64 pages • 2 hours read
Marieke NijkampA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapter 13 covers another pivotal moment of change in the novel when Autumn mentions family memories of seeing Othello and that Tyler drove her to the river afterwards, to see the sunset. This prompts Tyler to lower his gun and listen to his sister. “It was the first time in a year I didn’t have to worry about Dad” Autumn tells Tyler. “It was the first time in a year I felt safe. You gave me that. You saved me. Let me save you” (153). Tyler then smashes Autumn’s face with the gun. This chapter covers only one minute, from 10:27 to 10:28 a.m., evidencing its significance.
Tomas and Fareed open a set of auditorium doors in silence and begin ushering students to safety. Tomas hugs Sylv, prompting a moment of personal redemption for Tomas, and progressing the family narrative between Tomas and Sylv: “She returns the hug, which makes me feel as if maybe I’m not such a screwup” (151). When Tyler hits Autumn, Sylv prepares to rush the stage with Tomas and Fareed. Meanwhile, Claire and Chris arrive at Opportunity High to find police and a SWAT team securing the perimeter.
Chapter 14 covers between 10:28 and 10:30 a.m. As Deputy Lee asks Claire and Chris if the name Tyler Browne rings a bell, Tyler forces Autumn to dance. This demand further characterizes the struggles in Autumn and Tyler’s relationship, as well as in the Browne family, after Mrs. Browne’s death. At the same time, it provides more evidence behind Tyler’s motives. “I hate you” Tyler tells Autumn, “You never cared about any of us. You only ever cared about dance” (161).
Tomas continues to direct students towards safety, while reminiscing how when Sylv withdrew from him the previous summer, he talked a lot with Autumn in her place. These memories characterize Tomas as empathetic and caring despite his rebellious reputation. Meanwhile, Sylv experiences a moment of character change as she moves into action and takes charge directing students, which leads her to instruct a panic-struck frozen student named Steve to help Asha escape. Sylv takes on this responsibility and believes she stays cool instead of panicking because she’s had to do the same at home, in order to care for her sick mother.
Chapter Fifteen covers from 10:30-10:32 a.m.; here, the narrators explore their sense of responsibility in the tragedy. As Deputy Lee seeks clues about Tyler’s motivations, he learns Claire and Tyler used to date and that Tyler’s struggled since his mother’s death. Claire experiences guilt and conflicting emotions about her past with Tyler. “I guess I am responsible for this” Claire thinks. “In a way we all are. I have to speak up” (177). Tomas finds an opportunity to save Jennifer, a girl he likes but who never notices Tomas. Sylv decides she has to save Autumn: “The only two people who matter now are in front of me–the boy who broke me and the girl who put me back together. I will not let him take her away from me again” (174). On stage, as Autumn tries to convince Tyler he’s loved, she sees Tyler’s wild eyes but barely recognizes him. Autumn announces that she loves Sylv. Tyler says it’s too little too late, then he aims his gun at the audience, as Claire and Chris and Deputy Lee hear gunshots.
In Chapter 13, the third one-minute long chapter so far, Autumn’s comments about family and love prompt Tyler to lower his gun. In the same chapter, Tomas and Fareed help the first students escape. In these three chapters, Nijkamp continues to develop the hero theme of This Is Where It Ends, alongside a deep exploration into how difficult it is to explore the motives of a young person who becomes a school shooter.
Tomas and Fareed’s desperate brave work helps free students from the auditorium. These are moments of heroic accomplishment. Nijkamp continues to weave the four different narrators together through personal narratives: Sylv and Tomas experience a moment in which Sylv is offered the opportunity to see her rebellious, troublesome older brother, Tomas, transform into a school hero. At the same time, Syl, who was attacked by Tyler because of her relationship with Autumn, decides she has to save Autumn’s life. Autumn’s decision to confront Tyler onstage is also heroic.
Claire also provides essential evidence into understanding parts of Tyler’s trajectory from boyfriend of a successful track athlete, to high school dropout, to shooter at Opportunity High. “His mom’s accident changed him” Claire informs Deputy Lee, in Chapter 15. “He was withdrawn. Grieving. He told me it felt like the world was crumbling around him” (178).
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