48 pages • 1-hour read
Bat and the Waiting Game
A 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 19-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 19 Summary: “Social Animals”
Bat and Israel’s attempts to teach Thor how to sit, stay, and roll over are unsuccessful, but they discover that the skunk will come to Bat if Israel points in his direction and Bat calls to the animal sweetly. When the skunk grows tired, the boys feed Thor bread and wet dog food. Israel asks how long it will be before the growing animal is ready to be released into the wild. Bat becomes angry and yells that this is a stupid question because he doesn’t want to face the fact that he will likely need to release Thor at the end of the summer. Israel says, “You know, Bat […] sometimes you could be nicer” (130). Bat feels awful and wonders how things could have changed so quickly since the boys said that they were best friends mere minutes ago.
Dr. Tam knocks on Bat’s door and tells the boys that it’s time to get ready for bed. While Israel brushes his teeth, Bat tells his mother that he has terrible social skills. Hearing Janie laughing with her friends makes him feel worse. Dr. Tam hugs Bat and tells him that he will feel better in the morning.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Pot Throwing”
The next morning, Tom and Cora pick Israel up early so that he can help them sell some of Cora’s art at a farmer’s market. Before he leaves, he tells Bat that he had a fun time, but Bat can’t tell if he means it. He feels bad about shouting at his friend, but he doesn’t apologize. Israel is home sick the following Monday. Dr. Tam invites her son to talk about his feelings, but he declines.
On Tuesday, Israel is well enough to go to school, but he retires to his room as soon as Tom brings him and Bat home. Cora offers to teach Bat how to throw pots. At first, the boy is apprehensive about the “sticky and slimy” texture of the clay (135), but he finds the process of shaping it into a bowl satisfying. His first attempts are lopsided, but he keeps trying with Tom and Cora’s encouragement. He wants to tell Israel that he had fun making art and that he feels bad about yelling at him, but he hesitates because Israel is resting. He exits his friend’s room quietly, feeling “sort of lonely and disappointed” (140).
Chapter 21 Summary: “Scene Stealer”
The narrative moves forward to the opening night of the school play. Although Bat is ready for the production and the ensuing disruptions to his family routine to be over, he dreads the idea of going to a crowded theater. He scoops Thor into his sling and zips his jacket up over the sling to conceal the skunk. Dr. Tam, Bat, his father, Laurence, Ezra, Israel, Tom, and Cora all attend the production. Bat waves to Israel, still feeling uncertain where they stand.
When Janie performs a musical number, Bat is amazed by her beautiful voice. Suddenly, a few members of the audience shout that there is a skunk, and the auditorium fills with “the sharp, acrid stink of a skunk’s first spray” (150). As the crowd rushes for the exits, Bat and his parents search for Thor. He finds the animal behind an overturned chair and cradles him close. The lights come up, and Bat looks up at the stage to see his sister glaring furiously.
Chapter 22 Summary: “No Tomato Juice”
Out in the parking lot, Israel hurries to the crying Bat and makes sure that Thor is all right. Janie is silent the entire drive home, which makes her brother anxious. The first thing she says makes him feel even worse: “Keeping that skunk kit was the worst idea ever […] I wish Mom had never brought him home” (152). Dr. Tam prepares a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, and baking soda to wash away the smell of Thor’s spray. She calls everyone who might have been at the show to share the recipe, explain that tomato juice isn’t an effective solution despite popular belief, and apologize profusely for what happened.
Bat’s guilt keeps him from sleeping well. The next morning, Janie looks as though she’s been crying, and she refuses to eat breakfast. The girl worries that she’ll be bullied because of what happened during her solo, and she doesn’t say goodbye to Bat when she leaves for school. Her silence feels more serious to Bat than other times when his sister has been angry with him in the past.
Chapter 23 Summary: “Company”
When Bat arrives at school, his classmates bombard him with questions about what happened at the theater. Mr. Grayson kneels beside Bat’s desk and asks how he can help. Unable to voice what he needs, the boy shakes his head “like the pendulum of a clock” until he feels better (158). His teacher stays with him the whole time, invites him to cuddle Babycakes, and gives Bat an apple from his lunch to feed the rabbit. As Bat feeds and holds the class pet, he listens to his classmates discuss the book they’re reading, which is about a girl with the power to go back in time to fix her mistakes. Even though three new mistakes occur for every one that the girl fixes with her magic, Bat wishes that he had her powers. He regrets bringing Thor to the play, and he wonders if he and Israel are still friends despite his harsh words towards him.
Israel offers to keep Bat company in the rabbit enclosure. Bat asks if Israel is still mad at him, and Israel answers that “[b]est friends need to stick together” even though he is still a little mad (162). Bat tears up and looks down at the rabbit. Israel tells his friend that he has an idea about how he can show Janie that he’s sorry.
