Chapters 9–14

Summary: Chapter 9: Violet: 151 days till graduation

Violet arrives at her first period class. The Bartlett Dirt, “the school gossip rag,” has run an article about the bell tower incident, leaving names out, but posting pictures of both Violet and Finch. Excusing herself from class with cramps, she heads up the stairwell to the bell tower where she again picks the lock and sits on the stairs. By the light of her cell phone, she reads two chapters of Wuthering Heights. Violet resonates with Emily Brontë, who is “angry at the world.”

Summary: Chapter 10: Finch: Day 9

Finch meets Charlie and Bren at Goodwill during third period. Finch tells them he’s going for a sexier style, deciding that “80’s Finch has to go.” When Bren asks if this new look is about Violet Markey, Finch denies it. He settles on a worn-out leather jacket for a new “Badass Finch” look. 

Several girls flirt with the rebellious British Finch on the way to lunch, and by the time Finch enters U.S. Geography after lunch, he’s sure that the world of the Badass British Finch persona he’s taken on exists somewhere. In class, he sees Ryan Cross with Violet and tries to catch her eye. 

After class, Finch tells Violet, “It’s time to start wandering.” He suggests Hoosier Hill, the tallest point in Indiana, as their first destination. Violet insists she doesn’t have a fear of heights. Amanda, standing close by, asks Finch if it wasn’t Violet who saved him from jumping. Roamer suggests Finch “go back up there and try again.” Finch, though, brushes aside their comments. He tells Violet there’s no time like the present, but Violet won’t skip class. They’ll meet in the parking lot after school. He quotes from Virginia Woolf and imagines that Violet almost smiles.

Summary: Chapter 11: Violet: 151 days till graduation

After school, Violet follows Finch on her bike, which she’s named Leroy. He drives slowly to his house. 

Upstairs in Finch’s room, Violet asks him about the wall that is covered with words on Post-it notes. Finch tells her it is his songs, ideas, and visions. She thinks about how she used to love words. Finch writes the phrase, “get back on the camel” on a note and slaps it on the wall. 

Once on their bikes, Finch expresses his surprise that Violet climbed up on the bell tower ledge but won’t ride in a car. She hasn’t ridden in a car since her sister’s accident. This admission upsets Violet, and she wants to go home. But Finch promises he won’t bring it up again.

As they ride to Hoosier Hill, they talk about where they would go if they could go anywhere. 

At the top of Hoosier Hill, they find the elevation marker poking out from a mound of stones. Finch takes Violet’s hand to pull her up. 

Finch and Violet talk about where they are, and how they feel. Finch smiles at Violet, and she notices his eyes, “bright-sky blue.” When Violet tells him this is the ugliest place she’s ever seen, he smiles, and suggests it must be beautiful to some people. She asks him if the stories she’s heard about him are true. “Probably,” he answers. 

After they jump from the highest point, holding hands, they leave their tokens behind, British coins, a red guitar pick, and a Bartlett High keychain. Finch tells Violet, “’Whether you want to or not, now we’ll always be a part of here.’” Violet takes pictures with her phone and writes a few things in their project notebook. Meanwhile, Finch marks destinations for future wanderings on the map. 

When they return home, Finch tells Violet why he wanted to do the project with her. “Because you smiled at me,” he says. 

Back home, Violet scrolls through Finch’s Facebook page where she sees a message referencing Narnia. She searches Narnia quotes. Then, she marks the day off on her calendar. 

Summary: Chapter 12: Finch: The night of the day my life changed

At dinner with Decca and his mom, Finch wants to be the first to share what he’s learned today. He tells them that he learned there is good in the world, that “not everyone is disappointing, including me,” and that with the right person next to you, 1,257 feet high can feel higher than the bell tower.  Finch’s mom responds awkwardly to his insights, and Finch realizes that she’s clueless about what to do with her children. Finch has had a happy day yet he feels badly for his mom whose heart has been broken by his dad. He offers to do the dishes. 

Finch foregoes his evening run due to the pouring rain and takes a bath instead. He closes his eyes and pretends he’s in a lake. The water is peaceful, and he is at rest. He wonders if he could sleep there. His mind drifts to Virginia Woolf and the note she wrote to her husband before walking into the river. 

