Jasper Jones: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

For sneaking out of the house, Charlie’s parents “sentence” him to his room until the New Year. Charlie resumes his story on Boxing Day, shortly after Jeffrey has been made “twelfth man” for the cricket team. Jeffrey won this position because the team needed an errand runner, not because of his talent. Because Jeffrey will be playing on Boxing Day, Charlie’s parents let him out of his room to watch.

Charlie’s narrative jumps back to the night his parents found him missing. After Charlie returned, he walked into his home with the Sarge and his parents. The Sarge sat down with Charlie and asked him questions. His first question was whether Charlie had been with Jasper Jones. In that instant, Charlie discovered that he enjoyed lying. He told the Sarge that he was “fond” of Eliza Wishart, and that he’d wanted to go see her, in order to comfort her. To Charlie’s surprise, the Sarge accepted his lie. Charlie added that he’d been unable to make it to Eliza’s, and so he returned to his house, trying to avoid the search cars. As he told this lie, Charlie began to enjoy himself.

After Charlie finished his story, the Sarge told Charlie that he was “a lucky boy,” and that he couldn’t keep sneaking out, even to help Eliza. Charlie marveled that this calm, fatherly person was the same Sarge who beat Jasper Jones.

After the Sarge left the house, Charlie’s parents told him that he’d be grounded until the end of the year. Afterwards, Charlie’s mother yelled at Wesley, accusing him of being a neglectful father who didn’t pay attention to his own wife or child, or care about their feelings. Charlie was surprised that his mother would accuse his father of any of these things, since it wasn’t his father that Charlie snuck out with. Charlie thought that his mother was using the incident as an opportunity to tell Wesley the things she’d been thinking for years.

As Charlie’s mother yelled at Wesley, Wesley remained calm and quiet. Charlie’s mother said that Corrigan was destroying her life and harming her family. Wesley responded by addressing Charlie’s mother as Ruth. He told Ruth that there were “things” she thought he didn’t know, but he did. With this, Wesley told Ruth and Charlie to go to bed, adding that he was very angry with Charlie, and that they’d talk later. Ruth yelled that Wesley and Charlie talked about her behind her back, blaming everything on her. In response, Wesley only told Ruth to go to bed again. As Charlie walked to his room, he noticed how sad and tired his father looked.

For the next few weeks, Charlie spent much of his time reading the newspaper for news of Laura. There was almost no news of her, and gradually the columns on her disappearance became shorter, until there were none at all. Charlie only went outside to do chores in his backyard, but he “escaped” into the worlds of books. His favorite book that he read during this time was Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, whose protagonist reminded him of Jasper. Charlie also thought about Eliza during his time indoors—he wished he could comfort her, and smell her.

During his grounded period, Charlie spent long hours writing. He daydreamed about living in Manhattan with Eliza, talking about his latest novel with Ernest Hemingway.

The narrative catches up to the present, and on Boxing Day Charlie walks to the cricket courts, savoring “the thrill of being outside.” As he arrives at the courts, he sees that Jeffrey is playing. Charlie runs up to the sidelines to talk to Jeffrey, who explains that he’s subbing out for Jim Quincy, another player, who has appendicitis. Jeffrey is overjoyed to be playing, and thinks that the team might let him bowl. Charlie notices that there is a large crowd watching the game.

An opponent of Jeffrey’s team hits the ball in Jeffrey’s direction, and he runs after it, looking to catch it. Charlie watches as Jeffrey runs as fast as he can, but he misses the ball, and the crowd groans. Warwick Trent, also on Jeffrey’s team, is angry, and calls Jeffrey “Cong.” Jeffrey runs back to his position, where he and Charlie quietly laugh and make fun of Warwick. Jeffrey asks Charlie bizarre questions—if he’d rather wear a hat made of spiders or have penises for fingers. Charlie laughs, and the two friends “trash talk” each other.