Chapter 24 Summary: “Take Two”
Bat considers himself bad at apologies and thinks that they are largely ineffective. He recalls one of Mr. Grayson’s favorite sayings: “What we do is more important than what we say” (164). He decides that he needs to apologize to his sister through his actions, and Israel, who calls himself an expert in making apologies, promises to help. When Mr. Tam picks him up after school, Bat asks him if he can go to Israel’s house the next morning to work on a secret project.
On Sunday evening, a small audience of Janie’s friends, family, and family friends gathers in Israel’s backyard. The walkway is lined with candles in Cora’s clay bowls, and Mr. Grayson sets up his keyboard beside a small stage. When Mr. Tam arrives with Janie, Bat apologizes to her for bringing Thor to the play, praises her singing, and asks her to perform her solo. He looks at her feet as he speaks, and she tilts his face up so that she can look in his eyes. Even though Bat dislikes eye contact, he meets her gaze. Satisfied that he’s sincere, she smiles and gives him a hug. Janie explains that the school is going to restage the play once the auditorium has had time to air out. She thanks him for setting up another opportunity for her to perform and apologizes for saying that she wished their mother didn’t find Thor.
While Janie greets her audience and heads onstage, Bat sits beside Israel. Israel is thrilled that his friend is carrying the skunk sculpture he made for him, and the object brings Bat a similar comfort to holding Thor. As he listens to his sister sing, the world feels “giant and open and full of beauty” to Bat (171).
Chapters 19-24 Analysis
In the novel’s final section, Bat’s reconciliation with Israel and Janie signals the progress of his developing empathy and patience. The guilt that Bat feels for yelling at his friend indicates that he has come to care more about others’ feelings over the course of the story. In return, Israel shows him understanding by going to talk to him rather than waiting for Bat to do so because he knows that talking about emotions is difficult for his friend. Likewise, Israel keeps Bat’s communication style in mind when he helps him find a way to apologize to Janie through actions rather than words. In addition to the make-up performance that he prepares, Bat demonstrates his compassion for Janie by making eye contact with her in the final chapter. Arnold presents the action as motivated by the boy’s desire to show a loved one that he cares, not a desire to be neurotypical: “Bat didn’t like looking into people’s eyes, but he knew that Janie really liked to” (169). His willingness to step outside his comfort zone for a moment emphasizes the sincerity of his empathy and regret. Janie takes Bat’s preferences into account when she gives him a hug, which the author takes care to point out that “he did like” (170). The embrace shows how the siblings can find common ground and mend their relationship because they care about each other’s needs and feelings.
The happy ending reiterates the necessity of supportive environments by bringing Bat’s community together. Even though Bat hurt his feelings, Israel declares that they “need to stick together” (162), and he demonstrates his unwavering support by finding a way for Bat to make amends with Janie. The performance in the Zimmermans’ backyard illustrates the strength and reliability of Bat’s support system by bringing together people from different areas of his life. For example, Mr. Grayson plays the keyboard, and Laurence, his mother’s colleague who cares for Thor while Bat is at school, joins the audience. Bat’s father is also present, allowing the family to present a united front in support of the siblings despite the ways their relationships have changed. The novel’s happy ending affirms Bat’s bonds with his sister and best friend as well as his place within a larger community that cares for him.
Arnold uses the novel’s symbols and motifs to portray the protagonist’s inner experiences and growth. Bat’s ill-fated decision to bring Thor, who serves as a motif of The Need for Supportive Environments, to the opening night of Janie’s play indicates the boy’s longing for comfort and support, two things that he sometimes struggles to find among his fellow humans: “Bat felt lonely, too, even though he was about to go to a theater filled with people. Sometimes that was when Bat felt loneliest of all—in a crowd” (143). In the final chapter, Bat brings his sculpture of the skunk rather than the live animal to the make-up performance, illustrating that Bat has learned from his mistake and that he relies less on his pet to provide emotional support because he’s able to derive greater comfort from his relationships with people.
Arnold’s use of imagery highlights Bat’s important relationships and contributes to the mood at key moments. For example, tactile details emphasize the way that Tom and Cora help the boy step outside his comfort zone: “Wet clay oozed out between each of Bat’s fingers, and it was a gooey feeling, but not bad. Kind of interesting actually” (140). In this excerpt, handling textures that Bat usually dislikes becomes a positive experience and a new creative outlet for him. In Chapter 23, the touch of Babycakes’ “soft white fur” provides another layer of safety and reassurance for Bat during the scene in which Israel assures him that they’re still friends (162). During the novel’s resolution, tactile and olfactory imagery enhance Bat’s reconciliation with his sister: “[S]he smiled and gave Bat a hug, which he did like, the press of her arms, the smell of her apple shampoo” (170). The pleasant sensory details Bat experiences during the siblings’ embrace emphasize their emotional closeness and add to the ending’s joyful, tranquil mood.
Unlock all 48 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs