53 pages • 1 hour read
Allen EskensThe Life We Bury
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 33-39Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 33 Summary
Joe drives to Douglas’ home, an old farmhouse north of the city. He wears a hidden recording device to interview Douglas in hopes of capturing his confession. Douglas and Danielle divorced 25 years ago. Douglas cites a bible passage in reference to the divorce: “It is better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome woman. Proverbs 21:19” (207). Joe tells Douglas he knows the truth about Crystal’s death. Douglas responds in a rage, comparing Crystal to the Whore of Babylon. Joe tells him they have Douglas’ DNA from Crystal’s fingernail, lying to get a confession. Douglas takes a bottle and hits Joe. Joe’s last thought: “I had let this old man—this whiskey-soaked child molester—beat me” (211).
Chapter 34 Summary
Joe regains consciousness. He’s in the trunk of his car, with cinder blocks chained to his ankles. Douglas is driving, presumably planning to dump Joe’s body into a river. Using tools he has in his trunk, Joe manages to undo the cinderblocks from his ankles and open the trunk (by removing a taillight). As soon as he feels the car slowing down, he pushes open the trunk and runs. Douglas shoots at him as he flees.
Chapter 35 Summary
Joe manages to escape the gunfire. He finds a hunter’s cabin in the woods and breaks into it, conscious that he will get hypothermia in the harsh Minnesota winter if he doesn’t find shelter. He makes a fire inside and warms himself. The entire time he’s on edge, anticipating Douglas’ return. A blizzard starts. Joe finds a knife in the hunter’s cabin and sleeps restlessly with it by his side, “waiting for one more fight” (223).
Chapter 36 Summary
Joe spends two nights in the cabin. When he leaves, he brings the knife with him. Douglas is out there: “He needed me dead. I had the ability to send him to prison for trying to kill me—if not for murdering Crystal Hagen” (226).
Chapter 37 Summary
Joe walks through the wilderness in search of civilization. He finds a farmhouse. An old man comes out with a shotgun, suspicious of Joe. Joe explains that he was kidnapped and asks the man to call the sheriff. While they wait for the sheriff, the old man’s wife gives Joe some food.
Chapter 38 Summary
The sheriff takes Joe to the law enforcement center in Center City. Joe asks him to call Max, who will vouch for his story. Max shows up to pick up Joe and drive him back to Minneapolis. The police already found Joe’s car and towed it. There was no sign of Joe’s digital recorder but there was an ice auger and sledgehammer in the car. Douglas was planning to slip Joe’s body through the ice into the river. Douglas is on the run. His house has been burned down. He’s apparently trying to decrease the likelihood that the police will get his DNA. Because Douglas might still be looking for him and has his wallet with his identifying information, Joe will stay with Lila instead of going home. Just in case, Max gives Joe his private cell number.
Chapter 39 Summary
Joe spends the night at Lila’s and fills her in on what happened. Lila, wearing her Twins jersey, takes care of him. That night, she and Joe have their first sexual encounter.
Chapters 33-39 Analysis
Religion is a motif in the book that emphasizes the fact that truth is nuanced—and that it can be dangerous to dogmatically adhere to a single truth. Douglas is a devoutly religious man but not a good person. He abuses the Bible for his own selfish purposes, and his interpretation of the Bible is exceedingly literal: When Danielle catches him at a strip club, he tells her “Jesus hung out with prostitutes” (154). The pacing of Chapters 34-37 is rapid, reflecting Joe’s adrenaline-fueled interaction with Douglas. In general, the book’s chapters are short, but in this section, some become even more succinct. Chapter 36 is only two pages. This brevity lends itself to fast-paced storytelling and encourages the reader to keep turning the page as the action unfolds.
Joe’s sexual encounter with Lila marks a new turning point in their relationship, which has deepened emotionally over the course of their investigation. Before they have sex, Lila approaches Joe wearing only a Minnesota Twins jersey, her breasts exposed. Throughout the narrative, the baseball team functions as one of the few symbols of simplicity and purity, not marred by deceit or violence. Joe has previously referenced the baseball team as a source of comfort. This sports symbol works as a counterpoint to the book’s message regarding the unreliability of the nuanced truth. In sports, there are no grey areas—you win or lose. There’s only one version of the story.
