73 pages • 2 hours read
Jeff SmithBone
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | YA | Published in 1991A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Volume 2, Part 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Volume 2: “Phoney Strikes Back or Solstice”, Part 5: “Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border”
Chapter 1 Summary: “Roque Ja”
Smiley, Fone, and the rat cub make their way towards the mountains. Smiley has become attached to the cub and named him Bartleby.
The Stupid Rat Creatures appear. Smiley tries to ward them off by reading Moby Dick to them, but it doesn’t work. When Fone tries it, the rat creatures fall unconscious.
Fone tells Smiley that it’s best to leave Bartleby with the rat creatures. When the rat creatures come to, they ignore Bartleby and chase after the Bones. The cousins duck into a crevice, and Bartleby defends them. The rat creatures plan to kill him for his treachery, but Smiley chases them away.
They are confronted by a giant mountain lion named Roque Ja. He introduces himself as the Master of the Eastern Boarder and informs them that they are trespassing. Roque Ja asks the trio if they are with “them or him” (621), in reference to Grandma and the dragons or the Hooded One, respectively. When Smiley refers to Fone as “Fone Bone,” Roque Ja recognizes the name: “Yes. The one who bears the star is named Bone. Do you know him, perhaps?” (623). The Bones demand to know what the Hooded One wants with Phoney and learn that she sees Phoney as a threat to her conquest. Fone asks what side Roque Ja is on. He refuses to tell them and captures them.
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Orphans”
Miz Possum’s sons know Fone and Smiley disappeared and are searching for them. As they travel, they meet a racoon child named Roderick. Roderick tells them that his parents were killed two days prior. He’s been spying on the creatures that ate them.
Roderick leads the possum kids across a tree branch overlooking the Stupid Rat Creatures. They hop to another branch and see Roque Ja herding Smiley, Fone, and Bartleby up a mountainside.
Fone and Smiley assert their friendship with the Valley people. Roque Ja finds this amusing; the only thing he hates more than the rat creatures is the dragons, and he sees the Valley people as pathetic.
The Stupid Rat Creatures complain of extreme hunger. The possum kids pop out onto a branch overlooking their camp and taunt the rats into chasing them back towards Roque Ja.
Roque Ja recalls the villagers’ creation myth: The dragons created the Valley when they battled with their mad queen and turned her to stone. He dismisses it as foolish and weak-minded.
The possums lure the rats towards Roque Ja, who flies into a rage at the sight of them. He pounces on the Stupid Rat Creatures, and they fall off a cliff. Roque Ja climbs back up the mountain. Roderick calls to his friends, and group of orphaned baby animals appears.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Rat Creature Temple”
The orphans have hiding places scattered across the mountains. Roderick leads the group into a hole that is too small for Roque Ja to enter. Roque Ja guards the opening, and he’s been known to sit and wait like that for several days in a row. One of the children announces that there is a tunnel leading in the opposite direction, but another objects to discussing such things in front of Bartleby. Fone points out that, regardless of whether they trust each other, they can’t stay trapped in a hole. The children agree, and they head for the secret passage.
They walk down a long staircase and exit into an abandoned temple. In order to avoid Roque Ja, they must travel down a steep cliff. Fone peers into the horizon and notices smoke rising from somewhere in the forest. He is concerned it might be coming from the village, but no one is certain where Barrelhaven is.
The group is confronted by the Stupid Rat Creatures. They are all swarmed by locusts, which are followed by Kingdok. He snaps at the Stupid Rat Creatures, accuses them of deserting, and causes everyone to fall several feet down onto a ledge. Two of the orphans are separated from the group, and Bartleby rescues them. The Stupid Rat Creatures beg Fone to protect them.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Ghost Circles”
Kingdok sends the group tumbling into the canyon. Everyone lands safely. One orphan insists that they won’t help the rat creatures escape because they ate all of the orphans’ parents. Fone calls for a truce until the group is able to get to safety.
They realize that Kingdok is still waiting for them above, which means the only thing they can do is continue to shimmy across the ledge. The bird children fly ahead and inform the group that there’s a safe path to the forest ahead.
A cloud of locusts overtakes the group. Fone falls off of the ledge and injures himself. The locusts start to carry him away, but they drop him and disperse when a heavy package falls out of his backpack. Elsewhere, Roque Ja spots the cloud of locusts.
Fone is unharmed. He unwraps the fallen package. Inside is armor, a royal pendant, and a crown. The two rat creatures are terrified of the medallion and say it’s what scared the locusts away. They also associate it with the Dreaming, a phenomenon that the woodland children refer to as “Hum-Hum.” They realize that their encounter with Kingdok was brought on by Hum-Hum; he was a vivid mass hallucination. This means the Locust could make anyone believe anything with his insects’ power.
Roque Ja spies on the group.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Call of the Wind”
The Stupid Rat Creatures explain the war from their perspective:
Kingdok hates the flat-landers, it’s true, but the time was not so long ago that he was content to abide by the treaty and leave the Valley dwellers alone… All that changed when the Hooded One arrived […] More and more Kingdok listens to this stick-eater and his locusts. To the point that Kingdok must obey the Hooded One for fear that the locusts will overwhelm him! We all must obey! (699).
The Bone Cousins encourage the rat creatures to reject the Hooded One’s teachings, but they believe they need her leadership to be happy. Roque Ja captures the group and says: “Power is the true secret to satisfaction!” (701). Smiley and Fone insist that happiness and satisfaction are not analogous. Roque Ja maintains that happiness is only an emotion but power is “the only thing of substance that matters” (702). He doesn’t believe in good or evil and says they’re only a matter of perspective.
Roque Ja relinquishes his prisoners to Kingdok. Instead of rewarding him, Kingdok chases Roque Ja away. The Stupid Rat Creatures present the Bones to Kingdok as prisoners. Kingdok accepts this gesture and orders the prisoners to be taken to the Hooded One. Roque Ja attacks Kingdok. Fone, Smiley, and the kids escape into the forest.
Bartleby rejoins the rat creatures. Fone is pleased, but Smiley is distressed.
Volume 2, Part 5 Analysis
The character of Smiley is developed significantly in “Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border.” In previous installments, Smiley is a largely passive comic relief character who spends most of his time taking orders from others. However, the introduction of Bartleby offers him some direction. Smiley’s attachment to Bartleby bears out as a fiercely protective streak: He often expresses concern for Bartleby’s well-being and goes out of his way to look after him. This proclivity also bleeds into his interactions with the woodland orphans. He is often shown carrying them for long stretches of the journey, and he even sticks his head into a rat creature’s mouth to be certain it isn’t eating one of the children (693). In earlier chapters, Smiley is apparently ambivalent to the moral dimensions of Phoney’s scams, but here, he cares deeply for the safety of others, particularly those more vulnerable than himself. He and Fone share a great sense of loyalty towards the people they care about, a proclivity that is contrasted by Roque Ja’s social Darwinism.
Roque Ja explicitly outlines his philosophical values on a number of occasions throughout Part 5. His entire way of life pivots around disloyalty; the only deference he shows is to those who have power, because they have the capacity to grant him rewards. Where Smiley—a core protagonist—is reflexively subservient and loyal, Roque Ja—a secondary antagonist—is Machiavellian and dispassionate. His rejection of good and evil is calculated to be self-serving and self-protective. Placing these two characters in literal and metaphorical conversation with one another presents a clear judgment from the author: The virtues Roderick names “friendship and trust” should be valued more highly than power and satisfaction (703), the priorities Roque Ja names.
