The Ogress and the Orphans

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2022

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-9

Chapters 10-15

Chapters 16-19

Chapters 20-24

Chapters 25-30

Chapters 31-36

Chapters 37-42

Chapters 43-49

Chapters 50-54

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 6-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 6 Summary: “The Orphans Have Several Theories”

The orphans aren’t old enough to remember Stone-in-the-Glen before the Library burned, and since they are rarely permitted to wander outside, they spend much of their time thinking about the town’s problems. Anthea, the eldest, believes the town was once the loveliest town in the world because she has pictures of how it used to look, while Bartleby, the second oldest, wonders how the town became unlovely. Neither believes the Ogress caused the town to lose its loveliness. Two twins think the town has never been lovely, and the youngest orphans feel it’s unfair that they can’t go beyond the Orphan House’s fence to play.

Cass, Bartleby’s sister and third oldest, doesn’t speak much, and she doesn’t care whether the town was ever lovely or not. While Anthea believes in logic and Bartleby philosophizes, Cass lives in the moment, believing all that matters is that the Orphan House is a good place. Its people are good people who look out for one another, and it will always be this way. The chapter ends with the stone proclaiming, "Cass was right. Until she wasn’t” (28).

Chapter 7 Summary: “The Stone”

At the center of Stone-in-the-Glen is a stone in the middle of a glen. This stone was once surrounded by trees that people cut down to build the town, but even after the trees were cleared away, people didn’t notice the stone until after the Library burned. Then, they saw that the stone had pictures and words that seemed related to the town, and these pictures sparked conversations about how to use the stone to rebuild the town’s culture.

When the Mayor touches the stone, he sees something that scares and angers him. He hides these feelings, telling the people that “it pains me to see such disagreement in our beloved community” (33), which causes people to look at their neighbors with suspicion and anger for disappointing the wonderful mayor. The Mayor has a box built around the stone to hide it, and the people forget about it. Even when the box falls apart, people only complain about the heap of trash at the town’s center.

Chapter 8 Summary: “Tick, Tock”

The Orphan House is run by the Matron and her husband, Myron. While the Matron is agile and strong, Myron has scars on his wrists and neck, and he grows more tired as the days go on. One day, Anthea, Myron, and Elijah (another orphan) go to the butcher shop, where the butcher argues with the cobbler about their previous agreement. The Mayor warned the butcher about underhanded dealings in the town, and the butcher is sure everyone is trying to swindle him.

Myron tries to calm the butcher, but he refuses to listen. The butcher yells at Anthea for being an orphan who drains his taxes, adding that when she turns 14, she’ll be kicked out of the Orphan House, which he believes is just a house to train young criminals. Myron herds Anthea and Elijah outside while he deals with the butcher, and Anthea is frightened about being sent out on her own. Elijah starts to tell a story, but Anthea doesn’t want to hear it. Instead, he tells her the ending: “The orphans save the day” (45).

Myron and the cobbler leave the butcher shop. The cobbler says he’ll get the Mayor to fix this, and his eyes go glassy before he wanders away in a trance. Myron, Elijah, and Anthea return to the Orphan House, and Anthea looks back to see the butcher miming a clock ticking away her time until she’s on her own.

Chapter 9 Summary: “What the Ogress Saw in the Periscope”

The Ogress takes a few years to build her house. The crows help her, which makes the townspeople suspicious because a group of crows is called a murder. All the while, she can’t stop thinking about the great sense of loss she feels from Stone-in-the-Glen. She wants to be a good neighbor to the town, but the sadness and fear make her wonder if such a thing is possible. She builds a periscope to watch the town, through which she sees mostly sorrow.