The cricket match continues, and the opposing team, from Backburn, does well, scoring many points against Corrigan. Toward the end of the game, Warwick Trent goes to bowl against the opposing team. Charlie angrily thinks that he should use Jeffrey, whose bowling skills are excellent. Instead, Charlie notes, Jeffrey is forced to stand and watch—on his one chance to impress the cricket team, he’s barely allowed to play.

Charlie notices that Eliza is watching the game from a hill. She waves to him, and he waves back. Jeffrey teases Charlie and urges him to talk to Eliza. Charlie walks forward to Eliza, nervously trying to think of something clever to say to her. Eliza invites him to sit with her on the hill, and as he sits down, he notes that she smells wonderful. Charlie and Eliza talk playfully about living in New York, and Charlie gives her an awkward compliment about how he’d wait all day to see her. Eliza blushes.

Eliza and Charlie watch the cricket match, and Charlie secretly rejoices whenever Warwick Trent misses a hit. Eliza compliments Charlie’s shirt, and Charlie compliments her dress. Then, unexpectedly, Eliza mentions Laura. She tells Charlie that her father acts like Laura never existed. She begins to cry, and Charlie, after much thought, gives Eliza his handkerchief. Eliza tells Charlie that her family—except for her father—still acts like Laura could return at any time. Charlie feels an urge to tell her what he knows about Laura, but he keeps quiet. Eliza asks Charlie to make her laugh, and Charlie asks Eliza the question Jeffrey asked him: “Would you rather wear a hat made of spiders or have penises for hands?” Eliza laughs and chooses the penises. Charlie tells her he chose the same thing.

As the game goes on, Charlie asks Eliza more silly questions, and she continues to laugh. They notice that it’s the Corrigan team’s turn to bat, and Jeffrey is up. The bowler, who obviously thinks little of Jeffrey because he’s short and Asian, bowls, and Jeffrey hits the ball out of bounds, ending the game with a win for Blackburn. Just as the teams are about to shake hands, the umpire yells that the bowler was over the line—Jeffrey has another chance to hit. The bowler throws the ball, and it hits Jeffrey’s shoulder. The Corrigan team laughs at this. On the bowler’s next pitch, Jeffrey hits the ball far enough to achieve four runs. The crowd is so surprised that there is no applause, only silence. On Jeffrey’s next hit, he scores another four runs. He continues to score points on the increasingly irritated Blackburn team, and Eliza tells Charlie that she had no idea Jeffrey was so talented.

There is a short break in the game, with Jeffrey still up to bat. The Corrigan team brings Jeffrey a drink, and Charlie realizes that they’ve begun to grudgingly respect Jeffrey. Jeffrey returns to bat, looking neither nervous nor intimidated. A new bowler bowls to Jeffrey, and he hits three impressive hits in a row. Children, mothers, and fathers all pay special attention to Jeffrey—even if they don’t care about cricket, they can sense that he’s an extremely talented player. On his next hit, Jeffrey fails to “take the strike,” meaning that he has only one “set” of hits left before he’s no longer at bat. The Corrigan coach calls a time out, and although he has no idea what the score of the game is, Charlie can tell from the urgency with which the coach talks to Jeffrey that it must be very close.

Jeffrey returns to bat for his final set of hits, and Eliza grips Charlie’s hand with excitement, much to Charlie’s delight. When the bowler throws the ball, Jeffrey runs instead of hitting, in an attempt to score one quick point. The bowler illegally stands in front of Jeffrey’s path, and the crowd howls at the “injustice.” Charlie realizes that Jeffrey has quietly won over his audience—they’re on his side. The umpire reprimands the bowler for blocking Jeffrey’s run, and Jeffrey returns to bat.

On his next hit, Jeffrey scores two runs, and his teammates encourage him. One teammate calls him “Cong,” but he means it as a nickname instead of an insult. On the next few bowls, the bowler throws difficult, steeply bouncing bowls that the audience regards as illegal. Charlie realizes that Jeffrey is down to the last bowl of the inning, and that Corrigan must be within a few points of a victory. Eliza moans that she can’t watch, and the crowd and Corrigan team yell encouragement to Jeffrey. On his final hit, Jeffrey manages to hit the ball past the outfielders, scoring four runs and winning the game for Corrigan.

