42 pages • 1 hour read
Cassie Dandridge SelleckThe Pecan Man
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaChapters 10-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
Marcus’s death was caused by a semi-truck hitting his car while it was trying to avoid a disabled vehicle. Soon after Marcus’s funeral, Eddie is arrested for Skipper’s murder. Ora learns of his arrest from Dovey Kincaid, who waves the newspaper as an “I-told-you-so.” Ora hits Dovey on the head with the rolled newspaper and chases her back home.
Ora visits Eddie at the police station. He has been beaten; Ora is told that it is because he resisted arrest. Ora recognizes the cell guard as someone she taught in Sunday school when he was a boy. She appeals to what she knows is his inclination to respect elders and asks him to find some tomato soup for Eddie. The guard, Chip Smallwood, is reluctant to leave Ora alone with Eddie and handcuffs him to the bed.
Alone, Eddie refuses to speak to Ora but joins in as she recites the Lord’s Prayer.
Chapter 11 Summary
Ora sits in on Eddie’s conversation with his court-appointed attorney, Jeffrey Thatcher. Eddie denies seeing or talking with anyone after leaving Ora’s home on Thanksgiving Day and denies killing Skipper Kornegay.
Afterward, Ora asks Chip Smallwood whether he thinks Eddie’s beating was warranted. Chip will not answer but agrees to look after Eddie. Ora leaves and phones the judge, Harley Odell, whom she has known since childhood. He agrees to look into Eddie’s case.
She then calls Ralph Kornegay, who is both the chief of police and Skipper’s father. Ora first offers condolences and then stresses that she is certain that Eddie did not kill Ralph’s son. The chief says that this will be up to the court to decide.
Chapter 12 Summary
Over the next few days, Ora visits Eddie in jail and brings him food. She finally asks him why he lied to his attorney about speaking with Marcus the night of Skipper’s death. Eddie admits to Ora that he did indeed speak to Marcus and that, further, he witnessed the fight between the two young men. Eddie, however, refuses to allow Blanche to know the truth about what Marcus has done.
Chapter 13 Summary
The Christmas season arrives, but Ora does not feel celebratory. She realizes, though, that because her involvement in local charities has lapsed as of late, Blanche and her children may not receive the Christmas they are accustomed to. (Ora’s charities had provided gifts for Blanche and her daughters each season.) Ora talks with Blanche, suggesting that she and her daughters celebrate with her at her home. Blanche is reluctant but agrees to consider it.
Chapter 14 Summary
Ora takes a taxi to Blanche’s house and is surprised when a young man named Cedric opens the door. It becomes clear that he is seeing Blanche’s 16-year-old daughter, Patrice.
Ora instructs Patrice to go with her to JC Penney and cautions her about becoming involved with 21-year-old Cedric. At the department store, Patrice advises Ora on styles and sizes of clothes for her sisters. Ora has Patrice try on some items as well and buys some in secret when she sends Patrice back to a previous section of the store to pick up the gift-wrapped purchases.
When Patrice does not return, Ora searches for her and discovers that she has been taken to the manager’s office. Patrice had been accused of stealing Ora’s packages when picking them up. Ora explains, and the manager is apologetic.
Chapter 15 Summary
That night, Blanche’s daughters decorate a Christmas tree at Ora’s house and drag her to the attic to show her the items they discovered there while unpacking the Christmas decorations. Ora looks through the old photos, thinking back to her late husband, Walter. The women and girls stay up late, decorating for Christmas and drinking hot chocolate. Ora prepares beds in various rooms so that all of them can spend the night.
Chapter 16 Summary
The next day, Ora shops for stockings, hair clips, and other trinkets for the girls for Christmas. She notices that bicycles are marked down and debates buying one for each of the four girls. Considering that Grace may not have been attacked had she not been on foot solidifies Ora’s decision.
When Ora returns home, Judge Odell is sitting on her porch. He explains that he, too, believes that Eddie is innocent and plans to have a bail hearing. He agrees to lower the bail by half if Ora is willing to pay it and to house Eddie when he is released. Ora agrees.
