78 pages • 2 hours read
Gary PaulsenHarris and Me: A Summer Remembered
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1993A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
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BetaChapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “In which I discover love only to have my heart broken and in revenge fry Harris’s business”
“I didn’t know I was in love until it was all over, and it was too late to do anything about it” (73), reflects the protagonist at the opening of Chapter 10. The protagonist’s love story begins at a dance on a Saturday night. Even after a few trips into town, he still feels out of place at the beer hall, and while Harris is off wrestling with the other boys, the protagonist grabs an orange pop and sits down to wait for the movie. Having seen it many times by now, he chooses to watch the kids instead. He spots a beautiful blue-eyed, blonde-haired girl who is watching him intently, and he is instantly in love. Bashful and embarrassed, he sneaks away, and to his surprise, the girl follows him out and introduces herself as Elaine Peterson. The protagonist manages to get a few short words out through his nervousness, the movie ends, and Harris comes out and sits down with him. Despite the protagonist’s signals for Harris to go away, he stays and talks to Elaine. Harris decides to ruin the protagonist’s chances and makes up a lie that he is not “right in the head” (75). It convinces Elaine, who walks away with a look of pity on her face. The protagonist is fuming mad and swears revenge against Harris.
The next day, he gets his chance at revenge. Knute and the boys are installing some electrical wires around the chicken coops and pig pens. The protagonist concocts a plan to dare Harris to pee on the wire and see what happens. He offers Harris one of his “dourty peectures” in return (77). Harris refuses, so he offers a second picture that includes full nudity. Harris reluctantly agrees, and the protagonist explains the terms: Harris must pee directly on the wire, long enough for it to surge. Harris is nervous and scared and cannot seem to pee. When he finally manages to, he is electrocuted. He half-recovers, and the protagonist hands him the pictures, but just then Louie walks up and snatches them from his hands. The result is a disagreement between the boys about whether the protagonist still owes Harris pictures or not. The chapter ends as the two are still arguing as they lie in bed and drift off to sleep.
Chapter 11 Summary: “In which Harris discovers speed… and the value of clothing”
Chapter 11 begins as the protagonist describes the hard work the boys put in fixing up some old bikes so they could ride around the driveway. The protagonist invents a fantasy in which he is going to use the bike to go to Elaine’s farm, even though she no longer shows interest in him. Once they get the bikes working, however, it becomes immediately clear that they are not road worthy. Harris says they need to make them go faster and starts thinking about the motor inside the washing machine while biting his lip. Harris does this whenever he has a mischievous idea. Harris suggests they wait until his parents are out of town before removing the motor. The protagonist realizes that Harris does not actually act by impulse, but he plans out his schemes with precision.
Harris begins by attaching the pulley to the spokes, which takes him hours. The protagonist gets bored and wanders off to look at Louie’s table of models again. He sees a new farm on the table, and for the first time refers to it as “our farm” (82) rather than “the farm” or “their farm”. He notices there is a figure for each family member, and then he notices one of himself. The protagonist is touched as he realizes he finally belongs somewhere and is finally home and begins to cry. He goes back to meet Harris and fibs that he got dust in his eyes. Harris shows him his work with enthusiasm. The next day, the farm is clear again for the boys to try out the new bike.
The protagonist is convinced that Harris’s invention will not operate and refuses to try it. Against the anticipated outcome, the motor starts after many failed attempts, which the protagonist deems God’s intervention to save Harris, and Harris begins to move down the driveway. The bike holds together and begins speeding up uncontrollably. Harris screams for help as he rolls away into the bushes. The protagonist goes to see if he is ok; Harris is scratched up, and his pants have flown off. After an hour of searching, the overalls are nowhere to be found, and they give up for home. Again, the chapter closes with the boys in bed reflecting on their day. Harris asks how fast he was going, and the protagonist, forgetting to time him, makes a guess of 100 miles an hour. They marvel at the event and the chapter ends.
Chapter 12 Summary: “In which all things change”
The summer is ending. Harris and the protagonist are playing “cob wars” (88) in the corn field, throwing ears of half-ripened corn at each other. The boys argue over who gets to be the good guy and the bad guy. Harris convinces the protagonist to be the “commie jap” (89) while he plays as GI Joe. They begin, and Harris lands the first couple of shots. The protagonist misses his first shot, and Harris hits again. They continue playing for a while when the protagonist spots the deputy car pulling up. Clair calls them to the house, and she, Knute, and Glennis look distraught. In what feels like a flash, the protagonist is in the car and rolling down the driveway when Harris runs out and stops them. He pleads through tears for the protagonist to find a way to come back and the protagonist replies, “I will” (90). They drive off, and the deputy asks if the protagonist had a good summer. Memories of each event flood his mind, and the book ends.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
Chapter 10 is the first major indication that the protagonist is growing up and maturing. He discovers love, and although he is still timid, it is a sign that he is no longer a child. After working the farm all summer, taking over for Harris, and taking part in many misadventures, the protagonist is coming into himself. After Harris is hurt by the bull, the protagonist exerts authority over him for the first time to ensure that he comes back to work. Then, in Chapter 10, he exerts this authority again when he dares Harris to perform an act that the protagonist already knows will probably hurt him. This is an act of revenge, but not an act of hate. Ironically, Harris does indulge the dare, but the deal is foiled when Louie swipes the pictures from the boys at the last minute. The protagonist is evolving from a boy who is led around the farm to an adolescent who takes charge of his life and his surroundings—he is gaining confidence. We also see here that the protagonist and Harris are less like a leader and a follower and more like equals, which develops the sense of family life.
Chapter 11 contains the pivotal moment in which the protagonist is finally home. When he goes to admire Louie’s table of miniatures, he discovers that there is a figure of him along with the rest of the Larson family. Never having felt accepted in his life, it brings him to tears. The entire novel seems to have been leading up to this moment, and the protagonist’s transformation is actualized with this epiphany. Although he has been growing and developing a bond with the Larsons all summer, it is only now that it really sinks in. The atmosphere of this chapter is unique within the novel because it is a deeply personal and emotional moment for the protagonist. True to form, however, it still concludes with an experiment, a mistake, and a comedic result as the boys attach a washing machine motor to a bicycle and see what happens.
The final chapter of Harris and Me is short, much like the protagonist’s departure itself, and the tone shifts abruptly from another humorous game between the boys to the building of the final tension as the deputy pulls up to the farm to take the protagonist back to his parents. The Larsons are grieving his departure, but Harris becomes distraught. The bond between Harris and the protagonist is solid after three months of spending each morning, noon, and night together. Harris comes to the window as the protagonist is about to drive away, exclaiming “You make them bring you back” (90). The protagonist is part of the Larson family now, and it feels wrong to him, Harris, and the rest of the Larsons that he is leaving. In the final moments of the novel, the protagonist is asked by the deputy if he had a good summer. The wave of emotions and memories that floods in is too much for the protagonist to bear, but he manages to answer yes.
In the brief epilogue, Harris is writing to the protagonist and keeping him updated on events at the farm. The novel ends with the question left hanging whether the protagonist ever returns to the Larson’s farm or not. Either way, the summer has changed him forever, and he is finally loved the way he deserves to be.
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