48 pages • 1-hour read
Razorblade Tears
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Chapters 36-40Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 36 Summary
Ike goes to the hospital to see Mya. She has serious damage to her spleen, intestine, lung, and a fractured skull. Deputy Hogge says the wreck was intentional and that someone kidnapped Arianna.
Buddy Lee wakes in a hospital bed nearby. He tells Ike how it all happened, and Ike tells him about the text message Tangerine showed him. The boyfriend had only been saved in her phone as “W.” As they talk about regrets, Buddy Lee admits that he defaced the graves to get Ike to commit to helping him. Ike shouts at him and leaves.
Christine calls an hour later. She saw the story of the kidnapping on the news. Christine mentions that her husband, Gerald Winthrop Culpepper, is too busy with his campaign to care about her. Buddy Lee focuses on the W in Winthrop. After being shot, Buddy Lee remembers Tangerine mumbling something that had sounded like: “We can’t win.” He now believes she had been saying “Wynn.”
Buddy Lee leaves the hospital and goes to his truck. He takes out a baseball bat with nails in it and thinks: “Anything could be a weapon if you were dedicated enough. Even love. Especially love” (261).
Chapter 37 Summary
Buddy Lee goes to Gerald’s house at Garden Acres. He drives through the garage door at full speed and hits a Corvette. He shouts for Gerald to come out as he begins smashing lawn decorations. He tells Christine that Gerald was cheating on her with Tangerine, and Derek found out. Gerald’s voice comes through a speaker and tells Buddy he has called the police. Buddy drives into their living room window.
Two deputies arrive as Buddy Lee chases Gerald and Christine through the house. He manages to hit Gerald once before the cops grab him. Gerald follows them to the jail and asks to talk to Buddy Lee.
Chapter 38 Summary
In a holding room, Gerald says there are no cameras watching them. He tells Buddy Lee that he wants Tangerine and will trade Arianna for her. He mocks Buddy Lee for his miserable life and his aggressive masculinity, which he refers to as a mere tough guy act. He says that Buddy Lee’s posturing has never caused him anything but misery.
Buddy Lee says: “I ain’t never pretended to be anything but a hell-raising, whiskey-drinking, hard-loving redneck son of a bitch. Most nights I sleep like a baby. I ain’t ashamed of who I am” (270). Buddy Lee taunts Gerald about the hypocrisy of being with Tangerine. He knows that the constituents of a man like Gerald would be appalled by their relationship. Gerald repeats that they will trade hostages, or Arianna will die horribly.
Chapter 39 Summary
Buddy Lee calls Ike and tells him about Gerald. Ike goes to pick him up, since Mya is still unconscious. Buddy Lee apologizes for his deception, but Ike says that he made his own choice to join him. They decide to kidnap Gatsby Culpepper—Gerald’s father—as leverage. Buddy Lee proposes telling Tangerine the truth about Gerald so they can use her to lure Gatsby out without force. If he is like his son, she should be a useful temptation.
Chapter 40 Summary
They visit Tangerine at Jazzy’s and tell her the truth. She cries when she realizes Gerald never cared about her. They take her to Gatsby’s home. She knocks on his door and says she has car trouble. Ike and Buddy Lee knock him out when he follows her out to her car, flirting inappropriately. They take him to Buddy Lee’s trailer. Ike tells Tangerine: “Folks like to talk about revenge like it’s a righteous thing but it’s just hate in a nicer suit” (285).
Chapters 36-40 Analysis
These chapters focus on grand reveals, and characters are forced into choices that will determine the end game. When Buddy reveals that he defaced the graves, Ike is furious; he understands that Buddy Lee has weaponized his past, his intimidating stature, and even his ethnicity. Buddy Lee knew that Ike would frighten people, and Ike resents it, even though he also understands.
The reader learns that Gerald is not only behind the killings, but is utterly remorseless. His conversation with Buddy Lee in the jail shows a man who expects to win. Buddy Lee’s description of himself shows the novel’s value of authenticity. Unlike Tariq, who has a false exterior, Buddy is not ashamed of who he is. He is also not like Gerald, who postures as a political man of the people, while indulging in extramarital affairs and sanctioning kidnappings and killings.
Ike’s conversation with Tangerine reveals Ike’s relationship with his past. Despite his reputation, Ike does not romanticize his relationship with violence. He is also reluctant to make their quest for justice sound honorable: “Folks like to talk about revenge like it’s a righteous thing but it’s just hate in a nicer suit” (285). Ike believes he is doing his duty, but he refuses to glamorize his vengeance.
Buddy coughing up blood foreshadows that he is dying of cancer. His quest can be viewed as a search for redemption.
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