55 pages • 1 hour read
Keeper
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Chapters 19-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 19 Summary
Faustino sits in silence, letting Gato remember his father. He uses the time to think about what he will do for the article. He decides that he will use the interview to get three feature stories: the first about the Keeper, the second about his father’s death, and the last about the World Cup. He will tell the story of the Keeper so that it is believable to fans, even if he himself doesn’t believe it.
Faustino then thinks about the way that Gato told the story of his father. He did it very matter-of-factly, without much emotion. Conversely, when he talked about leaving the Keeper, he was overcome with emotion. Faustino thinks it’s strange, but Gato begins talking again.
Gato asks if they are done with the interview. However, Faustino asks him to talk for just 45 more minutes, then they can eat breakfast downstairs. He asks Gato to watch the tape of the World Cup match, and Gato agrees.
Faustino asks what part of the match Gato wants to watch. He is surprised when Gato wants to see the goal that was scored against him. As they rewatch it, Gato praises the actions the other keeper took just before the goal. Faustino is awed by this.
The two then watch the penalty kicks. Germany, their opponent, manages to score their first kick. Gato praises him, saying that he made the shot that everyone tries to hit, just out of the goalie’s reach, but few can actually do it. After Gato’s teammate misses their first penalty kick, Gato admits that he started getting nervous for the first time. However, Gato saves the next two, while two of Gato’s teammates score, putting them up 2-1.
A large German defender, Mann, steps up to take his fourth kick. Gato explains that Mann is big enough that he just has to drive the ball, leaving Gato with little time to react. Since the goalkeeper is not allowed to move until the ball is kicked, the keeper is always at a disadvantage. However, Gato shocks Faustino when he tells him that he “cheated.” He asks Faustino to slow down the tape, one frame at a time. He explains that the referee always took his eyes off the keeper just before the kick. When the camera cuts to Gato, Faustino freezes it, and they can see that Gato has come off the line by just half a yard. He is also pointing to the corner of the goal. Faustino says that Mann had already made up his mind about where he was shooting, but Gato tells him that all he was doing was putting another “idea” into Mann’s head at the last second. The second thought gives him hesitation, which causes him to miss the kick wide.
Gato’s teammate, Fidelio, then steps up to shoot. If he scores, their team wins. Faustino comments on how loud the crowd is. Gato then praises the other goalie, Graaf, for how he handled the shot. He took several seconds to fix his gloves before going to the line, recognizing that Fidelio must be even more nervous than he is. Graff then acts casually, giving off the impression that he is not concerned. His plan works, as Fidelio kicks the ball too weakly, and Graff stops it.
The next opposing kicker comes up to shoot. Faustino suggests skipping it and is shocked when Gato insists he wants to see himself get scored on. Gato guesses the correct direction, but the kicker slices the ball, sending it off Gato’s chest and into the net. As Gato explains what happened, Faustino is shocked that he seems “pleased.”
Gato’s final teammate, Elias, comes up to shoot. He misses. Faustino comments on the sheer volume of noise coming from the crowd, as he mutes the television. Gato comments that it was “hell on earth” (196), then expresses his sympathy for how Elias must have felt to miss the shot. As the camera shows both teams, Gato explains how much more motivated and excited the German team is, having thought they lost just moments before.
Gato admits that he was feeling “absolutely exhausted,” but also starting to feel uncertain. He was desperate to win the World Cup, having come close to doing so before but failing. He tells Faustino that he was starting to doubt and “trying to kill that part of [him], the doubting part [but] couldn’t” (197).
The shootout then goes to “sudden death.” Faustino watches as the German player prepares to kick. He sees Gato start to the left, making it look as though he guessed wrong; then, at the last second, he pushes back the other way to stop the shot. Faustino thinks of how “beautiful” it looks.
Faustino pauses the tape. He asks Gato to explain the final moments of the game. However, Gato realizes that he can’t explain it. He thinks back to being on the field. He isn’t sure why he picked up the ball or why he decided to place it on the penalty line. In his mind he was 15 again, hearing the sounds of the crowd and the sounds of the forest blending into one. He saw himself as a 15-year-old and, just as he felt sorry for Graaf, he felt sorry for the boy he was because he would have to “destroy” that version of himself. As the crowd chanted his name, he took the final penalty kick for his team and scored.
Chapter 20 Summary
El Gato hears Faustino say his name. He realizes that he has walked over to the window. He has not said anything as he relived the final moments of the game in his mind. Faustino asks him to explain what he felt and what he should write. However, Gato tells him to “say that [he] did what [he] was meant to do” (204), then insists that he is too tired to keep talking.
Faustino gets angry. He yells at Gato that they need to keep talking. It will take him days to edit and write, and he can’t afford to wait any longer for Gato to finish his story. However, Gato calmly tells him that he doesn’t care about the newspaper; he wants Faustino to write a book.
Faustino initially shuts the idea down, thinking of how upset his editor will be and how it could hurt his career. Gato understands how Faustino works, and he knows that Faustino will agree to it after he thinks of how much money a book could bring. He waits patiently.
