64 pages • 2 hours read
Trapped
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Chapters 33-37
Chapter 33 Summary
Weems wakes to a scratching noise coming from the hall. Pete has dragged Flammenwerfer up from the shop and is going to “go for help” (193). Weems argues with all the reasons this is a bad idea, but Pete says he has to do this because he needs “to do something right” (196). In the wake of Pete breaking up the group by confronting Les, Weems understands and stops arguing.
Chapter 34 Summary
Pete and Jason argue about who should get to use Flammenwerfer. They start yelling, and a sound “like the ones we’d heard before the first collapse” comes from the roof (198). The others argue to let Pete take the cart. Jason looks betrayed, but no one sides with him.
Chapter 35 Summary
Weems, Pete, and Les struggle to get the cart out the window. Weems cuts himself on a sharp piece of metal and starts bleeding. They eventually get the cart and Pete outside. Pete makes good progress for a while. Everyone is excited except Jason, and Weems realizes Jason hadn’t been mad at Pete. He’d been “trying to save him” because Jason had the balance wrong on the cart (206).
Flammenwerfer’s front digs into the snow, and the whole thing flips over. Pete gets trapped underneath, and the cart starts smoking. Heedless of the roof, the others yell after Pete.
Chapter 36 Summary
Weems rushes down to the shop to finish making his snowshoes. About an hour later, he suits up to try to rescue Pete, looking “like some sort of cut-rate superhero” (211). He quietly hopes Krista will kiss his cheek for luck but knows she won’t because this story “isn’t about boy-gets-girl” (212). It’s about survival. Weems hops out the window without looking back.
Chapter 37 Summary
Weems treks out across the snow, using his memory of landmarks to guide him and to keep his mind occupied. It’s slow going, but he makes progress, “one floppy canvas clown foot in front of the other” (214). When he’s close enough, Weems calls out to Pete and starts running. He makes it to the cart and pushes it over, only to find Pete had “died in the snow” (216).
Weems falls over and almost gives up. He hears his basketball coach’s voice in his head, urging him to work harder, and Weems knows he has to keep going and try to get help. That knowledge gives him the motivation to get up.
Chapters 33-37 Analysis
Pete presents an option that could better the group’s situation in Chapter 33. In keeping with his character, Weems argues with Pete’s proposal, but his reason for arguing has changed. Rather for his own reputation or place on the basketball team, Weems argues to keep Pete from putting himself in danger. When Pete doesn’t relent, Weems stops arguing. Weems understands Pete’s decision, even if he doesn’t fully agree with it and realizes there’s nothing he can say to change Pete’s mind.
Weems’s understanding of Pete’s choice causes a shift in Pete’s character. Pete is no longer someone who just blends into the background. By making and sticking to this choice, Pete forces Weems (and the others) to acknowledge him. Pete brings the fight out to the nor’easter (antagonist). His death makes him a tragic hero.
Pete’s death is a catalyst for Weems. Until now, Weems has been content to half-heartedly argue with the group and eventually go along with the popular plans. Now, Weems steps into the role of an active protagonist. He rushes to finish the snowshoes and face the storm to rescue Pete. When Weems finds Pete dead, he almost gives up. The voice of Weems’s coach harkens to the one thing that has motivated Weems throughout the story—basketball. Weems uses basketball as motivation to get up and go on, rather than using everything else as a motivation to keep his place on the team.
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