48 pages • 1 hour read
A Spool of Blue Thread
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Part 1, Chapters 5-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: “Can’t Leave till the Dog Dies”
Chapter 5 Summary
Denny briefly discusses insomnia with Abby. Later, Nora and Abby discuss making space for Denny, with Abby admitting that she’s afraid of Denny snooping in her things. Nora prepares steaks and succotash for dinner, though she willingly makes macaroni and cheese during the meal because the kids want something different. Abby finds it strange that the kids would be so hard on their mother, but Red reminds her that it’s how things are done “these days.” Red begins complaining about a customer, and when Denny suggests how he would’ve handled the situation, Red critiques his work ethic, causing everyone to become tense. They try thanking Nora for dinner, but she reminds them that Denny cooked the steaks. Though he hasn’t finished eating, Denny excuses himself to play with the grandchildren.
Denny and Nora argue about dinner the following day. Nora wins, though Denny gets a dig in by asking Stem if he thinks he married his mother. Stem simply asks, “Which mother?”—confusing and angering Denny. Stem then says Nora has put up with a lot by relocating, annoying Abby. The next day, Denny asks to borrow Abby’s computer, but she’s hesitant. He takes offense, but she chides him for moving back in like the others. Later, Abby goes to a pottery class but doesn’t return, so Red mentions her lateness to the others. Red, Stem, and Denny set out to look for her and find her on a neighbor’s steps. She can’t remember anything, but when she sees her pottery, she beams. The three men smile, too, a tad too diligently.
Red’s sister Merrick visits the family, despite her dislike of the Bouton Road house. Her visit annoys everyone—she’s often blunt to the point of being rude. She’s shocked to see Denny, and while chatting over drinks, Merrick tries piecing together why everyone is suddenly home. When she finds out the family’s concerned about Red and Abby’s old age, she doesn’t agree, but suggests Red and Abby stop being selfish and move to a retirement home. Before leaving, she admonishes Denny for not having a life.
The Whitshanks then go on their annual beach trip. They rent the same downtrodden yet cozy house they’ve rented for the last 36 years. Abby enjoys seeing all the grandchildren together, while the adult kids marvel at the neighbors. Their neighbors began renting the house next door at the same time as the Whitshanks, and they always consider an introduction, but don’t want the image of the family ruined by their dilapidated rental. When Hugh asks why they all care so much, Jeannie says, “Well, they’re us, in a way” (177). Amanda and Hugh get into a fight, and Abby attempts to mediate. When Hugh goes for a walk, Amanda regales the family with how the two met. She used to think Hugh a jerk, but he grew on her despite his selfish ways. She now sees that he’s still selfish (his starting a new venture without consulting her is a major issue). Abby and Red eventually leave for a walk, and their children discuss the aging parents, their own children, and Denny. Though the sisters try bolstering his pride, Denny admits that he’s not seeing anyone because he’s a deadbeat.
The Whitshank men customarily clean dishes during the beach trip. As they do so on the final night, Stem and Denny argue. Stem suggests that one random thing will cause Denny to leave like always. Denny accuses Stem of being holier-than-thou, and a physical fight ensues. Jeannie takes charge, sending Stem to rest (and the others to check for signs of a concussion) while she cleans Denny’s wounds. Denny says he’s not hurt or injured, though he could be at the fact that their parents like Stem more than their blood children. Jeannie disagrees, but holds no grudges against Stem. Denny tries making a case for his business acumen, but Jeannie’s questioning of his previous failed jobs quiets him. Stem returns and apologizes, only for Denny to comment about Stem’s competitiveness. Enraged anew, Stem punches Denny, again drawing blood. For the second time, Jeannie sets about cleaning Denny’s wounds.
Chapter 6 Summary
While sitting on the front porch, Abby ponders her “roommate-itis” with Nora: “Abby was finding that Nora had started to get on her nerves. […] It was rubbing elbows at too-close quarters; that was why she felt so irritable” (197). She’s especially annoyed because Nora arranged for her to see a gerontologist named Dr. Wiss without consulting her (although Red seems to have been in on it). Abby’s ruminations about Nora then segue to concerns about getting older and acting “empty-headed” (197). She spies Nora walking her kids to school, and delights that the neighborhood kids refer to the house as “the porch house” (198). She next recalls her first encounter with the house and Red’s mother, Linnie Mae Whitshank, as well as his overbearing sister Merrick. Pondering the past, she laments how so many people have died, including all her immediate family and Red’s parents. Abby doesn’t like the thought of death because she won’t be able to see how things turn out for her kids.
Despite her kids’ treatment of her (as if she’s senile), Abby remembers many secrets. Denny confided that Susan isn’t really his daughter, while Linnie Mae told her long ago that she and Junior were the family’s black sheep. She even knows that Red didn’t want Jeannie working in the construction business, but Abby persuaded him otherwise. And now her kids treat her like she’s expendable. Amanda can be cutting with her words, while Denny’s hellbent on hurting her still. When he told them offhandedly that he’d finished college, surprising everyone, Abby resented him. She also walked in on him sweettalking someone on the phone, and he got annoyed with her. Despite this, she almost gives Denny too much attention, and she admittedly likes his view of the world.
When Nora returns, Abby runs to her room. While hiding out, she thinks about how often she’s lost track of time. She then goes downstairs, takes Brenda for a walk, and continues to ruminate on life. She thinks about how Red is also getting older, and how tiresome vacations are now because the kids are always at each other’s throats. She also finds it odd that the Whitshanks only have two family stories when she remembers many stories about her family. Brenda spies a Chihuahua and bounds into the street after it. When Abby runs into the street after Brenda, something large and metallic bears down on her. She thinks briefly about what’s happening, “And then no more” (221).
Chapters 5-6 Analysis
Though Abby swears to her children that she’s fine, her blackout in Chapter 5 underscores their fear of a situation they have no control over. The Whitshank men in particular are used to being the masters of their domain. They can fix a house, a car, etc., but they can’t fix Abby’s growing dementia, leaving them with a resigned feeling that’s underscored when Denny, Stem, and Red find her on a friend’s steps after one of her blackouts. The men don’t know what to do or say, and Abby’s insistence that she doesn’t need to be fixed only exacerbates the issue. The scene is symbolic of the Whitshanks’ usual trope of circling around troubling issues. Just as with Denny’s claim of being gay, no one pursues the issue further with Abby. Instead, they treat Abby like a child whom they don’t want to offend or deal with at the moment: “All three men nodded too vigorously, beaming too brightly, like parents admiring a piece of art that a child has brought home from nursery school” (163).
The beach trip also underscores the family’s habit of circling around the reality of things. The family considers introducing themselves to the neighbors, as they do every year, but eventually decide against it. They’re afraid of their perception being altered, and they also don’t want their neighbors’ perception of them altered. As Jeannie admits to her husband, the neighbors are “us, in a way” (177). The Whitshanks fear looking into their own lives because they don’t want to see what faults they might find. Stem and Denny’s fight on the last night of the trip highlights the tension. Abby alludes to this in Chapter 6 when she thinks about how her sons are merely being civil to one another. However, though Denny remains his usual acerbic self; it’s Stem who loses his temper. This shocking spectacle reveals just how deep the tension Stem’s been holding on to goes. His strain represents the suppressed anxiety in the entire family. The fight shows how the family unit is coming undone, much like the neglected house. It also proves that problems don’t disappear by ignoring them.
The section ends with Abby getting hit by a car. Abby has been having a hard time adjusting to a new life with her kids and grandkids. Ironically, Abby wants this life, yet she can’t fathom getting older or being treated differently. Abby’s accident foreshadows the oft-spoken adage that “time waits for no man.” Abby wants to hover over her children and watch their lives play out. She doesn’t want to grow old or die, yet she has no control over any of these things. Like the Whitshank men with the house, Abby’s comfortable controlling the lives of her children. Abby’s accident symbolizes a new era of change sweeping over the family.
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By Anne Tyler
