42 pages • 1-hour read
The Saturdays
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Chapters 5-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary: “Saturday Five”
It is the beginning of Spring, and all the kids agree that the ISAAC club is going well; the older kids have each had a couple of successful adventures with their allowance money. This Saturday is Oliver’s turn to use his money. Feeling rebellious, six-year-old decides he wants to go out and spend his money unaccompanied, like his older siblings do. He sneaks out of the house and goes to Madison Square Garden to see the circus. Oliver is amazed at the trained animals and loves the show, indulging in hot dogs, cotton candy and peanuts, all snacks Cuffy would have disapproved of.
After the show, Oliver sits for a while, not wanting it to be over. He finally walks out into the street, finding it dark, noisy and confusing. With an awful stomachache from all his junk food, and now lost in the streets, Oliver begins to cry. He tells a police officer he is lost, and the policeman gives him a ride home on his horse. Oliver returns home to find his siblings frantic at his absence, and he is promptly sick. Even though Oliver feels guilty for making everyone worry, and vomits up all his snacks, he still fondly remembers the circus and, most of all, his exciting ride on a real police horse.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Saturday 6”
After Oliver’s misadventure at the circus, the children decide to change the rules of their club, pooling their allowances to do something together rather than independently. Their father is very happy with the idea. The children debate what to do and consider what they can afford with their budget of one dollar and sixty cents. They decide to save their money and just have a picnic in central park instead.
The kids work together to pack a lunch, and Rush walks Isaac to the park while the girls take the bus. At the park, the kids chat, eat, and decide to spend some of their money to take a rowboat out on the lake. Randy loves looking into the water, but he looks a little too closely and falls into the lake. As the kids haul her out, their picnic supplies also go tumbling into the water. Once the kids gather all their things, and their very wet sister, they quickly bring the rowboat back.
They use the rest of their money on a taxi to get Randy home and dry quickly. At home, they try to hide the evidence of their misadventure and hope Randy doesn’t get sick from the cold. The kids hang all the wet clothes in the furnace room, and Rush volunteers to put coal in the furnace before bed so Cuffy won’t see all the laundry. Rush mistakenly leaves the furnace door open. Later that night, Isaac barks, waking Rush. He realizes that the air smells funny and that coal gas is seeping into all the rooms, suffocating the kids. He wakes his sisters and Cuffy, and they escape into the outside air. They call the handyman, Willy, who tells Rush to always close the furnace door. When their father arrives home from his work trip the kids come clean about their Saturday mishaps and near-death experience.
Chapters 5-6 Analysis
In these chapters, the story expands its consideration of The Fraught and Formative Bonds between Siblings by showing how the Melendy siblings squabble while also working together and taking care of each other. When the youngest Melendy goes missing, Mona, Randy and Rush immediately set to work trying to find him: “‘Where is he?’ shouted Rush. ‘Isn’t he home?’ cried Randy. ‘We can’t find him anyplace,’ answered Mona” (105). The children’s emotional reactions and efforts to find Oliver show their love for their little brother. When he finally returns home, Rush is still out looking while Randy is at home “in tears” (115). Mona’s affectionate welcome to Oliver highlights their bond: “Oh, Oliver darling, where were you?” (115). Though the children’s independent outings challenge them to fend for themselves, offering The Benefits of Independence in Childhood, the siblings are also there to support each other as a community when needed.
The older children’s generosity towards Oliver also changes the rules of their club, as they decide to do activities as a group so he can be included. The Melendy kids’ ability to work together is tested during their misadventure at Central Park. When Randy accidentally falls into the lake, her siblings quickly get her out, teasing her and helping her at the same time: “‘Still crazy about water?’ asked Rush, reaching out for an oar for her to catch…Rush and Mona pulled her into the boat at the risk of capsizing it…Rush pulled off his jacket gallantly and wrapped it around her” (127). When Randy apologizes for ruining their fun, Mona kindly reassures her, telling her little sister, “Don’t you worry, Ran. It was sort of an adventure, after all” (128). The kids must collaborate once again when there is a coal gas leak in their home. As they try to wake up their sister Randy, Mona and Rush squabble. Mona asks, “‘Oh Rush—Do you suppose—is her heart beating?’ ‘Of course it is, you idiot.’ Rush sounded angry but he sounded scared too. ‘Here, help me.’ He slung the limp little figure of Randy over his shoulder and began to go downstairs” (134). Rush’s rudeness mixed with his caring acts encapsulates the Melendys’ close but fractious sibling bond.
The children’s Saturdays offer further opportunities for Finding the Unexpected in the Everyday. Oliver is surprised to discover that the best part of his day was not the amazing spectacle of the circus he had dreamed of for so long, but being rescued by a police officer on horseback. He tells his father, “‘But the thing I liked best of all wasn’t in the circus.’ ‘What was that?’ said father. ‘It was when the policeman brought me home on his horse,’ replied Oliver” (117). The circus is a spectacle promising extraordinary sights. Though it occurs in the midst of the city, it offers the chance to see things far outside the city-dweller’s typical experience—lions, elephants, trapeze artists, and more. Though Oliver seeks out these extraordinary experiences, the greatest adventure of his day occurs when he least expects it, via the kindness an ordinary police officer. Even days later, “the memory of that ride had become a radiant thing” (117), suggesting that he will hold onto the memory for years to come. Oliver’s humorous and unpredictable adventures reinforce the story’s message that life’s best experiences are often unplanned.
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