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Chapter 25: Chase Ambrose
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Restart, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity, Memory, and Responsibility
Reputation vs. Reality
Masculinity
Social Hierarchies and Bullying
Loyalty
Summary
Analysis
Joel thinks that his family members are more disturbed by his bruise than he is. His parents worry that bringing him home might have been a mistake, even though he assures them he was miserable at Melton. Joel is worried about the bullying too—somehow, it made him feel like he deserved to suffer—but he’s more upset that Chase’s apparent reformation fooled him. Shoshanna, meanwhile, keeps describing the horrific tortures she’d like to inflict on Chase. When Joel tells her she would never actually do those things to a person, she says she’s talking about “Alpha Rat,” not “another human being.”
The novel has previously made clear that Chase, Aaron, and Bear’s bullying of Joel harmed him psychologically by making him afraid all the time. Here, readers learn that it also harmed him by undermining his self-esteem, making him believe he somehow deserved their bullying. Thus, the novel drives home that bullying’s negative effects extend beyond short-term physical or emotional pain. Shoshanna has reverted to calling Chase “Alpha Rat” and denies that he's a human being, emphasizing that she stereotypes bullies as animals acting on predatory instinct rather than people with flaws who might be capable of change.
Active
Themes
As Joel and Shoshanna walk to Brendan’s house, Joel wonders aloud what Brendan wants. When they run into Kimberly in front of Brendan’s, Shoshanna asks whether Kimberly got Brendan’s text too. Kimberly nods and says Chase will be coming as well. Shoshanna tries to pull Joel back the way they came. Brendan exits the house and asks where they’re going. When Shoshanna says neither she nor Joel will be interacting with Chase, Brendan blurts that he has video evidence that Chase didn’t mean to hurt Joel. Shoshanna insists they’re leaving anyway, but Joel says he’ll stay: he wants to know what happened.
Despite the bullying that Joel has suffered, he has decided to face his painful experiences; moreover, he refuses to pass judgment on who Chase is without seeing all the available evidence—even though Chase has treated him terribly in the past. Joel’s bravery, curiosity, and fairness in this moment demonstrate how he has matured over the course of the novel.
Active
Themes
Joel, Shoshanna, and Kimberly enter Brendan’s house. They wait about 30 minutes for Chase. Then Shoshanna claims Chase is indifferent to the situation and tells Joel they should leave; Joel, standing his ground, asks Brendan to play the video without Chase there. Brendan does. Joel is apprehensive about witnessing Aaron and Bear bully him, but he finds it easier to handle than he expected: being bullied is an event in his life, not his whole identity. He feels like returning home has given him “back to himself.”
Chase enters the video. Joel carefully watches as Chase and Bear struggle over the fire extinguisher, Chase pulls it away, and the extinguisher hits Joel’s face. Brendan pauses the video and says that it was an accident. Joel seconds Brendan’s interpretation. Meanwhile, Shoshanna’s internal conflict is showing all over her face; after a pause, she says that Chase still lied. Brendan cedes the point but asks whether Shoshanna wouldn’t lie too rather than be punished for bullying she hadn’t committed. Shoshanna claims she’d never face that dilemma because she doesn’t spend time with “pond scum.”
Active
Themes
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Joel tells Shoshanna that they should talk to Chase. Unexpectedly, Shoshanna agrees. When Brendan suggests that they should apologize, Shoshanna says that’s not her priority. When Kimberly, frustrated, asks where Chase is anyway, Brendan calls Chase’s mom and finds out that Chase ran off to the assisted living facility. Joel asks whether Chase forgot about Brendan’s summons. Brendan says no: Chase texted earlier, confirming he’d come. Shoshanna suggests that they all head to the assisted living facility.
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Themes
