79 pages • 2 hours read
Susin NielsenWe Are All Made of Molecules
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2015A 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.
Chapters 35-49Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapters 35-41 Summary
Content Warning: This summary section contains a depiction of sexual assault and an obscured quotation of an anti-gay slur.
Stewart is amused as he observes Ashley’s attempts to dislike Michael during Christmas dinner: “She so wanted to hate him, but everything he said to her was like another little ring of Pavlov’s bell. She couldn’t help but salivate” (187). Michael is a fashion sophisticate like Ashley. He works in advertising and offers Ashley a chance to attend a private sale of items that had been used in his film and commercial work. Although Ashley wants to disapprove of her father’s new boyfriend, she can’t help but be pleased to accept his offer.
After the fashion sale, Michael and Phil help Ashley home with her purchases. Just then, Jared arrives to make plans for New Year’s Eve. Ashley tries to cover up the relationship between Phil and Michael by introducing them to Jared as friends. She can tell that Michael is disappointed in her behavior.
When New Year’s Eve finally arrives, Stewart has made his own plans for a party. He’s invited Alistair, Phoebe, and Violet over for a Dr. Who marathon. Ashley announces that she has invited Jared, his friend Paolo, and her friend Lauren over as well and claims the family room for her group. Stewart and his friends will use Caroline and Leonard’s bedroom. Everything starts out well enough that evening. Leonard and Caroline leave for their getaway. Phil and Michael have gone skiing, and Phil calls to say he’ll be home late since he’s stuck in traffic.
After hearing that her father will be delayed, Ashley texts Jared to come over. Lauren arrives, followed soon by Jared, Paolo, and half a dozen other boys with liquor bottles. Jared suggests that Ashley call some more of her girlfriends too. Soon, a dozen teens are partying downstairs. Initially, Ashley doesn’t mind and proceeds to have several drinks. By ten o’clock, Stewart is concerned about the noise downstairs and investigates:
I could not believe the sight that met my eyes. There were well over a hundred kids. The front door was wide open, and people spilled out onto the lawn. A lot of them were drinking. Some were dancing. Two were fighting. One was barfing on the living room rug. The wine rack in the kitchen, which had held about six bottles, was empty (201).
Stewart tries calling Phil, but his message goes straight to voicemail. Suddenly, Stewart realizes that Schrödinger might have escaped the house. In a panic, he begins searching every room. He finally finds the cat hiding under Ashley’s bed and sequesters him in the adjoining bathroom. As he turns to go, Stewart hears voices coming from the bedroom. He opens the bathroom door a crack and sees Ashley unconscious on the bed while Jared takes pictures of her and attempts to remove her underwear. Behind him, Paolo is watching.
Unsure about what to do, Stewart remembers a confrontation that his mother had with a bully who picked on him when he was four. Her message was that a person shouldn’t stand by and let someone helpless be hurt. Stewart bursts out of the bathroom and confronts Jared, grabbing his phone before he can text the pictures of Ashley. Stewart runs from the room, calling out to his friends to stand guard over Ashley. Jared pursues Stewart, but Stewart darts out of the house and down the street. A few blocks away, Stewart uses Jared’s phone to call the police and then tosses the phone under the wheels of an oncoming bus.
When Ashley awakens the next morning, she finds a bucket of vomit next to her bed and her father sleeping on the floor. He says that he feared she might have alcohol poisoning and choke to death in her sleep. Ashley says:
Scraps of images started to form in my head. Jared handing me drink after drink. Jared pulling up my skirt. Paulo standing behind him. The sound of a click. I shuddered at that memory and thought, No, that couldn’t have happened. You had a nightmare” (208).
When Ashley goes downstairs, she realizes that it was no nightmare. The house is a wreck. The carpet is ruined, and someone has punched a hole in the wall. Worse still, Stewart is frantic because Schrödinger is missing.
Caroline and Leonard hurriedly return home from their getaway to survey the damage. Initially, they blame both Ashley and Stewart until everyone realizes that Ashley alone is to blame. Meanwhile, Stewart and his three friends continue their search outside for the missing cat. They encounter Phil beside his little backyard house. Stewart asks if he’s seen Schrödinger: “Phil didn’t answer. He just stared. I followed his gaze, and a truly awful day became even worse. A single word was spray-painted in big black letters on the side of his laneway house, for the world to see. F*****” (213).
Chapters 42-49 Summary
The police return to investigate the anti-gay graffiti on Phil’s house. Initially, Ashley refuses to point the finger at Jared, but Stewart speaks up. This mortifies her even more, and Ashley chastises herself for not breaking up with Jared when he first crossed her boundaries, and is ashamed of her unwillingness to hold him accountable.
Jared’s parents are in denial about their son’s actions, and Ashley’s family can’t file charges without the incriminating pictures on the crushed phone. Ashley feels terrible for the trouble she caused and is upset that Schrödinger is missing. Stewart is too angry with her to accept her apology. When she returns to school after the holiday break, she finds Lauren is now dating Jared.
