51 pages • 1-hour read
Cackle
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Chapter 17-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section contains discussion of cursing and gender discrimination.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Developments”
Annie makes her way to Simple Spirits, noting how quiet the town is tonight. As she nears the shop, she notices the white cottage next door because all the lights are on, and it is usually dark. She walks up the path and hears Rose calling her a “sweet girl” and saying there’s nothing to worry about. Oskar says Sophie is “corrupting” Annie, and Alex says that Lynn saw Annie dancing and singing in the yard at night. Rose calls it “harmless,” but Oskar disagrees. He thinks Annie could be “dangerous,” but Deirdre insists that Annie is a “very sweet girl” (233), and Annie wonders if being “sweet” and “dangerous” are mutually exclusive.
Oskar insists that Sophie is manipulating Annie, but Rose defends Sophie, saying she’s not “as destructive” as Oskar believes. Rose and Deirdre point out how nice their life in Rowan is, and how it wouldn’t be possible without Sophie. Oskar emits an “icy” laugh. He argues that they have a moral obligation to protect Annie. Alex sides with Deirdre and Rose, who say that “there is no Rowan without Sophie” (234), but Tom sides with Oskar, even calling Sophie an “old bitch” and insisting that he doesn’t want “two” of them.
This incenses Annie and, suddenly, a window above her shatters. She runs home. At her house, Annie starts to doubt Sophie again, wondering if maybe she’s been wrong to trust her new friend. She texts Sam before remembering that it’s Valentine’s Day, but he texts right back. They rehash an old joke, which makes her feel better. Annie says she misses him, and he says it back.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Some Deception”
Annie passes out on the couch and wakes up when Sophie lets herself in. When Annie looks at her, she feels an “extraordinary, suffocating fear” (239). Sophie says she was worried because Annie always comes over on Saturdays, and Annie says she’s fine, but Sophie knows it’s not true. Annie knows she broke her promise to Sophie about Sam, but she rationalizes it, thinking that she has to give it another chance with him.
Annie goes to the bathroom and returns, finding Sophie doing her dishes. She reassures Annie that Annie never has to hide her feelings, even about Sam, but Annie remains suspicious. When Annie suggests that she’d like to hang out alone, Sophie goes cold. Before she leaves, Sophie gives Ralph a little pouch of dead flies.
Ralph eats and falls asleep, so Annie picks up her phone. There’s a message from Sam: He says that he really does miss her. She says he can call her anytime, so he does. She hides in the bedroom so Ralph won’t overhear. Sam wants to see her again, to figure out if they “made the right choice” (246). Annie agrees to a visit.
Suddenly, Ralph starts wailing on the other side of the door. She hangs up, feeling a sense of dread that surprises her. She expected to feel ecstatic, but now she worries that they won’t be able to patch things up.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Toil & Trouble”
Annie and Sam text more and more, and she gets excited. She buys food and cleans the apartment, which makes Ralph suspicious. She plans to drop Ralph off at Sophie’s the next day before Sam arrives. She considers telling Sophie the truth, but is scared to do so.
When she arrives, her friend presents her with a guitar, a thoughtful gift that Sophie knows Annie wanted. When Annie protests that Sophie is too good to her, Sophie says she only wants Annie to keep focusing on herself and her talents. Sophie asks Annie to play, but Annie is conscious of the time and demurs. She says she has lots of work to do, but Sophie knows she’s lying. Ralph starts to growl, and he gets bigger.
Sophie says that she knew Annie was like her the first time they met, but now she wonders if she was wrong to put so much faith in someone who has none herself. The piano begins to play, and Annie asks Sophie to stop, but Sophie says it’s Annie making it happen. The harp starts playing, and the chandelier swings. Ralph grows bigger, and Sophie insists Annie stay so they can talk, but Annie tries to run. Sophie gets frustrated, trying to figure out why people fear her. She admits that she doesn’t smile if she doesn’t feel like it, that she is honest about who she is, that she lives alone in the woods. She suggests that a woman who is in “full control of herself” is terrifying for some reason that she can’t figure out (258).
Annie runs into the cellar, where she sees the ghost of a man with rotten teeth and bulging eyes. Annie screams, and Sophie opens the cellar door, beckoning her up. She explains that the ghosts are tied to her, and they can never rest because of what they did to her. Annie tells Sophie to just grind up her bones for tonics, or do whatever she’s going to do, and Sophie marvels that people in town are still repeating the same rumors about her. She says she’s only defended herself, embraced her own power and been true to herself.
When Sophie calls Annie “pet,” as she often does, Annie shouts about how patronizing she finds the term. Sophie is shocked, but her expression changes to one of happiness. Sophie snaps her fingers, reducing Ralph to regular size, and tells Annie she’s right. She says she only wants what’s best for Annie, but Annie still isn’t sure. Annie says she needs certainty with Sam, and she has to go. Sophie tells her she can leave, but she can’t come back. It’s not a punishment, Sophie says, but she will lose her respect for Annie.
It’s brutal honesty, and it ignites Annie’s resentment. She tells Sophie that the reason people are scared of her is that she’s a “witch,” and she immediately regrets her word choice. Sophie is hurt and angry, and she transforms into an ugly, wizened, green-skinned fairy tale witch. Annie runs, and Sophie chases her on a broomstick. She tells Annie to go and stay gone.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Happily Ever After”
Back at home, Annie decides that Sophie is unstable, and she’s better off without her. Sam arrives, but he looks different to Annie. When she gets him a glass of water, she spots a spider and misses Ralph.
Sam asks about coffee, and Annie fears Oskar would stone her if she showed up at the Good Mug now. This elicits a wave of empathy for Sophie; she thinks about how people tried to drown her in the well, how she had to watch her friends get burned at the stake. Annie realizes she hasn’t really attended to Sophie’s pain, just her own, and she wonders if it’s really so “wrong” for a woman to stand up for herself and punish the deserving.
Annie and Sam are polite, but there’s an awkward quiet. Annie decides to show him that she’s “worth loving,” and promises to “try harder […] be better,” and to “fix” whatever needs fixing (270). Sam laughs, saying he wonders why he thought being more like friends than a couple was a bad thing; he says he probably ought to have said something to Annie sooner. With new confidence, Annie asks why he didn’t. Sam says it was a hard subject, and he didn’t know how to bring it up. He insists that he isn’t blaming Annie, but she realizes how hard she tries to “appease” him, and she wonders if it was always like this. She feels like she isn’t being true to herself to let Sam decide whether or not they get back together, and she recognizes that Sophie saw something in her that he never did. She wishes for the certainty she used to feel with Sam, but when they kiss, it feels odd and clumsy.
When Annie brings Sam the cookies she made for him, she realizes that he has never thanked her for anything. She realizes that he felt unhappy when her world no longer completely revolved around him, or when she had the “audacity” to watch Netflix in her pajamas sometimes. Annie realizes he hasn’t changed at all, but she now wants to do more than “endure” her life.
She knows what freedom feels like, and she chooses it, telling Sam she no longer wants to be with him. This confuses and shocks Sam. She tells him it’s time to leave. She goes to the bathroom to give him some time, and she looks at her reflection, saying she is ready to “surrender” as Sophie said. It feels like she fills with golden sunlight.
When Annie emerges, she can hear Sam talking on the phone to a girl. He asks if Annie is okay, and she feels incredible, as she’s in control now. Annie relishes the feeling, and Sam falls to the floor. He writhes in pain, but she’s not doing it on purpose. Blood comes from his eyes, his mouth, and she makes a concerted effort to calm herself. She realizes that he fears her because he is small, and she refuses to shrink herself to make him comfortable. She “cackle[s]”, and he rushes out. Annie knows she is exactly who and what she’s meant to be.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Let’s Pretend It Never Happened”
Annie realizes that Sophie might refuse to see her, but it seems worth the risk to try. Annie knows she doesn’t need anyone, including Sophie. When she gets to Sophie’s, she apologizes but tells Sophie that she was wrong to try to stop Annie from seeing Sam: She needed to make the decision herself. Sophie asks what decision Annie made, and Annie says that she’s “evolved past” Sam. At that, Sophie offers Annie tea.
Chapter 22 Summary: “It’s My Party”
On the day of Annie’s birthday, she wakes up to hundreds of yellow roses. She finds a new pale gold dress and admires her reflection. She thinks about the women who get so excited to wear a beautiful dress on their wedding day and how they could simply choose to wear a beautiful dress anytime.
The sun is high and bright, and Annie’s neighbors wait outside to wish her a happy birthday. When she passes the Good Mug, Erik greets her, but Oskar’s face is stern. Rose and Deirdre sing “Happy Birthday” to Annie, but Oskar and Tom won’t join in.
Annie collects several gifts as she makes her way to the gazebo, which is bedecked with flowers and a lovely picnic. Annie expresses her gratitude to Sophie for opening her eyes to the life she now has. They toast to the future.
