Johnny Tremain: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

1. Johnny wakes up after dawn, feeling entirely at peace. Will he be calling Merchant Lyte “Grandpa” later? Mrs. Lapham will be shocked when Johnny drives up in the Lytes’ coach. Johnny will take Cilla for a ride, but he’ll ignore Isannah. Lost in his daydreams, Johnny bathes in the river and then, passing the Boston Observer on his way, heads for the Lytes’ counting house. Inside, three clerks refuse to let Johnny in to see Merchant Lyte. But as two of them tease the third about his crush on Lavinia Lyte, the embarrassed clerk tells Johnny to go into Merchant Lyte’s office once some captains come out.

Johnny slips into the office. Mr. Lyte would be handsome, except his skin is yellow and sags like tallow. Johnny says that he’s Jonathan Lyte Tremain, which elicits no reaction. His voice shaking, Johnny starts to say something about his mother—but Mr. Lyte says he knows the story. She told Johnny he was related to Mr. Lyte and told Johnny to come. Well, Mr. Lyte laughs, any woman can name her son “Lyte,” so it’s time for Johnny to leave. He calls the third clerk, Sewell, to show Johnny out. Suddenly angry, Johnny spits that even a monkey wouldn’t name her child after Mr. Lyte, and he’s no longer interested in being relatives. But, Johnny says, he does have a cup to prove his story. After he describes the cup, Mr. Lyte tells Johnny to visit after sundown.

2. Johnny daydreams about his comfortable future as he walks to the Laphams’ house. He’d hoped to sneak in, but Mrs. Lapham calls him into the kitchen. There, she says that Mr. Lapham won’t let her kick Johnny out, but he has to move back to the attic. She also tells him he can’t insult Mr. Tweedie anymore, and he’s not to even look at Cilla. Enraged, Johnny says that he wouldn’t marry a “sniveling, goggle-eyed frog” like Cilla. He fetches his cup and passes Cilla peeling apples on his way back out. Sweetly, she and Isannah say that Johnny is angry—the best thing Johnny has heard all day. They’re not pitying him anymore.

For several hours, Johnny daydreams. He decides to stop and see Rab, and he tells Rab the entire story. Rab warns Johnny that Merchant Lyte is “crooked”; he signed the agreement not to import goods until the Stamp Act was repealed, and then he imported things under a different name. Sam Adams had to talk to him. Johnny knows little about politics, but he can tell that Rab is a Whig (they believe “taxation without representation is tyranny”). Rab explains that he can stomach Tories (British sympathizers) like Governor Hutchinson; he at least genuinely believes that the colonies are better under British rule. But he detests men like Lyte, who try to play both sides. Johnny says he doesn’t have a choice in relatives, so Rab lends him some nice clothes and offers to let him sleep at the shop if the night doesn’t go well.

3. Johnny isn’t sure whether to go around back or to go to the front door of Merchant Lyte’s house. Feeling bold thanks to his borrowed clothes, he uses the fancy brass knocker. A maid shows him into a drawing room, where the Lyte family—including Miss Lavinia and Sewell, all of them like “wax candles”—is assembled. Mr. Lyte studies Johnny and then asks to see the cup in the dining room. There, Johnny places his cup next to three matching ones on the sideboard. Quietly, Mr. Lyte notes that the cup matches and wonders how it was separated from the set. Johnny seems like the only one who doesn’t know the answer—but then, Mr. Lyte says the cup was stolen in August. He asks the sheriff, who has been there the whole time, to arrest Johnny.

The sheriff steps forward and says that Johnny can explain himself to a judge later. Johnny is so afraid (he could hang for this) that he appears nonchalant, which doesn’t go over well. The Lyte family members suggest that Johnny stole his coat too, so the sheriff agrees to speak to Rab. Mr. Lyte announces that he sent Sewall to the Laphams’ earlier; Johnny was signed to Mr. Lapham as “Johnny Tremain,” not “Jonathan Lyte Tremain.” Mrs. Lapham also insisted that Johnny owned nothing, while Mr. Tweedie insisted Johnny is “evil.” With this, the sheriff takes Johnny to the jail. Kindly, the sheriff offers to call Johnny’s family, but Johnny asks him to let Rab know instead.

4. Johnny sleeps well in jail—he hit bottom sleeping in the graveyard, so he can only go up from there. He’s certain he can deal with these accusations, though the thought of the gallows haunts him. Rab arrives the next morning with blankets, food, and some books. Johnny notices that he has a medal signifying that he’s a member of the secret Sons of Liberty society. Members of the society terrorize Tories and British officers. The Laphams thought they were evil, but Johnny now thinks it’d be fun to join. Because the jailer is also a “Son,” he gives Johnny a private room.

Rab knows the case will come before Mr. Justice Dana on Tuesday, and he asks if Johnny showed his cup to anyone prior to when someone stole the cup from Merchant Lyte. Johnny says he showed it to Cilla on July 3rd, and though he’s sure she’ll vouch for him, Mrs. Lapham won’t. The next day, Rab returns: Mr. Lyte has ordered silver from the Laphams and will order more “if all [goes] well.” In response, Mrs. Lapham has refused to let Cilla out next Tuesday. Rab adds that Mrs. Lapham is also trying to please Mr. Tweedie, who hates Johnny for calling him a “squeak-pig.” Johnny is annoyed, but Rab says that Josiah Quincy has offered to represent Johnny for free. Rab, meanwhile, is plotting with Cilla.

5. Johnny huddles close to Mr. Quincy, watching Mr. Justice Dana deal with case after case. Mr. Lyte and Sewall arrive first, followed by Miss Lavinia. Rab and Cilla slip in soon after. Then, Mr. Justice Dana calls Johnny’s case. In a friendly manner, Mr. Lyte details how his great-grandfather had six identical cups made. Four cups came to the colonies, and somebody stole one of them last August. Because the hole in the broken window was small, Mr. Lyte knows the thief was a boy. Sewall brings forward the four cups as Mr. Lyte describes Johnny’s visit yesterday. Mr. Justice Dana asks if it’s possible that Johnny truly is a Lyte, but Mr. Lyte presents the certificate of Johnny’s indenture, listing his name as Johnny Tremain. Then, Mr. Lyte asks for the death penalty—young apprentices are getting out of hand.

With Mr. Quincy’s prodding, Johnny tells the story of how his mother gave him the cup and what she told him about the Lytes. He describes his accident and the difficult spot he’s in now. Then, he says he showed Cilla the cup last July. Cilla steps forward and recounts seeing Johnny’s cup. Just as she finishes, Isannah bursts into the courtroom, flings herself at Mr. Justice Dana, and repeats Cilla’s story. The little girl is so enchanting that Mr. Justice Dana gives her licorice and dismisses the case, telling Johnny to take his cup. Mr. Quincy suggests going to a tavern to celebrate, but Isannah has slipped away and is holding Miss Lavinia’s hand. When Isannah returns to the group, she kisses Johnny’s burned hand. Johnny almost cries.