45 pages • 1 hour read
S. A. CosbyRazorblade Tears
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 16-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
Buddy Lee buys beer at a 7-Eleven after they dispose of Andy’s body. He then goes to the cemetery and finds that his ex-wife, Christine, is there. She says she wasn’t at Derek’s funeral because the optics would have looked bad for Gerald, her new husband. Gerald is a judge who has expressed interest in running for governor. He couldn’t be associated with what Christine calls their son’s “perverse activities” (94). Christine didn’t support Derek’s lifestyle, but reminds Buddy Lee that she never hit him, either.
After she leaves, Buddy Lee pours the beer over Derek’s grave. He tells Derek that he and Ike are working on justice for him. He says: “This is who I am. I can’t change. I don’t want to, really. But for once I’m gonna put this devil inside me to good use” (96).
Chapter 17 Summary
Ike wakes and thinks about killing Andy. It has been 16 years since he took a life, but he always knew he could do it again at any time: “That was the thing about violence. When you went looking for it, you were definitely going to find it. It just wouldn’t be at a time of your own choosing” (98). He cleans the woodchipper and prepares to open the business. Jazzy, Ike’s secretary, arrives early and soon they hear motorcycles passing the shop.
Chapter 18 Summary
Buddy Lee goes to a bar and drinks. When he gets home, he falls outside. His neighbor, Margo, comes to check on him. She flirts with him and invites him to dinner that evening. Detective LaPlata knocks on Buddy Lee’s door as soon as he lies down. He says they need to talk.
Chapter 19 Summary
The bikers ask for Ike at the front desk. Ike takes a machete and goes out. The president, Grayson, has a scar. When he tells his men to wreck the place, Ike pulls his face down onto the counter and puts the machete against his neck. Ike knows that, even though he is outnumbered, he can’t show weakness. He thinks: “Men might walk on two legs, but they were the most vicious animals of all. Especially when they thought they had a numbers advantage” (107).
He puts pressure into the blade and a streak of blood appears on Grayson’s neck as Dome draws nearer. Jazzy appears with a pistol and fires a warning shot into the ceiling. Ike lets the bikers leave, but Grayson threatens him. As Ike watches them leave, he almost looks forward to their return. The momentum of violence is familiar.
Chapter 20 Summary
Detective LaPlata shows Buddy Lee a picture of the battered Bryce from the Blue Anarchists. LaPlata says he understands how he and Ike feel, but this is Buddy’s only pass. He will not be able to look the other way if they hurt anyone else.
Buddy Lee is furious. He knows that LaPlata could never understand this type of loss.
Chapters 16-20 Analysis
Buddy Lee’s visit to Derek’s grave is a quiet moment amidst the action. This is typical of novels, even pulp fiction like this: To break up the rhythm of their text, authors frequently alternate frenetic scenes with calmer ones.
The graveyard scene offers the reader a deeper glimpse into Buddy’s character. As he remembers his son, Buddy says: “This is who I am. I can’t change. I don’t want to, really. But for once I’m gonna put this devil inside me to good use” (96). This aligns with what he will say later—that he is not ashamed of who he is. He knows that the worst parts of him can be useful for revenge. He is a foil to Ike, or a character that highlights another character’s traits through contrasting qualities. Ike does want to change. He wants to be a more peaceful man. When the reader learns that Buddy Lee is dying of cancer, his reluctance to change makes more sense. Sweeping changes take time, and he might not have enough.
While disposing of Andy’s body, Ike ruminates on the chaotic nature of violence. Through him, Cosby suggests that when it comes to violence, one doesn’t have control: “That was the thing about violence. When you went looking for it, you were definitely going to find it. It just wouldn’t be at a time of your own choosing” (98). The Rare Breed proves this when visiting Ike’s business. Here, the reader sees the nihilism common to noir fiction, the sense that life is dark and meaningless. Men, Ike thinks, are vicious, “the most vicious animals of all” (107).
Ike wards the bikers off with violence, understanding that any show of weakness will get him killed. In this way, violence is the dialect of the novel. Responding to Grayson with anything but a show of force would be akin to speaking to him in a foreign language.
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By S. A. Cosby
