54 pages • 1-hour read
The Library at Mount Char
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Part 2, Chapters 7-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “The Anatomy of Lions”
Part 2, Chapter 7 Summary: “Garrison Oaks”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of cursing, graphic violence, animal cruelty, animal death, death by suicide, child abuse, substance use, addiction, cursing, and death.
As Steve enters Garrison Oaks and approaches the library, several dogs begin following him. When he takes a step past the intersection, they attack, biting and dragging him to the ground. Carolyn, who’s in communication with him via cell phone, hears Steve screaming and sends in Dresden and Naga.
More dogs join the fight. Steve remembers the gun and shoots several of the dogs trying to kill him. The lions eventually kill the rest. However, Steve sees dozens more dogs coming from the nearby woods. He runs inside the nearest house, where Carolyn says he’ll find food, water, and medical supplies. She’ll get him out as soon as possible, she says, but it may be a couple of days. Through the peephole, Steve sees the dogs advancing on the lions. He opens the door and lets the lions in.
The other librarians assume Steve is doomed because the zombie-esque neighbors attack outsiders who enter their houses. Carolyn tells them that Steve is disposable, and she’s fine with him dying. In truth, she knows the dead ones won’t harm anyone who has been resurrected, which Steve has. She says to herself, “Mission accomplished” (162).
Part 2, Chapter 8 Summary: “Cold Home”
After Carolyn’s call to the White House, Erwin meets with the President in the Oval Office. Several other top officials are present as well, including a woman holding a file marked Cold Home. Erwin relates his encounter with David at the jail. As he does so, he chews and spits tobacco, curses more than usual, and intentionally uses bad grammar.
Erwin also shares his belief that Steve is innocent. He points out that Carolyn left fingerprints all over the bank she robbed but left only one fingerprint at Detective Miner’s home. The president is quick to understand the implications, and Erwin finds himself liking the man. He urges caution in dealing with her, suggesting they take time to figure out what’s going on before jumping into a trap.
Part 2, Interlude 3 Summary: “Jack”
In the past, Steve is 12 years old, and his parents have just died in a car crash. Steve is in a coma for six weeks, but he survives, only to be put in the custody of his Aunt Mary and her boyfriend, who neglect his needs. He becomes angry and acts out. He gets in fights and shoplifts, then commits his first burglary when he’s in 9th grade. Within a few months, he’s committed dozens more burglaries and has become an expert.
A boy named Jack is two years older and comes from a family of means, but he has a “feral streak” (180). He befriends Steve, and they begin stealing together. Jack has a violent temper, and he even suggests burning down one of the houses they rob.
When Jack gets arrested for selling marijuana, his parents blame Steve’s influence. They ban the friendship, but the boys still hang out in secret. Wanting to make enough money for a car, Steve and Jack rob a pharmacy, looking for drugs like Xanax and Vicodin. Police show up during the robbery, and only Steve manages to get away in time.
Jack is caught and charged as an adult, but he never gives Steve’s name to the police. After three months in prison, he hangs himself. At the funeral, Jack’s mother slaps Steve and calls him an asshole. Steve doesn’t deny it.
Part 2, Chapter 9 Summary: “A Bone That Cannot Be Cracked”
In the present, even with the pills Carolyn gave Steve to minimize Naga’s blood loss, the wounded lion is unlikely to make it until the next day. She saved Steve’s life, just like Jack saved him from being arrested, so Steve vows to get her out alive. Several dozen dogs remain outside the house, waiting.
Steve promises $500 to a taxi driver if he comes immediately with a van. When the driver arrives, Steve takes his keys and carries Naga to the vehicle, using his gun to fight off the attacking canines. Dresden fights too, staying behind to give Steve and Naga enough time to drive away. Steve leaves the taxi driver in the house.
Two hours later, Carolyn arrives at the house to find the taxi driver barricaded in the bathroom. He is badly wounded—the dead ones attacked him and ate two of his fingers. Carolyn gives him the duffel bag of cash to make up for his troubles. However, she warns that soon it won’t be worth much because Barry O’Shea—one of Father’s courtiers—is out of hiding and starting a plague. She advises the taxi driver to stock up on essentials and avoid people with tentacles.
Part 2, Chapter 10 Summary: “Asuras”
Steve drives into town and finds a veterinary clinic. He has to threaten the staff to help Naga. The veterinarian agrees to treat Naga, but only if Steve lets everyone else leave and injects the anesthetic himself. Naga has never tried to harm Steve, but the pain of the injection makes her claw and bite him. Injured, Steve pushes her off, slaps her, and yells at her until she calms down. Once Naga succumbs to the anesthetic, the vet assesses her and says that by bringing her in when he did, Steve saved her life.
While Naga is being treated, Erwin shows up at the clinic. Looking outside, Steve sees 10 police cars and a sniper on a nearby roof. He agrees to cooperate if Erwin promises to make sure Naga is cared for. He describes all the occupants of Mrs. McGillicutty’s house and answers Erwin’s questions about the librarians.
Erwin tells him that a strike team is ready to descend on Mrs. McGillicutty’s house. They won’t let Erwin join the strike, so he and Steve follow in his car and pull into a vacant lot on a hill overlooking Mrs. McGillicutty’s neighborhood. They witness a massacre on both sides.
Carolyn appears by their car, aiming a gun at Erwin’s head. Naga is with her, strong and alert. Steve tells Carolyn not to shoot Erwin, then confirms her suspicion that no one escaped the house alive except David, Margaret, Mrs. McGillicutty, and her cat. Carolyn predicts that David is on his way to kill the President and anyone involved in the attack, but she says there are bigger things to worry about right now. A few minutes later, the sun goes black and disappears.
Steve and Carolyn leave Erwin and take his car. While they eat dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant, Carolyn explains everything to Steve about Father: his age, how he conquered the emperor, the Library, and his apprentices. They see a news report that the President is dead. The Capitol Building explodes during the live report. Another report shows a woman with black tentacles for hands, and Carolyn explains that it’s a virus caused by Barry O’Shea. Then she says that Erwin is going to try to ambush David, and she and Steve must stop David from killing him.
Part 2, Chapters 7-10 Analysis
The nature of the narrative’s central conflict becomes clear in Chapter 10, when Carolyn explains to Steve that everything that is happening revolves around the Library and the question of who will gain control of it. She establishes enormous stakes for this conflict: “For all intents and purposes, the power of the Library is infinite. Tonight we’re going to settle who inherits control of reality” (243). Despite being so forthcoming about the power the librarians have access to and telling Steve that she’ll explain everything, Carolyn continues to withhold the full truth about her role. Just as the narrator manipulates how the story unfolds through carefully timed revelations, Carolyn manipulates Steve by withholding information until the right time. She knows exactly when and how to tell him certain things so that he’ll do what she wants. Erwin’s conversation with the president, in which they draw attention to her leaving one fingerprint at Detective Miner’s house, is evidence that Carolyn has a very specific plan and knows exactly what she’s doing.
Hints toward deeper meanings are illustrated even in the chapter titles: Although the titles of Chapter 7 and Interlude 3 are self-explanatory and simply describe the respective subject matter, the others develop important themes and character arcs. For example, “Cold Home,” the title of Chapter 8, refers to the case file that Carolyn says proves what Father is capable of. She reveals few other details of its contents, but its significance lies in the connection the file draws between Father and Carolyn. Shortly after the Oval Office meeting, the government targets Carolyn in an attack that leads to a massive loss of life. Future chapters reveal that this parallels the government’s attack on Father when Carolyn was eight, which instigated the events in the Cold Home file. The narrative’s balance between the actions of the librarians and the government highlights the similarities in their tactics, developing the idea of The Human Capacity for Cruelty, Compassion, and Change.
These chapters also introduce Dresden and Naga’s increased role in the action. Chapter 9’s title, “A Bone That Cannot Be Cracked,” refers to Dresden’s promise to protect Steve at all costs. Carolyn explains that in Dresden’s language, “the word for ‘promise’ is the same as the word for ‘a bone that cannot be cracked’” (187). In other words, he won’t break his promise. This characterizes Dresden, and by extension, all lions, as extremely loyal and honorable. Future chapters draw symbolic connections between the lions and Carolyn, suggesting that Carolyn shares these traits and will keep her promises to Steve.
The title of Chapter 10, “Asuras,” alludes to beings in Indian religious traditions. Hinduism and Buddhism depict Asuras as power-seeking deities and rivals of the benevolent gods known as Devas or Suras. The rivalry between Asuras and Devas is meant to symbolize “a cosmic struggle between opposing forces” (“What are the Asuras?” World History Edu, 5 Dec. 2024). Chapter 10 features an epic battle between the librarians and government and military operatives that parallels this cosmic struggle between opposing forces, but it remains unclear which side represents the Asuras. This ambiguity reflects the moral ambiguity that is often present in real-world conflicts, one aspect of The Succession Conflict and Parallels to Greek Mythology.
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