The Wall - John Lanchester Summary of all chapters

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who take the side from the Others are wicked, wrong, morally lost and traitors Part 2: The Others 13) - K gets used to his shifts home no longer feels like home -> won't go back there after the wall when you come to the wall at first all you can think about is when will you get off K understands the captain and why he has been on the wall for such a long time thinks about spending more time on the wall (simply because then he would do it by choice) K wants to do in his future a little bit of everything everybody loves Mary. K had liked her since the beginning Mary got shot: she's bleeding (worst thing K had ever seen) code red: attack some others are running towards him his right arm got injured Hifa saved him and went against the rules Captain killed some others K detached from the situation Captain calls ambulance and gives K a compliment "he did well tonight" smart Others: waited for a very noisy windy night Others went only for cooper shoona and K Hifa visits him: she had a concussion K brings up Mary's death -> Hifa grieving and sad -> K realizes how much he liked her and is now sad as well > Mary & Shoona are dead, Cooper heavily injured They're both sick of the wall - Hifa asked K if he'd like to breed with her 14) they are saving their lives by bringing somebody new to life breeder privileges: own room etc they get teased by members spend a lot time together: get to know each other a lot better - a speech of a politician: members such as K and Hifa got medals K really liked the the applause they were invited into a reception room and got very drunk there on the lorry home Hifa was feeling ill, she threw up in the toilet K health her hair up K realized he loved her and was unbelievably happy: it was the best day of his life 15) - Captain never uses the word "Others" -> this gives some sensitivity about his former life Sarge was also injured by the latest attack: a cut on his cheekbone K not fit enough to fight but he was on administrative duties while recovering: doing chores K and Hifa visit Hifas mom remembering the conditions on the wall K decided to never take Comfort for granted ever again once they are in London they buy tea and biscuits which reminds K of Mary Hifa seem afraid Hifas mom looks like a drama-projecting, tall woman with a woman behind her: instantly recognizing that it was a Help Hifas mom wants to be the center of attention which K does not appreciate K now gets why Hifa didn't want to come here in the first place the mum was also funny and the time there was Ok it was good to be away from the wall especially with Hifa The mom can afford help because Hifa dad sends money probably because he's feeling guilty after leaving them K thinks about his future with Hifa -> if they'd live together none of them would have to go back to their parents - K looks in the mirror: he looks good and well rested - The mom likes to paint the spirit animal of people later on she says K's is a goat goats are resourceful and can live on little amount of things 16) whole group: trip to the North "Hifa would be pregnant soon and we'd be out of there" K likes talking to Hughes the best, after Hifa misses Shoona, Cooper(whom's situation still no one knows about) and especially Mary K tells people how to get through a shift, giving warnings about the type 2 cold and telling people to watch out for captains small hours inspections K sees the baby politician as an object to study. he doesn't hate him. more others are coming and they are more desperate > they got secret networks of support as well. the baby politician stopped Kavanagh and called him by his real name: Joseph nobody calls him that. it's either Kavanagh or Chewy the baby politician gave K a card with name and email on it: K took it The captain was off and tensed at night: Captain still missing -> filthy weather: hard to see lights have failed: the backup lights didn't kick in either. -> the longest dark it has ever been attack: guns which don't sound like those from the defenders 3 explosions - code red: Others are here Sarge, Hifa and Kavanagh are covering too many Others got through already - even two cars got through the Others got indeed help from the inside suddenly captain is beside them: jumps to them into the cover Sarge wants to wait till the last Others got over the wall and then act > Captain approved suddenly the captain shoots Sarge in the head and shoots some other defenders as well Hifa & Kavanagh are behind the bench: protected from the captain as the captain shoots more defenders, K runs towards him, fights him to ground: unconscious & bleeding - Hifa throws grenades at the cars: car explodes: fire: dead - there are coming lorries from left and right > K says "it was over" 17) all of them arrested one month in something like "cells" Hifa, K, Hughes, Yos and 3 new defenders - The Captain works with the Others Hifa told K to just let it go: he can't though bitter betrayal - out of 30 only 7 survived K thinks about a happy afterlife with Hifa interrogation every day or two: interrogated people vary always the same questions (what happened, tons of questions about the captain etc) drove by lorry again judge's sentence will be put to sea Part 3: The Sea 18) they were offered to write letters to their loved ones before being put to sea -> K didn't want to at first but did it and felt better afterwards got their chips removed: no biometric ID: no life Captain shook their hands and they took off now on the sea in a small boat (K, Hifa and Hughes) - a little lifeboat with storage for food supplies K felt: despair, grief, numbness and blankness and very very afraid sees lights Hifa was seasick they look terrible: lips cracking with salt, face red with sea wind the lights winked on and off possible rescue (only chance) K knew the rules: u let Others through-> you'll get put to sea > but the injustice was immense : despair the guard has been very generous: they got food for weeks, warm and waterproof clothing. The baby politician (James) hid in the back of the boat -> as he came out, everyone was shook there was another person laying on