50 pages • 1-hour read
Summerland
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Themes
The Two Sides to Every Story
Summerland features a shifting narrative and strong mythological base that allow different, and sometimes opposing, stories to emerge from its characters and conflicts. Through Coyote’s personal history and relationship with the gods, as well as Taffy’s backstory, the novel explores how stories differ depending on perspective and who tells them. From the outset, the book defines Coyote as the villain, both because of his past and because of the actions he takes. From the perspective of those who defend the Tree of Worlds, Coyote is a destroyer who acts only for personal gain. However, Coyote doesn’t share this view of himself. In Chapter 10, when Ethan’s dad equates Coyote to Satan, Coyote is annoyed because he’s always blamed for bad things, and he challenges Ethan’s dad to “name one thing you enjoy in that woebegone world of yours […] I guarantee you, I’m responsible for it” (219). Following this challenge, Ethan’s dad offers a list of things he enjoys, and while Coyote doesn’t directly take credit for them, he points out how his influence allowed the beings of the Middling to enjoy them, showing how Coyote puts a different spin on what others view as negative actions.
In addition to the influence Coyote has on the worlds, his history with the gods reveals how his story is told in different ways. From the beginning of time, Coyote has been labeled “the Changer” because he brings change to the worlds. While different creatures view these changes as good or bad, the changes themselves are neither, which shows how events and concepts are viewed from opposing angles, thus creating two or more sides to the story of those changes. Within the framework of the novel, Coyote views his mission to destroy the Tree of Worlds and begin creation anew as a necessary change because he believes both that existence must be reset and that he’ll create a better world than the gods did. To this end, Coyote also recognizes that change sometimes requires massive upheaval, but while he believes this is good, all the creatures who don’t want their existence to cease because of his actions disagree. Thus, by the very nature of the disagreement around Coyote’s plan, the novel shows how opposing viewpoints are two sides of the same tale.
While Coyote shows the power of telling his own stories in the way that he wants others to remembered them, Taffy’s backstory illustrates the danger of not allowing multiple perspectives to influence opinions. Before the beginning of the book’s events, Taffy, as a female sasquatch, lived in one place, where she helped raise children and interacted with male sasquatch only when they returned from their long journeys. Though the nature of female sasquatches was to remain in one place, Taffy’s desire to see the world motivated her to leave her home, resulting in her capture and long imprisonment. Taffy blames herself for leaving her children and depriving them of her mother, and while Taffy is within her rights to feel this way, she refuses to acknowledge her desire to see that the world was valid. Consequently, Taffy lives under a mountain of guilt she can’t break free of because she acknowledges only the side of her story that says she was wrong. This leads to the impossible deal she makes with Coyote and almost causes the world’s destruction. Taffy’s inability to reconcile the version of events she chose to believe shows how a refusal to view stories from multiple angles leads to closed-minded mistakes.
The Power of Change
The characters of Summerland experience both external and internal changes that, whether they like it or not, have an impact on themselves and their world. Through Ethan’s character arc, Michael Chabon’s adaptation of baseball’s designated-hitter rule, and the effect of Coyote’s mission on the world, the book shows the power that change holds. At the outset of the novel, Ethan struggles with self-esteem, particularly related to baseball. His dislike of the game causes him to be a poor player, and his poor performance then circles back to feed into how he views himself. Believing that the clam’s prophecy is meant for him, Ethan begins to change how he sees himself. Having someone, even just a prophetic clam, believe in him makes Ethan start to believe in himself, and this belief grows as he embarks on his adventure and realizes that his identity isn’t limited to his baseball skills. Ethan’s ability to overcome obstacles and his realization that great baseball players didn’t start out great help relieve the pressure he feels to be perfect. This realization allows him to experience the inner change he needs to become a hero. At the novel’s end, Ethan knows he still isn’t a great baseball player, but this no longer matters. He’s good enough to do what needs to be done, and his ability to understand this shows the positive power of change.
While Ethan’s character arc shows how change can have a positive impact, the change Coyote brings to the world reveals that the negative consequences of change are just as strong. Coyote has been a threat to existence since he was created. Much of this threat comes from his actions toward the Tree of Worlds and the destruction he brings by breaking connected worlds apart. In doing so, Coyote hurts not only the tree itself but also the inhabitants of the smaller worlds he has influenced. The creatures Ethan helps Cinquefoil battle in Chapter 4 exemplify how Coyote’s actions negatively impact others. Once faeries, the creatures are now demonic entities who have lost their love for themselves and their land because “they hate what they are and even worse what they once were” (101). Watching the destruction of everything they held dear changed the faeries into bitter, angry beings who rage that they can’t get back what they lost. Consequently, they’re vengeful, destroying worlds to deprive others of the happiness they can no longer feel. Thus, the change that such demonic faeries experience negatively impacts them and the rest of the world.
While Ethan’s arc and Coyote’s effect on the world show positive and negative change at work, Chabon’s adaptation of the designated-hitter rule reveals how change sows division. Before the events of the novel, Coyote proposed that watching a pitcher bat was the most boring part of baseball, suggesting that pitchers be given someone to hit for them to keep the game moving. Once this idea spread, it immediately created opposing factions: those who agreed that pitchers should have a designated hitter to speed up the game, and those who believed that all players, even pitchers, should get up to bat. As baseball incorporated the designated-hitter rule, the two sides of the debate intensified, showing how the change split fans and also revealing the effects of unevenly applied change. Having some but not all teams adopt the rule creates tension among discussion of the game and actual play as teams are forced to agree on whether to allow designated hitters, thus showing how a small change can grow into a large conflict.
The Role of Competition
At its core, Summerland is about where games and life intersect, including how victory and defeat are part of both. Through the game of baseball itself, the final game against Coyote, and Ethan’s struggle to understand Coyote’s desire to end existence, the novel explores what it means to win or lose, as well as the space between these two dichotomies. As a team sport, baseball inherently has a winner and a loser in every completed game. Under normal circumstances, this means simply that one team scores more runs than the other, and this lays the groundwork upon which Chabon develops this theme. Within the Summerlands, baseball has been elevated from a game to an almost political fixture. Outcomes of games make decisions, resolve conflicts, and establish power dynamics, and fans revere individuals for their skill and reputation. Once Ethan’s quest begins, baseball becomes his path through the Summerlands because it’s a discourse the world’s inhabitants understand. Far from the consequences he’s used to, Ethan suddenly finds that whether he wins or loses does matter, and this supports the different roles that competition plays.
Against this baseline understanding of competition through baseball, the final game between Ethan’s and Coyote’s teams shows how knowledge of the opposing force changes competition. Throughout the book, Ethan and Jennifer T. learn about Coyote as they hear tales of his exploits and see the devastation he has left behind. Similarly, Coyote has a basic understanding of humans after dealing with them for so long, and his working relationship with Ethan’s father fills in the specifics about the children he’s up against. Thus, by the time they all reach the final baseball game that will determine the outcome of existence, Coyote believes he’ll win, not only because he knows Ethan struggles with believing in his baseball skills but also because he knows that how a team’s leader feels heavily influences the team. However, Coyote’s experience has also taught him that humans don’t and can’t understand him, which becomes his downfall. By realizing that she can free the gods to stop Coyote, Jennifer T. tricks him, essentially beating him at his own game. In doing so, she reveals that careful study of the opposition makes a difference and establishes the importance of understanding her competition.
While Jennifer T.’s victory shows the importance of understanding what she’s up against, Ethan’s inability to understand Coyote’s motives reveals what happens when one doesn’t sufficiently understand one’s competition. Throughout the book, Ethan dedicates his efforts to stopping Coyote because he doesn’t believe the destruction of all existence is fair to the creatures inhabiting the worlds. However, when Ethan arrives at the well at the base of the Tree of Worlds and learns what Coyote has done to his father, not even the immense beauty of the stem of creation can keep Ethan feeling completely confident in his stance. The perceived loss of his father makes Ethan wonder what the point to fighting is when the things he most cares about can just be taken away. Such questions lead Ethan to temporarily lose hope in Chapter 24, when he briefly understands how “Coyote was right to want to wipe it out, to call the whole sad thing on account of darkness” (442). This low moment, however, helps Ethan see that hope still exists in such darkness and that the competition itself is just as important as the victory.
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