logo

27 pages 54 minutes read

Ted Hughes

The Iron Giant

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1968

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.

Chapter 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5 Summary: “The Iron Man’s Challenge”

The Iron Man instructs the people to ship his parts (separately) across the world to Australia. Right under the dragon’s neck, he is reassembled and confronts the dragon with a test of strength. If the dragon loses, he will have to be enslaved by the Iron Man for the rest of time. The dragon agrees to the contest, and the people get to work assembling a metal grid. They pour gasoline underneath it and light it on fire, and the Iron Man lies down in the flames. He appears totally comfortable (though he is, in fact, fearful) as he stays in the flame for several minutes. The dragon, who initially laughed and was full of confidence, now dreads his task. The Iron Man steps out of the flame and tells the dragon he must fly into the sun and sit on it for as long as the Iron Man allowed himself to be roasted. The dragon begrudgingly agrees, and everyone watches as it flies off into the sun and sits there. When it returns, the dragon is charred and injured.

The Iron Man lies down on the iron grid again, and this time fears that his parts may melt.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text