93 pages • 3 hours read
Al Capone Does My Shirts
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BetaChapters 26-28Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part Two
Chapter 26 Summary: Convict Baseball
Same day—Wednesday, April 24, 1935
Moose is frantically looking for Natalie when he hears a voice. He runs towards it and sees Natalie a short distance away, sitting next to a man in denim clothing. With a start, Moose realizes that “Natalie is sitting with a con” (147). The convict starts to hand Moose a baseball, but Moose yells at the man to get away from his sister. The con responds with an easy, arrogant, and overly familiar tone, telling Moose to calm down about the ball and then leaving with a disturbing aside for Natalie: “Bye sweetie” (148). As the strange man walks away Moose “[sees] the number stamped on the back of his denim shirt: 105” (148).
Chapter 27 Summary: Idiot
Same day—Wednesday, April 24, 1935
Moose tortures himself, wondering how long he had left Natalie alone and remembers the Warden saying, “some of these convicts haven’t seen a woman in ten or fifteen years” (149). The scariest thing for Moose is not knowing what happened while he was gone. He has no idea whether Natalie and the man were alone long enough for him to have sexually assaulted her: “I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t there” (149). His fear causes him to drag Natalie home.
When he gets to the door, he finds Piper there. She heard Moose yelling at Natalie and wants to know what is wrong. Natalie hands the baseball over to Piper and tells her about the number “105.” Piper keeps pressing Natalie with questions until she figures out that “105” refers to the convict who gave Natalie the baseball. Piper is overwhelmed with excitement. All she can think about is that they finally have a connection to the world of the prisoners—as she says to Moose, “this is the beginning” (153). Furious and terrified, Moose yells back, “this is the end” (153).
Chapter 28 Summary: Tall For Her Age
Same day—Wednesday, April 24, 1935
Moose believes that “the [best] thing to do is come clean” (154). When he arrives home, his mother is excited about a write-up in the newspaper about the Esther P. Marinoff School. She is convinced that once Natalie can re-enroll, “She’s going to be fine!” (155). Moose points out that the school doesn’t accept kids who are older than 12, but in response Helen just jokingly repeats the family explanation that Natalie is 10.
Moose doesn’t have the courage to tell his parents about what happened. Instead, he vaguely insists that it is not safe for Natalie to follow him around anymore after a convict has noticed her. However, even though Moose is quite upset by what could have happened to Natalie in his absence, his mother focuses on the part of his story that reveals that Natalie is getting better. She tells Moose, “I am not going to change one single thing about Natalie’s day” (158).
Chapters 26-28 Analysis
These chapters highlight the danger of Natalie’s condition. She is high-functioning enough to be around Moose and his friends, to enjoy spending time with her brother, and to even engage in a conversation with a stranger. However, her cognitive disability is too severe for her to recognize when she is in danger, to understand the unspoken implications of someone’s attention, or to sense another person’s motive. And, to someone willing to take advantage, she presents an attractive victim. Although to a modern audience it seems harsh to institutionalize a child on the autism spectrum, we can see why at the time of the novel, this was seen as a humane way to protect such children.
For Moose, the situation is a complex one. He feels the need to do normal teenager things like showing up a girl he doesn’t like and to impress a friend with a baseball find. At the same time, he wants to protect his sister, which is increasingly harder to do. Adding to the pressure he feels is the fact that his parents—his mother in particular—are unhelpful. His mother doesn’t try to read into his clearly obfuscating story about what happened to Natalie, not asking for any details because, as usual, she refuses to face reality when it comes to her daughter. The guilt of losing Natalie grows for Moose and he tries to relinquish his responsibility for her to ease the pressure, but his mother will not hear of it.
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By Gennifer Choldenko