Epilogue Summary
Annie no longer keeps track of the years, and she never leaves the house without flowers in her hair. At the market, Annie runs into Madison Thorpe, her former student, who is now 42 years old. She’s unmarried and living with her parents again after a breakup.
Annie can tell Madison is hurting, and she invites the younger woman out for coffee. Madison happily accepts the offer, and Annie says she has someone she’d like Madison to meet.
Chapter 17-Epilogue Analysis
For a brief period, Annie has so internalized the social rules around strong women that she begins to temporarily convince herself that Sophie actually is a threat to her, highlighting Small-Town Conformity and the Policing of “Difficult” Women. She wonders, “What if the people aren’t wrong to fear her? What if I’m wrong to trust her?” (236), doubting her own judgment and intuition and trusting to the judgment of people like Oskar and, worse, Tom, who clearly has a problem with assertive women. Annie continues, “I mean, she’s magic. She has power. So far, she’s used it only for me, I think, but she could just as easily use it against me, couldn’t she? How have I overlooked that?” (236).
Tom and Oskar’s claims prompt Annie to disregard her own lived experience, failing to extend any empathy to the woman who has done little else but treat her with love and compassion. To see Sophie clearly, Annie must follow her own opinions and instincts instead of bowing to other people’s. When Annie considers the way Oskar now thinks of her—Annie— as a threat, “The thought yields a surge of empathy for Sophie. I mean, didn’t she say she was thrown down the well? [….] And she’s alluded to worse. Attempted drownings, watching her friends get burned at the stake. What must it have been like to be ostracized and attacked, harassed, villainized?” (269). Annie puts herself in Sophie’s place, recognizing that she’s been so self-centered, so wrapped up in her own pain, that she never considered Sophie’s. It takes measuring her current self against the Annie who formerly existed as Sam’s partner to realize how far she has come, and to realize that being a “difficult” woman often just means being an independent and unapologetic one, like Sophie.
Unlike the men in the town who think only of their pain or fear, Annie chooses differently. She even wonders if it is “really so wrong to stand up for yourself? To punish those who deserve it, maybe take a little revenge?” (269). A telling moment in her change of attitude is when Annie feels how easy it is to give in to vindictive urges, causing her to relate to Sophie in new ways. While Sam writhes in pain, Annie thinks, “If I can calm down, maybe I can make it stop. But … it’s hard to let go of my animosity at the moment. It’s hard not to torture him when it’s so easy. When I can” (278). She relates to Sophie in a new way by embracing her powers, but also by recognizing that she has a choice—she can choose to use her new power to do good rather than to cause pain, which is why she can ultimately spare Sam and let him go without malice.
Eventually, after Annie surrenders her old life so that she can fully embrace her new, empowered future, she kicks Sam out and decides to go back to Sophie’s, revealing her new feelings towards The Fear of Being Alone and the Freedom of Autonomy. As Annie reflects, “I didn’t have to sit on my hands all the time being polite, swallowing my own needs and desires so as not to bother or inconvenience anyone else” (236). She has realized that she “could want more and not feel wrong to want it” (236). However, Annie refuses to be ruled by anyone, neither Sam—with whom she was once deeply in love—nor Sophie, whom she credits for helping her to grow and develop her nascent ability and power. She tells Sophie, “If it weren’t for you, I’d be somewhere feeling sorry for myself. Feeling powerless, hopeless. Or worse. I’d be in a relationship with someone who was slowly sucking the life out of me without me even realizing, thinking it was what I wanted” (288). Nevertheless, she reminds Sophie that she has to make her own decisions instead of substituting Sophie’s judgement for her own, a turning point that shows how far Annie has come in developing her self-confidence.
Annie’s reconciliation with Sophie also speaks to The Empowering Nature of Female Friendship. She both credits Sophie for her empowering friendship and recognizes that Sophie may have helped to open her eyes to how Annie is a strong, unique, worthy individual in her own right. When she ousts Sam, Annie says, “There’s something new pulsing through me. Or not new. Awakened. An electricity. A vibrance. There’s glitter in my veins” (277). Sophie didn’t put that glitter there, she only helped Annie to see it. Annie’s new self-confidence and appetite for life are her own. This knowledge enables her to feel free from the doubt that used to plague her, such as doubting her value as a woman, her intuition, her abilities, everything. Now, she knows, “I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. Exactly who I’m meant to be. What I’m meant to be” (279). Her empowerment by Sophie, and her understanding and growing control of her supernatural ability, give her the self-reliance and certainty that she used to lack.
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