67 pages • 2 hours read
Laura McBrideWe Are Called to Rise
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014A 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 18-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 18 Summary: “Luis”
Luis is learning how to walk again. He tries to find amusement in the process, even though it is difficult. When he returns to his room, a nurse informs Luis that a man who looked “like a soldier” (169) was searching for him; he misses Nevada and wonders if he will end up court marshaled because of his actions. The unknown man eventually returns, but Luis doesn’t recognize him. The stranger introduces himself as his father’s brother, Uncle Mike. His uncle seems upset that Luis doesn’t know about him, but Luis’s father died before Luis was born, so Luis never had contact with his father’s side of the family. Mike says he shouldn’t have come and begins to leave, but Luis calls him back. His uncle takes out a rosary passed down by Luis’s grandfather, explaining its importance as a family relic, and puts it on Luis’s lap before leaving. Luis is left wondering why.
Luis reminisces about being in Catholic school and recalls a nun who didn’t believe in God, yet who continued living under her vows. This confused Luis, since he prayed regularly in Iraq, even though he thought it didn’t matter. When Dr. Ghosh comes in, he is surprised by Mike’s visit and asks Luis how he wants to handle it. Luis suddenly goes “loco” and screams at Dr. Ghosh, saying he doesn’t know how to handle anything that is happening in his life. Luis is surprised at himself for raising his voice and is not sure how or why he became mad so quickly. Dr. Ghosh responds by telling him it’s okay to “feel it all” (175) and that he should only focus on whatever he feels is necessary at the moment. Luis is lost and uncertain about whether he should contact his uncle.
Once alone, Luis allows himself to “feel” everything and begins to cry thinking about Sam and the “poor” children of Iraq. While crying, he hears a young girl in the hallway talking to her father, and this brings him unexpected joy. He realizes how Dr. Ghosh’s advice to feel what’s around him is actually working, and he becomes slightly optimistic about his future.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Avis”
Five months after learning about Jim’s affair, Avis starts to prep for moving day by going through her belongings. She thinks about the gun in her drawer and what she should do with it. During Christmas, Nate, Lauren, and Jim meet at the house to politely exchange gifts. Rodney is in the hospital, unable to speak. Once they leave, Avis continues packing up the house and mentions how she has been rooted there her entire adult life. She knows every family in the neighborhood and cherishes memories of her first-born daughter in the house. Though not religious, Avis prayed when her daughter was sick, believing wholeheartedly Emily would survive. She begins to worry about her daughter-in-law, Lauren, and how she is doing with Nate’s abusive personality. Avis suddenly recalls a time when she could drink and laugh with friends, when none of them aware of how their lives would change.
Then Avis reveals a secret not even her closest friends knew: When Nate was a young boy, Avis became intimate with a young man, Jess, who took care of his girlfriend’s son at the playground. Once, Jess came over to Avis’s house and played with the boys. It was an emotionally comfortable experience for her, and she admits it was a short period she felt was special. Eventually, she and Jess kissed. Though it only happened once, the kiss felt “gut wrenching, soul releasing” (185). She thought about that moment, and when Jim admitted he was seeing Darcy, she wondered why he felt that was enough to end their marriage and lives together.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Bashkim”
Bashkim is working in the ice cream truck during a baseball tournament. He thinks about telling Luis he is on the team but decides he shouldn’t since he already lied to him about being on a soccer team. Baba and Nene are arguing because they can’t afford to pay monthly bills, and Tirana is sick. Nene tells Bashkim to take a break since tensions are high, and he walks over to watch the other kids play. He is near “where the moms and dads sit” (189) and hears them calling out messages of support to their kids. He looks over at the boys in the batter’s cage and comments on how fun it looks. A boy from his school notices him, but Bashkim is embarrassed and walks away. From a distance, he can see his parents arguing, so he decides to walk further away from everything and sits in peace near a creek. He thinks about how comforting Nene is when they watch Jeopardy! together.
When Bashkim finally returns, Nene is worried since she didn’t know where he went for so long, but since she and Baba are busy with the truck, he doesn’t get punished. The freezer begins to malfunction, and this further infuriates Baba, who is mad that Nene is throwing away melted ice cream. They argue, and it escalates severely until Baba throws Nene against the side of the truck. She hits her head violently. Bashkim screams out, but Baba tells him to be quiet. Realizing they are in public, they close sales for the day and begin to drive home in silence. Bashkim is worried, and though he wants to cry, he doesn’t make any noise out of fear it will trigger Baba.
Chapters 18-20 Analysis
As the story rises toward its climax, each character begins to deeply question their past, their faith, and their uncertain future. Luis is learning how to operate again, slowly gaining control of not only his body, but his emotions. He adopts an optimistic outlook towards his situation, laughing when he struggles. However, he hasn’t fully harnessed himself, lashing out at Dr. Ghosh then immediately questioning where his anger came from. He reflects on his erratic mood swings: “It’s weird how I was all worked up a second ago, and now I feel calm again” (175). Dr. Ghosh explains that he is dealing with PTSD, and this knowledge motivates Luis to work on himself. He slowly becomes attuned to his feelings and is joyful about his progress. Still, there are moments when he questions his faith and knows he has a long road to redemption.
Avis similarly questions herself and exhibits confusion about the future. The act of her packing boxes symbolizes her struggle to let go of certain aspects about her past—such as Jim and Emily—while needing to hold on to what’s in front of her. She will miss her comforts and the community of mothers she has cultivated:
Roots mattered to me. Knowing every family in the neighborhood mattered to me. And this was the home Emily had known, the only one in which she had ever lived. Jim and I never brought this up [...] If we left this house, then the few memories we had, the trailing decrescendo of images left to us, might be gone altogether (180).
By resolving herself to pack everything, Avis ultimately decides to throw away the past to create a new life for herself in which she can help Nate grow. In acknowledging this, she has admitted the end of her previous life, and this admission helps her to move forward and become a better mother who can assist her son with his increasing anger problems.
The role of parents (and adults in general) in the lives of their children is a crucial element of this novel. Children lose their innocence when the adults in their lives can no longer support them or stop caring about what that child needs. While Bashkim observes other parents support their kids during baseball, he has to deal with how his parents constantly fight and how Baba needs him to work. Luis and Nate lose their innocence when they feel like they have no other option but to become soldiers and go to war, where they see death. These male characters must deal with the consequences of their parents’ actions or lack of healthy involvement.
Male violence also plays a big role in Bashkim’s narration, as Baba physically batters Nene in this chapter. A resignation to fear and silence in the family indicates just how toxic Baba’s patriarchal methods are. This occurrence builds towards the climax of the story, which unfolds as an indirect result of Baba’s anger in the next chapter.
