Chapter Thirty-Seven
Contains spoilersOverview
The chapter intertwines a memory from Ted’s father’s funeral with the present chase aftermath. In the past, Joar’s confrontational humor with a minister helps Ted laugh through grief, the minister praises the artist’s drawing, and the friends briefly scheme to fund art supplies by stealing deposit cans until a misidentified trash bag turns out to be a dog. In the present, twenty-five years later, Ted stands battered near a train station taxi at night, hearing a dog bark and reflecting that his fear has always been of death, not dogs.
Summary
The chapter opens by stating Ted is terrified of dogs now, though he had not been before his father’s funeral. The narrative shifts to twenty-five years earlier, where teenage Ted sits in a church with Joar, Ali, and the artist during the funeral. A minister approaches, and Joar confronts him with irreverent, combative questions about God, death, and faith, inadvertently prompting Ted to laugh on a day he desperately needed relief.
The minister expresses condolences and engages Joar’s barrage with patience, suggesting faith and science need not be exclusive. Joar challenges the notion of God’s plan and, urged to ask God directly, delivers a profane plea to stop cancer. Ted’s laughter in that moment is framed as life-saving, and Ali suggests getting pastries, marking Ted’s sense of crossing from childhood into adulthood that day.
As they leave, the artist drops a sketch of the church windows and crucifixion; the minister is awed and predicts the artist will one day sell for millions. The artist offers the drawing to the minister, but when Joar hears of its supposed value, he dashes back to snatch it away, making the minister laugh.
The friends cross the churchyard, and Joar—ever the kicker—tests trash bags by sound. They discover a bag full of deposit cans and sprint away with it, dreaming of buying paints and canvases. Spotting another black bag in a nearby garden, Ted, eager to accomplish something himself, vaults the fence to grab it.
The bag is actually a large black dog, and Ted flees in terror as it chases him. Joar distracts the dog by throwing the bag of cans onto the lawn, and Ali’s shouted scream startles the animal into hesitating, allowing Ted to escape over the fence. The friends lament the lost deposits, bicker briefly, and then run when an adult shouts from the house; Ali kindly lets Joar have the last word, a small act of grace the boys cherish.
The narrative returns to the present: twenty-five years later, Ted stands in a parking lot near a train station, disheveled and bruised, his watch missing from his wrist. A dog barks somewhere in the dark, and the closing line emphasizes that Ted’s real fear has always been death, not dogs.
Who Appears
- Ted
narrator/protagonist; mourned his father as a teen, fled a chasing dog in the past, and in the present stands bruised near a taxi, reflecting on fear.
- Joar
friend; confronts the minister with blunt questions, steals back the artist’s drawing, distracts the dog by throwing deposit cans.
- Ali
friend; supports Ted, suggests pastries, scares the dog into hesitating with a scream, shows kindness by letting Joar have the last word.
- The artist
friend; drops a sketch of the church windows that impresses the minister; first outside validation of his art’s worth.
- The minister
new; officiant who consoles Ted, debates gently with Joar, praises the artist’s drawing and predicts future success.
- Ted’s father
deceased; funeral is the setting of the teenage scenes and Ted’s transition to adulthood.