Stewart mourns the loss of Schrödinger. His therapist points out that losing the cat is like losing his mother all over again. He spends most of his time hiding under his mother’s afghan. Ashley tries to make amends by offering to get him a new cat. She also says that lurking under the afghan isn’t healthy. Stewart’s anger toward Ashley erupts: “Not only are you dumb as a post, you’re mean. You’re so worried about yourself and your image you don’t care what happens to other people. Even your own dad!” (219-20).
Stewart accuses her of cowardice and says he’s sorry that he ever wanted her for a sister. Back at school, Ashley’s former friends all snub her. Everyone knows that her father is gay, and they also know what happened at her New Year’s Eve party. Alienated from her former peer group, Ashley can’t wait for the school day to end.
On his first day back at school after Christmas break, Stewart is still harboring anger toward Jared. During that afternoon’s basketball game, Jared trips Stewart when Stewart runs out on the court in his mascot costume. Stewart retaliates:
I was working on pure fury when I ran onto the court and plowed my dog-head into Jared’s stomach […] I ran behind him and pulled his gym shorts, along with his underwear, down to his ankles (225).
Everyone watching the game laughs, and Jared threatens: “You’re a dead man, Stewie!” (226). When Ashley hears about what happened, she’s surprised and touched that Stewart would defend her. Stewart gets suspended for a week, but the principal understands the provocation and promises to keep a close watch on Jared.
Later in the week, many students who weren’t part of Ashley’s former circle come to speak with her at lunch. They all sympathize about what happened to her father’s house, and they are all concerned about Stewart. They believe that when he comes back to school the following week, Jared might try to attack him. Ashley begins to formulate a plan to protect her stepbrother.
Meanwhile, Stewart counts down the days until he can return to school. He’s extremely bored but isn’t sorry for what he did to Jared:
I was secretly proud of myself. Who knew I could be that fierce? And I couldn’t help feeling that my mom would have been secretly proud of me, too. After all, this was the woman who’d thrown rocks at a seven-year-old. (231)
On Thursday evening, Stewart visits Phil to see how the repainting is coming along. Phil shows him the flyers he’s had made for the missing Schrödinger. He and Stewart are about to distribute them around the neighborhood when Ashley asks to help.
As the three are walking down a nearby street, Ashley hears a meowing sound coming from a neighbor’s garage. Frantically, Stewart runs to the front door and explains that his cat might be trapped inside. The owner unlocks the side door, and Stewart finds a frightened Schrödinger hiding out in the dark. The garage owner gives him a box to carry the cat home. Both Stewart and Ashley cry tears of joy.
In the days that follow, Ashley executes a plan to create protection squads for Stewart. With Michael’s help, she designs t-shirts and berets for all the members. They plan to escort Stewart to and from his classes in case Jared tries to attack him. Stewart is touched by the support. Fortunately, Jared keeps his distance. This is partially due to the squads but also because Ashley’s new boyfriend is a rugby player. He threatens Jared with reprisal from the entire team if he harms any member of the Inkster-Anderson clan.
Stewart is impressed with Ashley and tells her his favorite Einstein quote: “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it” (244). Over time, Stewart’s protection squad evolves into a larger group intent on protecting anyone who feels bullied. They come up with a new name for their venture and have it printed on their t-shirts. Stewart suggests the new name, and Ashley agrees that it should be: “WE ARE ALL MADE OF MOLECULES” (244).
As Stewart’s life at school and home settle into a new stage of harmony, he decides to sketch a new picture of his extended family. It has become an octagon and grown to encompass the Andersons, the Inksters, Michael, and Schrödinger.
Chapters 35-49 Analysis
While the theme of Exclusionary Social Hierarchy dominated the preceding segment, the book’s final chapters focus on Inclusive Molecules. The disastrous New Year’s Eve party initially seems to fling all the characters in different directions. Phil and Michael are skiing. Caroline and Leonard are on a getaway. Stewart and his friends separate themselves upstairs from Ashley’s crowd downstairs, and Schrodinger goes missing.
The social dynamic shifts: Ashley, the initial queen of the in-crowd, is ostracized by her friend group. Stewart changes roles from peacemaker to antagonist when calling Ashley dumb and mean. He turns his wrath on her just as she has done to him so many times before. Ashley’s transformation begins when she recognizes some truth behind his words.
Both Ashley and Stewart grow. Stewart, a meek character, shows courage by protecting Ashley at the party and pulling down Jared’s shorts during the game. Ashley, a shallow character, gains depth. She teams up to find Schrodinger and organizes squads to protect Stewart.
As Ashley and Stewart resolve their interpersonal conflict, their new harmony makes it possible for the Inksters and Andersons to act like a family. Stewart illustrates this, sketching an octagon to represent the Shape of a Family.
This inclusiveness extends to the school atmosphere. The outcasts approach Ashley, and she begins to appreciate their perspective. She aligns with them to protect Stewart from Jared, who is still part of the in-crowd. The students at Borden High and the family members of the Inkster-Anderson clan blur the distinctions that kept them apart. They exemplify Stewart’s assertion that everyone is made of the same molecules, and therefore innately connected.
