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Chapter 2: Shoshanna Weber
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
Tina drives Chase to his first day of eighth grade. They’re alone (Johnny has gone back to college). Chase is troubled because when he told Tina about a girl (Shoshanna) dumping frozen yogurt on his head, Tina downplayed the event’s importance and claimed not to know what girl would have done that—but Chase thinks Tina does know. As Tina pauses the car in front of the school, Chase asks her to tell him whatever she hasn’t been saying. Tina, turning bright red, tells him he’s likely to hear “good and bad” stories about his past, and he should just stay calm.
Tina’s claim that Chase will hear “good and bad” things about himself at school indicates that he has a good reputation with some people and a bad one with others, which may make it harder for him to discover what he was really like before his accident. Her warning that he should stay calm hints that some of his past actions may upset him now that he has amnesia—implying a split between the person Chase is at his core and the person that context conditioned him to be.
Active
Themes
As Chase enters the school, he notices some students giving him funny looks, which he attributes to his visible injuries. Soon, large boys surround Chase, slapping his back despite his injured shoulder. Chase identifies two of them as the boys in his cell phone background, whom Tina explained were his friends Aaron and Bear. When one boy asks whether Chase will have healed in time for their first football game, Chase says he can’t play; the doctor doesn’t want him risking head injuries during recovery. Several of the boys voice disappointment and disagreement.
The other football players casually strike Chase’s injured shoulder and suggest he should play football against his doctor’s orders; these actions show that they, like Frank, value stereotypical masculine toughness over prudence. Aaron and Bear participated in Chase’s Halloween antics and, per Shoshanna, his bullying of Joel—but it isn’t clear whether their friendship led pre-accident Chase down a bad path or vice versa.
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Themes
Aaron tells the other boys to stop; they should know that sometimes football players get injured. He and Bear pull Chase away down a crowded hallway—shoving students out of the way as they go. They come to a bench occupied by a sixth grader. Chase asks whether the rest of the bench is taken, but rather than wait for the boy’s reply, Bear scares him off.
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Themes
After the three boys sit down, Chase explains that he has amnesia. At first, Aaron and Bear are skeptical, even suspicious, but eventually they realize Chase is serious. Aaron worriedly asks whether Chase’s memory will return. When Chase says the doctors don’t know, Aaron and Bear look “freaked out,” which makes Chase feel friendlier toward them. He reassures them that he’s the same person even if he lacks his memories and that they’ll do even “better stuff” together than before. Bear expresses hope that even if Chase can’t play football, he’ll be better for lacrosse in the spring, and Aaron says they’ll support Chase—while slapping Chase’s injured shoulder.
Active
Themes
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An adult in a suit approaches Chase, Bear, and Aaron, and introduces himself as principal Dr. Fitzwallace. When Dr. Fitzwallace tells Chase that they’ve met before, Bear blurts, “You can say that again.” Dr. Fitzwallace leads Chase into his office, where Chase sees a photo that he recognizes from his own bedroom: Chase in football gear, holding up a trophy. Beside it is another, much older photo with another boy holding up a trophy. Dr. Fitzwallace explains that the older photo is of Frank, who was on the football team the only other time the school won state.
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Themes
Chase, surprised, admits he didn’t know his father Frank had won state. Dr. Fitzwallace invites Chase to take a seat, tells him the school’s staff has been informed of Chase’s amnesia, and tells him not to waste his “completely fresh start.” Chase, shocked, wonders how awful he must have been pre-amnesia for Dr. Fitzwallace to give him this advice.