When Jeffrey wins the game for Corrigan, the crowd explodes with applause. Jeffrey’s teammates, even Warwick Trent, slap him on the back and congratulate him. As the players walk out of the court, someone carries Jeffrey’s bag for him.

Eliza and Charlie watch the players walk off the field. Eliza tells Charlie a secret: she’s been walking by the bookstore for the last two weeks, hoping to run into Charlie. She reveals that she heard that Charlie tried to visit her, and that he was grounded as a result. She calls Charlie sweet, and kisses him. Charlie struggles to describe the kiss—in the end, he concludes that there are no words for it.

Charlie and Eliza continue to kiss on the hill. Suddenly, a voice calls out, and Charlie and Eliza turn—it’s Jeffrey, running up the hill with a huge smile on his face. Jeffrey brags good-naturedly about his hits, and Charlie, instead of trash-talking back, tells Jeffrey that he was incredible. Eliza mentions the penis-fingers question, and she and Jeffrey bicker playfully. Then, Jeffrey asks Charlie for a ride home, pointing to Wesley, who’s standing near the cricket courts. Charlie wonders if Wesley saw him kissing Eliza, and if he’ll be angry. Eliza says goodbye to Charlie, and walks away from the hill.

Jeffrey and Charlie walk to Wesley’s car, laughing about Superman and Lois Lane, as they usually do. In the car, Wesley congratulates Jeffrey and mentions that he ran into Pete Wishart, Eliza’s father, who was drunk, but had seen Jeffrey play and was eager to praise him. Wesley tells Charlie, wryly, that Pete “didn’t see anything else,” and Jeffrey laughs. Wesley smiles and winks at Charlie.

The evening after Jeffrey’s cricket victory, Jeffrey, Charlie, and Charlie’s parents eat dinner together. Jeffrey recounts his hits, but neither Charlie nor Ruth pays much attention. Charlie can’t help thinking about Eliza, and Charlie’s mother seems lost in thought. Charlie makes eye contact with Wesley, and he reminds himself to be diplomatic. Instead of complaining to his mother, he compliments her on her cooking. Charlie wonders if his father knows he lied about sneaking out to see Eliza. He also wishes Jasper Jones would come by tonight—he wants to tell him about kissing Eliza.

Between the night Charlie was caught sneaking out and Boxing Day, Jasper has visited Charlie twice. The first time, a few days after Charlie is caught, Jasper comes with the news that he’s found proof that Jack Lionel was responsible for Laura’s death. Charlie sits by his window, whispering to Jasper. Jasper explains that he snuck into Jack’s house and explored his shed, kitchen, and garden. Near the garden, Jasper found an old, rusty car—inside the car, he saw the word “Sorry” etched deep into the rust.

Charlie isn’t sure what to make of Jasper’s news. Jasper seems certain that Mad Jack is responsible for Laura’s murder. At the same time, Charlie recognizes that, like Atticus Finch, he should weigh all the evidence carefully. Charlie asks Jasper why the police haven’t visited Mad Jack’s house yet, if he’s such a likely suspect. Jasper replies that the police are incompetent. He adds that Jack caught him on his property. As Jasper was leaving, he saw Jack sitting on his back porch, yelling, “I knew it were you!”

Before Charlie can question Jasper further, he hears three knocks at his door—it’s his mother. Jasper quickly runs away, and Charlie closes his window and unlocks his door. Ruth walks in and looks around suspiciously. Charlie thinks that by sneaking out, he’s embarrassed his mother—her reputation in the town is no longer that of a perfect parent with a perfect child. Charlie takes snide pleasure in ruining Ruth’s reputation in this way. Shortly afterwards, Ruth closes the door and leaves Charlie alone.