After several minutes, Finch’s lungs burn. He opens his eyes and he emerges from the water, gasping for breath.

Summary: Chapter 13: Violet: 148 days till graduation

Violet wakes up to her phone buzzing as the news reported in the Bartlett Dirt spreads that Theodore Finch is number one on the list of Bartlett High School students most likely to commit suicide. She turns off her phone.

In U.S. Geography, she talks with Ryan, Amanda, and Roamer about their wandering projects. She tells them “it’s okay” doing the project with Finch. Ryan passes a note to Violet, asking her out Saturday night. She’s undecided.

Finch arrives late for class and places a rock on Violet’s notebook. It says “Your turn” on it. After class, Ryan jealously confronts Violet about the rock, wondering why Finch is giving her things. She reassures him that it is only a project.

At dinner that night, Violet discovers that her parents know about the incident at the bell tower. A local reporter had called, interested in interviewing Violet. 

After falling asleep, Violet wakes up, disoriented. She tries to shake off her usual nightmare where someone tries to strangle her. She opens her laptop, writes a couple of words, and then erases them. 

Violet logs onto Facebook and messages back and forth with Finch. He suggests they meet at the Quarry, a local bar. Violet says she can’t, so Finch suggests meeting at her house. Again Violet says that she can’t, but Finch doesn’t respond.

Summary: Chapter 14: Finch: Day 13

Finch is at Violet’s house, throwing rocks at her window. She doesn’t respond. He climbs in Little Bastard and heads home.

Finch spends the rest of the night making a list of ten ideas for “How to Stay Awake,” which for him translates to “staying here for the long haul.” Entry #4 reads “Surround myself with water.” For the last entry, he writes, “Violet.”

Analysis: Chapters 9–14

Chapters 9 and 10 show Violet and Finch questioning their identities. When she views the way she is written about in The Bartlett Dirt, Violet is shaken up. This connection prompts her to question who she is and who she wants to be. Her retreat to the bell tower illustrates that she has moved from despair to anger, and the motif of female writers appears once again as Violet reads Emily Brontë. Finch, in turn, seeks solace by taking on the persona of a troublemaker, a nod to the cliché that a good girl like Violet might find a bad boy intriguing. The jacket that he chooses to project his new rebellious self seems to shield him from the queries and cruel comments of his other classmates. 

When Finch explains his Post-it wall to Violet, he reveals another aspect of his identity and makes Violet feel comfortable enough to both examine her own identity and reveal aspects of it to him. Finch’s wall stands in stark contrast to the tough exterior he sought to cultivate and illustrates how different his sense of identity is from Violet’s. Finch shrinks from the words that others use to describe him but does not censor his own words. Violet, on the other hand, identified as a writer but can only recall her previous love for words. She can no longer access it. Their trip to Hoosier Hill provides them both with a safe and neutral space to continue to try on new identities for size and make their own assessments about one another away from the judgmental gaze of their peers.

Chapter 12 is subtitled in the present day rather than the days since Finch was last Asleep, reflecting a newfound confidence in himself and his growing interest in the world at large, but his illness still prevents him from fully trusting his positive emotions. Finch’s empathy for his mother highlights his ability to look beyond his own needs, but his complex feelings about suicide later that evening illustrate that he is still apprehensive about imagining a future in the world that is just beginning to spark his interest. The fact that he thinks of Virginia Woolf in terms of how she took her life as opposed to someone whose words he shares with Violet shows how heavily the topic of suicide weighs on his mind despite having lived in the present on that day. 

The close of Chapter 12 and the beginning of Chapter 13 mark an abrupt transition, highlighting how differently Finch and Violet react to negative realizations. Finch cannot control his suicidal thoughts or the impact that they have on him, and there is a cacophony of sounds as he struggles to breathe and control his body’s response to a lack of oxygen. Violet, however, can simply turn off her buzzing phone when confronted with the realization that Finch’s suicidal thoughts shape others’ perceptions of him and therefore of her. She silences it with the same ease that she deleted the URL she shared with Eleanor. Her neutral responses to her friends’ queries and her interactions with Ryan, along with her inability to soothe herself by writing, show that while Finch is committed to his thoughts about suicide, Violet is still unable to commit to anything at all.