73 pages • 2 hours read
The Book of Lost Things
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. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 22-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 22 Summary: “Of the Crooked Man and the Sowing of Doubt”
In the aftermath of the fight, David worries that his connection with the Beast makes him responsible for villagers who died fighting it, and he feels his own imagination somehow created the Beast. To thank David for his bravery, Fletcher gives him one of the Beast’s black claws and tells him that if he ever feels afraid, he should hold the claw and remember his courage defeating the Beast. When David and Roland get back on the road, they again encounter danger. The Crooked Man pulls David underground and tells him that Roland looks at David in the night and thinks he’s beautiful. The Crooked Man tells David he will help him return home if David will tell him the name of his half-brother. As David considers his proposition and is about to speak Georgie’s name, Roland pulls him back up to the road. Questioning Roland’s friendship because of the Crooked Man’s words, David recoils at Roland’s touch and cries.
Chapter 23 Summary: “Of the March of the Wolves”
Tension forms between David and Roland because of the Crooked Man’s words, and although David regrets recoiling at Roland’s touch of comfort, he does not offer an apology. Roland wisely counsels David that since the Crooked Man is a trickster, he will “say less than he means and conceal more than he reveals” (250). As he prepares to sleep, David feels angry at Roland; he feels uncomfortable spending time with a man who has unnatural feelings for another man, Raphael, and looks forward to parting ways with him soon.
Meanwhile, back in Fletcher’s village, Leroi’s wolf army passes through the woods, and Leroi himself motions to Fletcher that he and his army will return and fight the villagers after seizing the kingdom.
Chapter 24 Summary: “Of the Fortress of Thorns”
When David wakes in the morning, Roland and Scylla are gone. Just as he panics at the thought of facing the Crooked Man alone, Roland and Scylla return. Roland tells David he is his friend and wouldn’t leave him. David apologizes for doubting his character, and the two make amends and continue their journey towards the castle to discover what happened to Raphael. As they near the castle, the atmosphere fills David with a sense of foreboding. When they reach the fortress surrounding the castle, they see that it’s covered with huge thorns and notice several skulls and corpses of men who attempted to penetrate the fortress but didn’t survive. They camp outside the fortress, and in the night, the thorns blocking the gates part, creating an entrance. Roland enters the fortress and instructs David to wait outside with Scylla.
Unbeknownst to them both, the Crooked Man watches from a nearby tree and plans to approach David in the morning after he has spent the night alone. As David fights sleep by the fire, he thinks of Georgie and realizes that he misses him. Moments later, he dreams of Roland walking down a long, dark hallway. He wakes abruptly, walks to the entrance to the fortress, and the thorns part for him just as they did for Roland. He hears his mother’s voice calling to him from within the fortress, and gathering his courage, enters the fortress leaving the Crooked Man outside its thorny walls.
Chapters 22-24 Analysis
Connolly’s detailed imagery of the land as David and Roland travel shows its harshness and the difficulty involved in surviving there. For example, the weather is cold and icy, and the sun never fully rises, so that the light is constantly dimmed, even during the day. Connolly’s use of imagery also creates a foreboding tone, suggesting that danger is near. For instance, as David and Roland approach the Fortress of Thorns, the air changes, becoming more static, and the wind carries a musty scent, “like the interior of a crypt” (235). Connolly’s use of imagery vividly describes Elsewhere to the reader, as well as creates a mood of foreboding.
Connolly reveals a great deal of David’s inner struggle in these chapters. For example, after defeating the Beast, David feels as if his own imagination created her, and he thinks he is responsible in some way for the deaths of the soldiers and visitors. Even though he helped to kill the Beast, his sense of guilt remains. The Beast is female, and her act of giving birth during the battle suggest that the Beast is a symbol for Rose. David’s mind has made Rose the enemy, and he subconsciously views her as evil. However, by facing his fear and defeating her, he has also defeated his false perception of Rose and feelings of resentment.
Connolly also uses the Crooked Man’s manipulation to provoke David’s internal turmoil. The Crooked Man creates division between David and Roland in order to make David feel alone. He attacks the bravery David has developed so far, telling him the only reason he is alive is because he, the Crooked Man, has saved him. He makes David think that he will be able to make all of his problems go away, and he uses deception to make David feel scared and alone. After his encounter with the Crooked Man, David cries uncontrollably. The Crooked Man’s manipulation shows that people are most vulnerable when they feel unloved, weak, and lonely. His lies act as an obstacle David must overcome on his way to adulthood.
In contrast with the Crooked Man’s discouragement, Roland affirms David’s bravery and perseverance, telling him he trusts and respects him. This boosts David’s confidence, and he apologizes to Roland. Encouragement from Roland gives David the confidence he needs to follow his mother’s voice into the fortress. He shows great bravery despite his feelings of fear. Roland’s friendship and faith in David acts as a counter to the Crooked Man’s deception and allows David to progress on his journey to manhood.
Unlock all 73 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features: