the next day.
Chapter 33 Summary: “Willy the Goat’s Surprise”
Willy the goat gives birth and is renamed Wilhelmina. Havey the dog and the Lady dote on Wilhelmina’s kid (baby goat) Theo.
Chapter 34 Summary: “Dick Sees the Girl in Black Again”
Ben is upset because his classmates have been teasing him about his reading. The principal, Dr. Parker, recommends that Ben attend Reading Recovery classes all summer with Miss O’Brian to catch up. The animals encourage Ben; the Lady tells him that he’s stuck and needs to move forward somehow, while the Old One says that he would learn to read if he could, so that he could access all the other worlds in books. Whittington tells Ben that his previous boy did not have the same choice that Ben had.
Whittington continues his story. Dick, now 18, hears Sir Louis’s proposition. Sir Louis wants Dick to establish a trading agency in Constantinople and Persia. This venture has the potential to make Dick very rich, but he is distracted by another glimpse of Sir Louis’s granddaughter. Dick and Sir Louis’s granddaughter meet; she introduces herself as Mary. Although Mary rejects Dick’s interest in her, her eyes remain on him throughout dinner.
Chapter 35 Summary: “Marker Raids the Barn”
Marker, the dog from up the hill who has difficulty controlling his energy, escapes his owner and attacks the animals in the barn, wounding Coraggio. Coraggio appears dead until Havey noses him, at which point he revives. Although Coraggio’s voice has been broken, he otherwise recovers.
Chapter 36 Summary: “Dick Decides on the Dangerous Voyage”
Dick is devastated to learn that Mary has already been promised to a suitor of high rank. Still undecided as to whether or not he will accept his appointment on the Persia venture, Dick sets out to find her. However, the bells start tolling on his way there, and in their tolling he perceives a message telling him to turn back. Heartbroken but finally relieved of his lovesickness, he and his cat return.
Chapter 37 Summary: “Ben’s Decision”
Ben’s teacher recommends that Ben repeat the year because he can’t keep up with his classmates in reading. Determined not to be held back, Ben decides to attend Reading Recovery the entire summer and make the requisite progress to be promoted with the rest of his class. The animals are all happy for him; the Lady compares Ben’s perseverance to Dick’s. The Old One tells Ben that he will be a “missionary” for the animals in the barn, who can’t read themselves. Whittington is relieved that he will not lose Ben like he lost his previous boy.
Chapters 28-37 Analysis
The return of Dick’s cat in Chapter 28 heralds the next stage of Dick’s growth. At the same time that Dick enters a new stage of growth and acquires more independence as a tradesman, Ben begins to make progress towards resolving his reading challenges. The setting shifts into spring, and the welcoming of new barn animals and the goat’s kid reinforces the Finding Healing Through Community and Cooperation theme as the animals welcome newcomers and add to their community, contributing to an overall hopeful mood that suggests positive resolutions to come.
The events in Chapter 29, when a hawk attacks the Lady, provide a succinct encapsulation of the community theme. The animals all work together to protect the Lady; the murder of crows chases the hawk away from her while the animals in the barn comfort her in the aftermath. After her attack, the Lady exclaims, “You are my family [...] Just as I protect you, so you protect me” (129), illustrating the strength one draws from a supportive community. The Lady’s attitude here represents that novel’s overall statement on the values of community and cooperation.
Ben’s encounter with Miss O’Brian in Chapter 30 paves the way for resolution for Ben’s internal conflicts surrounding his reading challenges. Ben realizes after observing the class that “Somebody else had his problem. Somebody knew how to fix it” (131), suggesting that he sees his challenges in a more positive, hopeful light, and is on his way to a resolution. However, after the class, he thinks that “he knew which boy would make a face when he got back to his room” (132), suggesting that although Ben has begun to change his attitude towards Reading Recovery, he is still troubled by the social stigma it will cause.
The animals’ encouragement of Ben propels him forward on his path while reinforcing The Power of Storytelling. The Lady directly references Dick’s story when she says, “You’re taking charge of yourself like Dick Whittington” (157) to encourage Ben in his choice to attend Reading Recovery. The Old One points out the value of reading to Ben in Chapter 34: “[T]here’s more out there in books than in this barn and field and all of Northfield ten times over” (145). The parallels Ben sees between himself and Dick highlight the power of stories to provide models of growth, while the animals’ general support of Ben acquiring reading skills emphasizes the power of literacy in general.
Ben takes an important step forward on his journey to development, juxtaposed with Dick doing the same. In Chapter 36, Dick decides to give up his pursuit of Mary Green to fulfill his commitment to Sir Louis and the crew of the Unicorn; meanwhile, Ben finally makes the decision to attend Reading Recovery in Chapter 37. The two juxtaposed decisions develop both characters while emphasizing themes of Triumph Through Perseverance and The Power of Storytelling.