It has been three nights since Charlie last saw Jasper, he writes. Tonight, he is writing in his notebooks. Almost without thinking, he writes, “sorry,” on the paper, and then begins to write a story to accompany the word. As he writes, Charlie thinks that “sorry” is one of the noblest things to say—it takes genuine maturity even to say the word to another. “Sorry” can be sarcastic, but it can also be a gesture of humility, or a gift from one person to another. Even as he thinks this, Charlie begins to doubt himself. Perhaps “sorry” isn’t much of a gift at all—it’s like an empty box, promising much but ultimately delivering nothing.

Charlie writes a poem for Eliza. The poem explains that a tree doesn’t know how beautiful it is, and doesn’t recognize when others appreciate its beauty. The poem ends, “I’m glad you’re not a tree.” After he writes it, Charlie imagines living in Manhattan and talking to writers like Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, and Ken Kesey.

As he sits in bed and thinks about his literary heroes, Charlie hears a loud noise coming from outside. He goes to the living room, looks out the window, and sees a group of four men outside Jeffrey’s house, destroying An Lu’s prized garden. An Lu runs outside and, with surprising calmness, asks the men what they’re doing. The men hit An, and he falls to the ground. Charlie sees Jeffrey and Mrs. Lu running outside—at this point, Charlie yells for his dad. Wesley comes out of his room, followed by Ruth, and, when he sees what’s going on, he runs outside to protect An.

Wesley takes on the four men attacking An, skillfully ducking their punches. Charlie notes with pride and surprise that Wesley is the strongest and tallest man outside. As Wesley wrestles the men, Harry Rawlings, a neighbor and strong, athletic truck driver, joins in and helps him, and together they easily push the assailants to the ground. Roy Sparkman, another neighbor, runs from his house to the scene, and notices that the four assailants have a truck parked outside the Lus’ house. Roy takes the keys from the ignition. The youngest of the four men breaks away from Wesley and Roy and runs into the night. Maggie Sparkman, Roy’s wife, yells after the man, addressing him as James Trent.

Three assailants now lie on the ground, along with An Lu. Wesley, Charlie, Harry, and Roy stand on the lawn. Jeffrey runs toward one of the assailants, angrier than Charlie has ever seen him. Before he can attack the man, Harry grabs him and holds him back. Wesley asks Charlie to take Jeffrey inside, but Charlie thinks that he’ll never succeed—they both have to watch what happens.

The oldest of the remaining assailants, a man Charlie identifies at Mick, staggers up—Charlie thinks that he looks drunk. He calls An Lu “red” and accuses him of murdering Laura. In response, Harry punches Mick in the jaw and throws him his keys. Mick and his two friends climb into the car and drive away, muttering that the “rats” are destroying the country. Wesley yells “Go home!” after them, and Charlie feels proud—he was wrong to imagine that his father was a coward.

After the men drive away, Wesley tells An Lu, “I’m sorry.” Harry greets Jeffrey and compliments him on his cricket match the previous day. Jeffrey nods in thanks, but says nothing. Jeffrey and Mrs. Lu help An into his house.

Wesley and Ruth walk Charlie back to their house, and Wesley says he’s sorry Charlie had to see An being attacked. He pulls out a pack of cards and three glasses of port. Together, he, Ruth, and Charlie stay up, drinking and playing canasta. Ruth is a superb canasta player, and she enjoys talking trash with her husband and son. Wesley and Charlie play along, smiling.

After playing cards for an hour, Wesley, Charlie, and Ruth get up to go to bed. Wesley asks Charlie if he’s all right—Charlie says that he is, even though he’s greatly disturbed by what he’s seen. He can’t understand how his parents can forget what happened so easily. He thinks about Eliza, crying over her sister’s disappearance, and wishes he’d shown more bravery and kindness in comforting her—much as Wesley has shown great bravery and compassion in defending An tonight.

Charlie thinks angrily about how Jeffrey was on top of the world all day, and now has to deal with the misery of the attack on his father. He contemplates Jasper, wrongfully bullied and beaten for Laura’s disappearance, and realizes that Eliza will hate Charlie if she ever learns that he knew about Laura. It’s only a matter of time, he concludes, before he faces the consequences of his actions and his lies.