65 pages • 2 hours read
Alistair MacLeodNo Great Mischief
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
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BetaChapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
Alex thinks about the fruit pickers to the south of Toronto. Many are immigrants or people working hard in the fields. Some are families, enjoying the work as a bonding experience. Alex thinks about the fruit pickers after their days’ work, when they sit around and drink and think about the money they are making and hope to make. He doesn’t know what to buy for Calum, or what to do for the people in the fields.
Chapter 11 Summary
By the time Alex and his twin sister are teenagers, their older brothers have experienced a great deal. He remembers the excitement of going to visit their farmstead in the country, and he gradually remembers that his sister accompanied him less and less. He feels that his brothers were embarrassed by the masculine nature of their lives, in contrast to her gradual realization of her own femininity.
Alex remembers one day, after spending an unsatisfying morning out on the water with his brothers in their boat, that Calum suffered from a terrible tooth ache. On realizing that Alexander had made a mistake, Calum becomes frustrated. With a pair of pliers, he tries to tear the swollen molar from his mouth. When it doesn’t work, he fastens a line between his tooth and his horse. When he whistles, the horse gallops away and takes the tooth with her. Calum washes the wound with salt water.
Chapter 12 Summary
Alex thinks about his orthodontist’s practice. He advises patients who seek out necessary and cosmetic procedures, occasionally asking the latter whether they truly need the work. He hands out leaflets, advising patients what to do (and what not to do) after their surgery. As he travels to purchase more alcohol for Calum, he watches the pigeons and notes their various injuries.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
No Great Mischief frequently contrasts the rugged past with the sterile, plaintive future. If the past is filled with rich, colorful anecdotes, the present seems far tamer and duller in comparison. A key example of this is the contrast between Alex’s successful work—in which he helps rich people with dental procedures—and his memories of his brothers’ lifestyles. The way in which Calum, suffering from a terrible toothache, attempts to wrench the tooth from the gums with a pair of pliers is painful to read. Then, when he attaches the tooth to a horse and sets her running away, this makeshift mode of dental hygiene is juxtaposed against Alex’s own practice.
The boring leaflets he hands out to patients after rehearsed, careful procedures contrast with the violence of Calum’s actions. Whereas the leaflets advise care and restraint, Calum washes out his wounds with saltwater. The past is a more violent place, one filled with pain, but it is far more interesting than the present. As such, this is perhaps why Alex focuses so much on his memories when carrying out mundane chores.
