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 6-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary
Joe arrives at Hillview Manor to meet Carl. Janet reveals that she’s made a bet that Carl will die before Christmas. It’s now September, giving him three months to life. Carl asks why Joe doesn’t write about his family, and Joe reveals that Kathy is in mandatory detox after her DUI arrest, that he never met his dad, that Kathy’s mom died when Kathy was young, and that Kathy’s dad (Grandpa Bill) died when Joe was 11. When Carl asks how Bill died, Joe gets angry and turns the conversation back to Carl.
Carl suggests that Joe wants to talk to him because of Crystal. Joe acknowledges that this is a unique story. Carl responds that it’s likely more common than Joe would expect: “There’s probably ten or fifteen people in this very building who have killed” (43). When Joe asks Carl if he’s saying there are other murderers in the building, the following exchange ensues:
‘Are you talking about killing or murdering?’
‘Is there a difference?’
‘Yes. There is a difference. I’ve done both. I’ve killed…and I’ve murdered.’
‘What’s the difference?’
‘It’s the difference between hoping that the sun rises and hoping it doesn't.’ (43)
Carl agrees to give Joe his “dying declaration” (47) on the condition that Joe is honest with him.
Chapter 7 Summary
Joe is excited by the fact that he has secured “a tragic subject” for his assignment (49). He is also excited because Lila is coming over for dinner. Joe has only had one brief girlfriend, a girl named Phyllis he went to high school with. Phyllis insisted on meeting Kathy, but when Joe brought her home for the introduction, they found Kathy fighting loudly with a man about money. Joe walked Phyllis away from the scene and said goodbye to her. They never spoke again, avoiding one another at school.
When Lila is over that evening, she sees the newspaper article about Crystal’s murder, which Joe had brought home from the library. Joe tells her about his project, and she responds with disapproval, saying that Joe is giving Carl notoriety. She suggests Joe get Carl’s trial files: “That’ll tell you exactly what happened. It’ll have all the evidence, not just his version,” she tells him (55). Joe must get Carl to sign a form.
Chapter 8 Summary
Joe attends Kathy’s DUI hearing. The judge gives Kathy two options: She can pay $3,000 bail or she can be released on her own recognizance (on the personal promise that she will show up for future court hearings) if she will wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet (and quit drinking). Kathy begs Joe for $3,000 bail to get her out of jail, and she starts crying. He protests that he needs the money for school and points out that she can just wear the alcohol-monitoring bracelet. This is not an option for Kathy, who is not ready to address her addiction. Kathy plays her trump card, telling Joe that if he doesn’t bail her out, she’ll stay in jail—and then he’ll have to take care of Jeremy. This isn’t an option if Joe is to continue college. Joe is angry at her manipulative tactic, but he writes a check: “I needed a scapegoat, someone I could point at and say, ‘You’re responsible for this, not me.’ I needed to feed my delusion that I was not my brother’s keeper, that such a duty fell to our mother” (61).
Chapter 9 Summary
Joe stops at Hillview Manor hoping to get Carl’s signature on the paperwork that will release his trial files. He finds Carl speaking to Virgil Gray, an old friend of Carl’s. Virgil and Carl served together in Vietnam. Carl calls Virgil his “brother…by fire, not by blood” (66). Virgil is convinced Carl is innocent and tells Joe, “If you really want to know the truth about Carl here, the trial’s the last place you’d look” (65). He gives Joe his card and urges him to get in touch for a discussion. Carl signs the paperwork to release the trial files but warns Joe, “Just keep in mind, that’s not my whole story” (66).
Chapter 10 Summary
Joe contacts the public defender’s office to get Carl’s criminal file. He meets Berthel Collins, the chief public defender, who was in law school at the time of Carl’s trial. He assisted Carl’s defense attorney, John Peterson, with legal research. Berthel explains that it will take time to dig up the full file becausee it’s 30 years old and parts of it are stored offsite. Berthel remembers the case and reveals to Joe that Carl could have gotten a deal—a plea bargain—for less jail time. Carl refused and subsequently received a life sentence. Berthel summarizes key points of the case, namely that the girl was found dead in Carl’s shed and that one of her acrylic fingernails was found on the steps of his back porch. The prosecutor claimed it broke off as Carl dragged her from the house to the shed.
Carl simply said he didn’t do it but was too drunk to remember the night. Berthel says it’s a case of “Occam’s razor,” the principle that says “all things being equal, the simplest conclusion is usually the correct one” (72). Berthel did believe Carl’s innocence back then but is more jaded and doubtful now. The case is seared in his mind: “I still see the pictures—the ones we had in the trial. I’d never seen crime-scene photos before […] Her photos were violent and gut-wrenching” (71).
Chapters 6-10 Analysis
These chapters develop a central theme, the multifaceted and subjective nature of the truth. On the one hand, Carl is a sick old man; on the other hand, he’s a murderer. The exchange between Joe and Carl on the difference between “killing” and “murdering” speaks to the multifaceted nature of truth and introduces another major theme, the universal nature of human violence. Carl killed people as part of a soldier’s duty; that’s his truth. The families of the people he killed might label Carl a murderer, however. A single event has multiple truths. Carl’s assertion that difference lies in “hoping that the sun rises and hoping it doesn't” suggests that the key difference is guilt and remorse. If a man kills people as a soldier, he may have a clean conscience. If he kills a civilian, he may feel guilt-ridden and remorseful—and he may want to die. Berthel's allusion to “Occam’s razor” is a statement that the book’s narrative will challenge.
The narrative’s assertion that it’s impossible to define a single truth is reiterated by the debate between Lila and Joe regarding Carl’s “dying declaration” (47). The concept is a term of law that implies total truth; theoretically no one would want to die with a lie on his or her conscience. Joe takes this to mean that Carl will be honest. However, Lila points out that Carl’s story is just one version of the truth and encourages Joe to get Carl’s trial files: “That’ll tell you exactly what happened. It’ll have all the evidence, not just his version,” she tells him (55). Lila does not yet know, however, that the trial evidence likewise doesn’t tell the full (or accurate) story.
In his private life, Joe continues to struggle with his sense of familial obligation when he pays Kathy’s bail. Her manipulative behavior (first crying and then threatening Joe to get the money) and refusal to simply wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet emphasize the grip her addiction has on her. Carl’s reference to Virgil Gray, his Vietnam War buddy, as his “brother…by fire, not by blood” (66) likewise speaks to the theme of family obligation and the general question of what makes a family. The fact that Joe has never known a father and doesn’t share a last name with his mother or brother also hints at the difficulty that comes in answering this question. It’s not biological ties or a family name that bind Joe to Jeremy and Kathy; it’s a sense of obligation and guilt.
Chapter 10 introduces a recurring symbol that plays a pivotal role throughout the narrative: the photograph. In Chapter 2, Joe describes a childhood memory of a photograph frame shattering and cutting Jeremy. At the end of Chapter 4, Joe is shocked to see a photograph of Carl being arrested barefoot. Then in Chapter 10, Berthel refers to the crime-scene photos of Crystal’s murder, telling Joe: “I still see the pictures—the ones we had in the trial. I’d never seen crime-scene photos before […] Her photos were violent and gut-wrenching. To this day, I can still see her” (71). The symbol of photos in the novel supports the theme of truth's multifaceted nature: Even photos of one event can tell different stories depending on the angle they depict.
