logo

52 pages 1 hour read

The Tender Bar

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | YA | Published in 2005

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.

Chapters 26-28Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 26-28 Summary

The author explains that he had intended to legally change his name before his graduation. His full name, John Joseph Moehringer Junior, had always required some explanation and reminded him of his father. He tried to find suitable new first and last names before Yale printed his official diploma, and he decided on J. R. Maguire. However, he got distracted at a bar and missed the name documentation deadline. After this, he regretfully decided that he “deserved to go through life as J. R. Moehringer” (215).

Moehringer shares the painful memory of discovering Sidney’s repeated cheating, and though he tried to think of solutions, he couldn’t, and they parted ways. His mother attended his graduation, during which he realized that while he and Sidney had tried to act grown up, they were both young, inexperienced, and insecure. He felt that her faults were made out of a sense of panic, and not malice, but he also knew that they would not be together again.

To celebrate his graduation, Moehringer and his mother went to Dickens, now renamed Publicans, for a drink. Moehringer noticed that the men at the bar seemed defensive and skeptical about his graduation from university, and he wondered if they felt alienated by Yale’s upper-class aura.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 52 pages of this Study Guide

Plus, gain access to 8,550+ more expert-written Study Guides.

Including features:

+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools