49 pages • 1-hour read
The Man Who Loved Clowns
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Chapters 7-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary: “The Moptops”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying, disability, ableism, and death.
On Sunday, Delrita goes to church with her family. In the car, her mother encourages her to be friends with Avanelle. Delrita feels bad about disappointing her mother, but she can’t tell the truth—she doesn’t have any friends because she is ashamed of anyone at school knowing about Punky.
When they arrive at church, Delrita is surprised to see Avanelle there with her siblings and mother. Delrita and her family meet Avanelle’s older brother, Tree. Punky tells him that he looks like Ronald McDonald because of his curly red hair. Delrita is embarrassed, but Tree just laughs.
After the service, Delrita chats with Avanelle’s mom and Tree. Tree plays football at school and asks if Delrita is going to their next game, but she’s never been to a school football game. Punky teases Birdie, but she doesn’t mind. Delrita is starting to like the Shacklefords. Mrs. Shackleford is pregnant, and while they’re all talking, Punky puts his hand on her belly and calls her fat. Delrita is so mortified that she runs out of the church to wait for her family in the car.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Spirit Week”
It’s Spirit Week at Delrita’s school, leading up to the football game on Friday. Each day has a different theme, and Monday is Hawaiian Day. Most of the students are dressed in Hawaiian-themed clothes, but Delrita doesn’t participate. Between classes, she goes to the 9th-grade hallway and looks for Tree. She curled her hair that morning and wonders if he will recognize her, but she doesn’t see him. Delrita has art class with Avanelle and is surprised that Avanelle is wearing a Hawaiian outfit. Delrita notices that the other kids ignore Avanelle.
Later, Avanelle sits with Delrita at lunch. They bond and laugh together about how they both have unique names, which they’re both embarrassed by. Avanelle shares that Birdie was so happy about the whistle Delrita gave her because they never have new toys at home. Avanelle says that she knows that the real reason Delrita is hesitant to talk to her is because of Punky. She reassures Delrita that her family laughed about Punky calling her mom fat. They eat lunch together every day that week.
On Friday, the spirit week theme is to dress as the opposite gender. Delrita runs into Tree, who is wearing a dress and makeup, after school. He asks if she’s going to the football game that night, but Delrita declines, even though a part of her wants to go.
Delrita’s mom drives Tree and Avanelle home after school. Delrita is embarrassed—Punky is crying because it’s raining. Tree tries to comfort Punky, and Delrita thinks he acts like “a real gentleman” (70).
Chapter 9 Summary: “Silver Dollar City”
Delrita shows her dad a sketch she made for a new swan woodcarving. He suggests that this time she try carving one with outstretched wings instead. Delrita doesn’t think she can do that, since she accidentally snapped the neck of her last swan figurine. Her dad insists that she try. Delrita makes a new sketch, and her dad cuts a block of wood for her to make a new carving.
The next day, Delrita, her parents, and Punky go to Silver Dollar City. Delrita and Punky visit the theme park while Delrita’s parents go to the auction. Her parents give Delrita a series of rules to follow because of Punky’s heart—he can’t get too hot, too tired, or go on any strenuous rides. Delrita also carries a medication called nitroglycerin in case of an emergency cardiac event. They go on a water ride, window shop, and eat lunch.
Chapter 10 Summary: “The Master Woodcarver”
Delrita and Punky go to the woodcarving shop. The expert woodcarver, Whittlin’ Walt, is doing a demonstration, and Delrita watches intently. Punky wanders around the shop, and after a while, Delrita hears Punky arguing with the store clerk. She knows that he’s tried to steal something, so she explains to the clerk that Punky doesn’t understand about paying for things.
The woodcarver comes over and takes Punky and Delrita into his office. He is very kind and understanding. Delrita tells him that he inspired her to start carving and shows him a clown that she carved for Punky. The woodcarver gives Punky the item he tried to steal.
Delrita and Punky leave, as it’s almost time to meet Delrita’s parents. By the time they get to the meeting point, they’re already late. Delrita’s parents aren’t there, and she is worried. Punky is exhausted and hungry, and he wants to go home. After a while of waiting, he fakes a cardiac event to try to trick Delrita into taking him home.
She’s relieved when she realizes he’s joking but starts to panic about her parents. If they wait any longer, Punky might be in danger. Delrita goes back to the woodcarving shop and explains the situation to Whittlin’ Walt. The woodcarver leaves to make some phone calls. When he returns, he tells Delrita that her parent were in a car accident and died on the scene.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Going Home”
Without even realizing it, Delrita screams continuously. Punky does not understand the situation, but the screaming terrifies him. Delrita is afraid that he will have a heart attack from the stress. She embraces him and cries.
Walt informs them that Uncle Bert is on his way, and Delrita and Punky can stay at Walt’s house until he arrives. Delrita feels numb and suddenly older. Bert eventually pulls up to Walt’s house accompanied by a police car. As Delrita leaves, Walt gives her a package and tells her that she will make it through this hardship.
Bert takes Delrita and Punky to his house. At Bert and Queenie’s, she sleeps on the floor for a couple of hours until Punky wakes her up, demanding to go home. They walk the two miles to their house. Delrita wakes up to her Uncle Bert saying her name. He tells her that he and Punky must come live with him and Aunt Queenie.
Chapter 12 Summary: “The Blank Wall”
Many relatives come to Uncle Bert’s house for the funeral. They all try to say comforting things, but their words seem shallow. Delrita has always felt invisible, but now, she wishes she actually were. Punky is the only person who brings her any comfort.
As the days go on, Aunt Queenie bothers Delrita more and more. She is overly neat and organized to the point that it makes Delrita uncomfortable. She feels like it’s obvious that Delrita and Punky inconvenience Aunt Queenie.
One day, Aunt Queenie says that she and Bert are applying to have Punky work at a special state-funded workshop, one of the sheltered workshops she mentioned before. This enrages Delrita. She argues with her aunt, explaining that Queenie doesn’t understand how it feels for so many people to laugh at Punky when he’s in public. She wonders if Queenie would let Punky stay home if Delrita cleaned up after him more.
Chapters 7-12 Analysis
These chapters show Delrita, Punky, and their family outside their home, illustrating the ways they interact with others and how people treat Punky. At church, Delrita is mortified at Punky’s behavior toward the Shacklefords, but their reaction to him shows that Delrita overestimates how negatively other people think of him. Delrita assumes Tree will be offended by Punky calling him “Ronald McDonald” because of his curly red hair (from Punky, this is a compliment, reflecting his love of both clowns and McDonald’s), but Tree finds Punky’s comment merely amusing and endearing. Punky also calls Mrs. Shackleford “fat” because she is pregnant, mortifying Delrita, but Avanelle later tells Delrita that the whole family laughed about it later. This incident highlights the growth and maturation that Delrita has yet to achieve, as her own biases shape her defensiveness and embarrassment. Delrita overestimates the amount of malice Punky faces in public, and the Shacklefords’ good-natured attitude toward Punky proves that many people have no prejudice against people with disabilities. In fact, their compassion toward Punky at church foreshadows the meaningful relationship they will eventually form with both Punky and Delrita, developing the theme of The Relationship Between Community and Disability as Delrita begins to see how Punky can be a member of society outside of their family.
These chapters also introduce the theme of Loss as a Catalyst for Personal Growth with the sudden and tragic death of Delrita’s parents. This is a pivotal moment in her character development, and her immediate response highlights that although she still has some growing up to do, Delrita’s priorities are already in the right place. Though she is shocked, scared, and devastated, she chooses to focus on Punky’s well-being just moments after finding out the news about her parents’ car accident. Delrita immediately understands that she must mature and take on more responsibility in the absence of her parents. Her instant recognition of this reality and her corresponding commitment to caring for Punky illustrate that her coming-of-age journey has begun.
Delrita’s attendance at the woodcarving workshop and her introduction to Whittlin’ Walt build on the importance of swans as a major symbol in the novel. She first became interested in woodcarving years before when she saw Walt carving a swan with outstretched wings. However, Delrita has so far only carved swans with their wings folded by their sides, illustrating her insecurity about her abilities and desire to stay safe. The symbol of the wooden swan with outstretched wings represents Delrita’s growth and progress toward maturity, as well as Whittlin’ Walt’s role as a character who parallels the role of the swan symbol. He is encouraging and kind to Delrita, and he inspires her to continue with her art. It is noteworthy that Walt’s presence in Delrita’s life comes at the exact moment of her father’s death, as Walt’s role almost mirrors that of her father. Only days before, Delrita’s dad urged her to try to carve a swan with outstretched wings, even though she thinks she can’t. He encourages her to let the swan “spread his wings and fly” (72), which is exactly what Delrita herself will have to do in the aftermath of losing her parents.
This section of the novel also develops the conflict and tension between Aunt Queenie and Delrita as they establish a new family dynamic in the wake of Delrita’s parents’ deaths. Aunt Queenie is overly meticulous about the tidiness of her house, which annoys Delrita, while Delrita and Punky’s messiness bothers Aunt Queenie. Queenie also disrupts Delrita’s safe status quo with her belief that Punky would benefit from working at the sheltered workshop. Delrita, who is worried about how people will treat Punky and doubts his capabilities, thinks Queenie is being selfish and careless. Delrita and Aunt Queenie are the two most dynamic characters in the novel, and both will soon become significantly more open to the other’s point of view. Delrita’s shift in perspective is primed by Punky’s positive interaction with the Shacklefords, but she still doesn’t yet see that it might be beneficial for him to work at the sheltered workshop, where he can form more relationships with people outside the family. Delrita’s perspective on this issue is still aligned with her mother’s view that Punky should be protected and kept close. However, as she matures, she will become more open to the views of those around her and be able to let go of the opinions she picked up from her upbringing. This conflict and the tension it engenders highlight The Role of Family Identity in Coming of Age as Delrita is forced to question some of her family’s attitudes for the first time.
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