Eventually, Faustino says that he is interested in the book idea. He admits that he doesn’t believe the story about the Keeper, but Gato insists that it doesn’t matter. Faustino then says that he has to give an interview to his paper, as that’s what Gato was paid for. Gato insists that he has another story for him: Gato is retiring.
Chapter 21 Summary
Gato explains that his teammates and his coach know about his retirement. However, they will not tell anyone until Faustino publishes an article about it. Gato then gives Faustino a letter outlining the reasons why he is retiring. Faustino makes several phone calls, then agrees to the article about Gato’s retirement and to the book.
Faustino continues their interview and asks Gato why he is retiring. Gato tells him that he “owe[s] a great deal to the forest” and is going to use the second part of his life “to pay something back” (213). He tells Faustino that they can go 50-50 on the book, and Gato will use his proceeds to help the forest. He also tells him that, now that he has won the World Cup, there’s nothing else he wants to accomplish in soccer.
Faustino stops the recorder and tells Gato that they can get breakfast. He steps out to make a phone call, as Gato starts going through Faustino’s files. Faustino leaves.
In the middle of a call, Gato comes into the room with an old album. He interrupts Faustino to ask about one of the photographs. Faustino explains that it is a photo from 1950 of their country’s national team. They call them “The Lost Ones” (215). They were expected to win the World Cup for the first time for their country. However, on the way to Rio de Janeiro, their plane went down somewhere in the forest and the players were never found. Faustino’s phone rings, and he turns to answer it. When he looks back, Gato is gone.
Chapter 22 Summary
El Gato returns to his hometown. He visits his father’s grave and his grandmother’s and leaves them flowers. He then goes to his old home and follows the path behind it.
This time, Gato feels as though the forest is opening up for him and guiding him back to the field. He finds it, then stands in the center. The Keeper comes out of the trees. Gato apologizes to him for not coming back sooner, but the Keeper insists that time does not matter.
Gato takes the World Cup out of his bag. He hands it to the Keeper, who immediately becomes more solid. Gato sees the darkness at the edge of the field shift, then several more people—all wearing soccer jerseys—come out onto the field. They do not look at Gato, instead lining up beside the Keeper. Gato realizes that the men have lined up as they did in the photo, with the Keeper holding the World Cup in the center. An unnatural breeze picks up, then the men slowly vanish.
Gato picks up the World Cup, noting how it is a “worthless, priceless, and magical chunk of metal” (224). As he exits the clearing, he can already feel the forest growing into the space he left.
Chapters 19-22 Analysis
In the final section of the text, the narrative moves out of the flashback and into the frame story, with Faustino and Gato discussing his career in the present. Throughout much of the novel, the frame has served to direct Gato’s story, with Faustino making comments and asking questions that facilitate his narrative. He also questions the veracity of Gato’s story up until the very end. However, once in the present, the reader receives concrete evidence as to the existence of the Keeper: With the discovery of the photograph and Gato’s subsequent return to his home village, the reader learns that the Keeper truly exists.
This narrative structure and the text’s resolution serve to unify two of the text’s themes: The Importance of Nature and The Power of Sports. The Keeper played an important role throughout Gato’s life, training him to become the best goalkeeper in the world and showing the importance of nature to Gato. Then, when Gato wins the World Cup and takes the trophy to the Keeper, the Keeper and the rest of his team are finally able to find peace. Not only does soccer give Gato an escape from his village and a purpose in life, but it also finally allows the Keeper and his team to have at long last what they most longed for. These two elements—nature and sports—ultimately create a happy ending for both Gato and the Keeper.
A new component to the theme of the power of sports is introduced through the conversation that Gato and Faustino have about Gato’s story. When Faustino admits that he does not believe the story about the Keeper, Gato, “smiling,” responds that he knows Faustino doesn’t because he’s “made that obvious” (206). Then, when Faustino considers Gato’s offer to write a book, Gato thinks to himself: “It was like tempting an opposing forward. He could sense that the journalist was just beginning to imagine himself as a Writer with a capital W. In a minute, Faustino would start to think about money” (207).
Both of these instances emphasize the skill that Gato has with reading people and his understanding of human thought and behavior. The simile, which compares Gato’s efforts to convince Faustino to “[tempt] an opposing forward,” shows that these skills came from his time with the Keeper and on the soccer field. In this way, Gato’s patience and his ability to convince Faustino are a direct result of his sports ability, highlighting the role that sports can play in someone’s life beyond the field.
Gato’s decision to retire from soccer and pursue a career helping save the forest reinforces the ultimate importance of nature in his life. Despite being the best goalkeeper in the world and all the wealth and fame that he has gotten from it, Gato retires to devote himself to conserving the forest. As he explains to Faustino, “I’ve got years left in me. I’ve got a life ahead of me, God willing, and I want to do something with it. Something more important than soccer” (212). Faustino’s reaction to this idea, where he “recoil[s] in horror” and questions the sentiment of the forest being “[m]ore important than soccer” (212) highlights just how shocking of a decision this is from Gato. However, it also conveys Gato’s understanding of what nature did for him, and how necessary it is to preserve it.
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