Chapter 17 Summary
On Monday, Ora receives instructions from Clara Jean Munderson of Judge Odell’s office on posting the bail. Like many of the town’s residents, Ora taught Clara Jean in Sunday school.
Later that day, Eddie arrives at Ora’s home, and she sets up a room for him in her late husband’s former bedroom. They have meals together, and Ora becomes accustomed to phone calls from concerned or nosy neighbors.
Chapter 18 Summary
Ora decides that she will lead Blanche’s daughters in baking Christmas cookies, a task she once performed for various charities but never particularly enjoyed. When Ora suggests to Blanche that they make bourbon balls as well, Blanche stresses that Ora is out of liquor. Ora understands that Blanche is signaling to her that Eddie misuses alcohol.
The girls enjoy cookie decorating immensely. Grace insists that Eddie help, even though he is quiet and appears uncomfortable. At one point, she asks him why he is so sad; he replies that it is because he knows he cannot live there forever.
Chapters 10-18 Analysis
Marcus’s family mourns his death. Despite her grief, Ora recognizes that Marcus’s death allows her to keep his role in Skipper’s death secret from Blanche. Though Eddie is aware of the way in which this lie increases the chance that he himself will be convicted, like Ora, Eddie insists that it is best to spare Blanche such painful information. Without knowing what transpired between Marcus and Skipper, Blanche can maintain a more positive image of Marcus.
Eddie is unsurprised when he’s charged with Skipper’s murder and, Ora is certain, goes willingly to the police station. Ora’s shock when she is told that he resisted arrest (thus requiring police to use force in bringing him into custody) reflects the theme of Race and Injustice. Through her conversations with prison guard Chip Smallwood, Ora concludes that Eddie was beaten because of his race. Because Eddie is being charged with killing the son of the white police chief, the bigotry and hatred toward Eddie are further compounded. Eddie is not naïve regarding the opinions of authority figures, but he does not attempt to challenge or correct their assumptions. He quietly resigns himself to the charges he faces. Ora, on the other hand, is initially eager to do what she can to help Eddie obtain justice. As a white citizen—and, further, the widow of a respected, prominent businessman in Mayville—Ora recognizes that she has power that Eddie does not have. She uses that power in her appeals to both Chip and Clara Jean Munderson to assist her. Ora has no qualms about appealing to their respect for her as an elder. In this way, the plot offers some hope that Eddie’s predicament may eventually improve.
In this section, Ora’s bond with Blanche’s daughters grows. She is increasingly aware, the more time they spend at her home, that their financial situation is difficult in ways she had not previously understood. Ora knows that Blanche works hard to provide the best life possible for her daughters and does not wish to hurt Blanche’s pride by helping where she can. Ora quietly provides gifts for the family for Christmas without the desire for great thanks. Ora hints that the charity work she did during her married life was motivated by the accolades it would bring her husband, thus further advancing his business. Now, however, she gives in a more magnanimous spirit with more altruistic motives. Her gift giving and the time she shares with Blanche’s family during the Christmas holiday convey to the girls just how much Ora values them as people. Though the gifts are arguably small sacrifices on Ora’s part, Ora’s generosity speaks volumes to Blanche’s family.
Further, the outlook on Eddie’s future brightens when Judge Odell agrees to release him on bond. Importantly, he admits that he doubts Eddie played a role in Skipper’s murder. However, more than Ora, he is well acquainted with the injustice faced by African Americans and knows that it is futile to expect Eddie to be tried fairly. It is likely that Odell’s decision is unpopular with other law officials; indeed, Ora’s peers feel no shame in explicitly disapproving of the aid she gives Eddie. Ora, however, is unmoved by their complaints. She is committed to helping Eddie in any way that she can, knowing that he has no recourse of his own. That she houses him and welcomes him as though he is a member of her family speaks to her ability to see past public opinion.
Eddie, who is reserved and quiet while he lives in Ora’s home, shows evidence of genuinely enjoying his time there. Grace’s warmth toward him has a welcoming effect and is a testament to her kind spirit. Eddie admits to her that the thought of leaving Ora’s home saddens him and indicates how much he values not only the help that Ora gives him but also his burgeoning friendships with Blanche and her daughters.