One day, the Ogress sees a small house with fruit trees. The old woman who lives there plucks the fruit and gives it away, which makes people smile. When a child gets stuck in the tree, she climbs up to help but falls and is injured. Without the bags of fruit, people walk right by the house as if they’ve forgotten about the woman. The Ogress bakes a pie to give the woman, and the act makes her feel so good, that she leaves treats for other homes, feeling that “this is what it means to be a neighbor” (56). She does this for the next several years, but nothing changes. Still, she wants to believe she can make a difference, and she makes sure to leave treats for the Orphan House and the Mayor, even though there is something strange about his house.

Chapters 6-9 Analysis

Chapter 6 introduces many of the orphans. As the eldest, Anthea believes she has a responsibility to the others, and her analytical mind keeps her grounded in logic and facts. She has evidence that the town was once lovely, and to her, that evidence is proof that Stone-in-the-Glen was lovely. Bartleby, by contrast, philosophizes and sees multiple angles. He offers emotions to complement Anthea’s facts, and between them, they find the truth, showing how balance is necessary for growth. Cass is the quiet type who remains steadfast in her beliefs. The final line of the chapter foreshadows the Orphan House’s later troubles. Even the most kind and good people can have moments of unkindness.

The stone referred to in Chapter 7 is the story’s narrator, and the stories on its surface ultimately save the town. The Mayor burned down the Library to cause chaos and force the people to come to him for help. Whether he intended it or not, burning the Library also caused people to stop discussing ideas and asking questions. The loss of books and the knowledge they contain turned Stone-in-the-Glen into an echo chamber, a place where the same beliefs and thoughts echo off one another and grow louder until they are all anyone believes. The stone has all the stories that were in the Library, plus many others, and the Mayor covers it because he fears that people will think new thoughts and decide they no longer need him as the Mayor.

It is never specified what the Mayor sees that frightens him, but since the stone holds all stories ever told or that will be told, it is likely the Mayor saw how his story in Stone-in-the-Glen would end. He covers the stone in an attempt to change the story, figuring that the people will continue to fear and hate others if they can’t look at new information. He also doesn’t want them to see his story and turn against him. The story ends the way the Mayor feared despite his influences, which suggests a few possibilities. It may be that the Mayor’s actions had no impact. It may also be that his actions had an impact but that the actions of the orphans and Ogress undid whatever impact the Mayor had, and in this case, perhaps the Mayor’s actions only delayed the ending. These possibilities call into question whether a story will always find a way to its correct conclusion or if people really have the power to change an ending, a debate not settled by the end of the book.

The argument between the butcher and cobbler in Chapter 8 shows the danger of misinformation. The Mayor has told the butcher that the town's people are thieves involved in shady business practices. The butcher believes this, and as a result, he goes back on deals previously made, even though there is nothing shady about those deals or any proof that shady deals are actually taking place. The spread of misinformation makes the butcher and others wary of people they’ve trusted for years. This wariness leads to division, which gives the Mayor more power because, as the spreader of the information, the people believe he tells the truth and has their best interests in mind when he doesn’t. The butcher’s belief that the Orphan House trains criminals shows how one fearful belief can multiply. The Mayor said nothing about the Orphan House, but the misinformation about shady dealings has led the butcher to believe everyone is out to get him. He decides the Orphan House is raising criminals because it fits with his view of the town, even though there is no proof the Orphan House is engaging in such practices.

The old woman the Ogress watches in Chapter 9 is evidence of the strength of kindness and how quickly people forget good deeds. The fruit the woman gives away brings a smile to everyone. She stops giving the fruit because her injury no longer allows her to collect it, and soon after, the people forget about her because they are too consumed with their own problems. It is never said if they check on the woman, and no mention of the woman is made again, suggesting she died due to her injury. If someone had gone to look for her, she might have gotten the help she needed to recover, but without her acts of kindness, she became just another person to be wary of. The Mayor covering the stone also symbolizes how short memory can be. The people forget the stone as soon as it’s out of sight, but they complain about the trash heap at the center of town, which was caused by the stone. This also shows how the people are dazzled by the Mayor and don’t question his actions.