the floor of the boat wrapped in several layers of blankets: either unconscious or asleep (The baby politician) James said that it was the captain and asked whether they should kill him or not 19) James was put to sea because the judge said that he should have realized that the captain was the network of the Others Captain tells his story: 10 years ago :7 people only he made it he and other people believe that the wall is not meant to keep human beings out; just water the network is big captain says they despise their hypocrisy refuses to say sorry everybody's angry and disappointed James wants to kill him did captain offers him two lead them to somewhere safe (in the south) it was either that or die - now rowing south K and James rowing: James shows K a grenade, which he got from a commander in case they would run into trouble or decide to kill themselves K wonders what the lights were (guards, defenders or Others?) - Hifa told K she knows that land is near: an island all of them happy to see land: Luck rowing was harder: especially with wounds on your hands Captain came out of the back to watch their new life was all about luck problem: there are no beaches to land on (bc of the Change) vertical hills out of rock > they would crash against them and die > captain turns around and says "this isn't the only possible angle of approach" they need to take a tour around the island no landing spots to be found unsafe island to even get close to suddenly: a flotilla of boats 20) - new life: low profile finding out who the people on the island were and how they got there K starts think that they are now Others as well, so instead of "Others" they may be a new "Us" they get taken in by the floating community onto a raft - K thanks them K starts talking to a woman (from the floating community) in her mid-40s with black and gray hair they talked about food: K said thinking about food while you're in a shift on the wall made you feel better but on the sea it makes you feel worse six or seven people on the raft - two children, three teenage girls, the woman (Mara), her husband (Kellan); not originally english people Kellan confident, orderly, tough Kevin that introduced himself -> Kellan nodded: not friendly not unfriendly Kellan said K looked like a swimmer, K admits that he indeed likes swimming > Mara offers him to dive into water and look for food K accepts, Hughes joins him Hifa's job: experimenting with bird traps Captain and James: mixture of watch and fishing duties nobody was lazy The winter would be hard but the community had already survived one and they know how to bear it K and Hughes searching for a spot to dive in The water was dark but not deep - K went in first: a freeing feeling K found seaweed and a shellfish: was too weak to pull himself out of the water so Hughes had to help him - K's body temperature dangerously low Kellan proud of him they did a work plan to set three dives per day the captain was very quiet - K avoided him The Wall (None of those below (migration, etc.) are explicitly said) migration: - protect England from so-called "others" which are simply refugees protecting as in shooting others if they fail their task: thrown into the sea/killed every teenager has to go through this task for two years in GB climate change: - catastrophic climate change planet is heated by about 4 to 5 degrees an enormous unimaginably altered world everything about human life has changed shows what could possibly happen in the future if we don't get off the path we're currently on sea level rises very cold green landscapes and now under water no planes no traveling Brexit: England is shielding and sealing off era where we re turning away from each other / turning our backs on each other fence between India and Pakistan/ between western Sahara and morocco: great era of wall building plot: - boredom & how he deals with it nothing changes on the wall protecting the Wall (as a defender) from the Others (migrants) Chapters 1-25 Part 1: The Wall 1) arrival at the wall kavanagh has no idea a little scared explains squad layout & place migrants get killed if they try to come near in the meeting with the captain he told them stories about killing the other when they're intruding - K didn't want to tell the community that they once were defenders (because the community are basically Others) K asks the captain what they would do if they found out that they were defenders (ironic: bc with the captain it was the other way around) The captain confesses they know already, he told them Captain says "no more lies" K sees it sort of as an apology they have a saying "nothing before the sea was real" K has dreams about fire: he would really feel the warmth: his best moments on the sea 21) - chaotic motion on the rafts few weeks after they joined the community bad weather : storm thick black clouds moving towards them strong winds, waves & rain rafts buckled and were a bit torn apart K tries to hold the rafts and the lifeboat together gets on the lifeboat where Hughes and Hifa are the despair came all back - the storm luckily wasn't getting stronger: it was passing relief suddenly a big ship is coming towards them frightening, eyes filled with horror it was the same ship with the same five lights that Kavanagh had seen weeks before 22) everybody stopped and stared Captain closest to the approaching ship Hifa and K went to stand next to the Captain - to ship slow down as it got closer 4 men on the deck of the ship with guns The captain opened his arms trying to convey that they don't have any weapons - The captain got shot in the head - it is a pirate ship 10 other men pointing their weapons at them K and Hifa bent down to the ground where The captain's body was laying Kavanagh sees the captain as the bravest man, the most loyal, the biggest traitor, the person he admired the most, who saved his life but who had also done him more harm than anyone else - The Pirates were telling them to stand up some pirates came to the raft, took the body and threw it in the ocean fear, panic the Pirates took all the valuables, all the food, water after that they took the teenage girls, Hughes stood up for them but one pirate hit him unconscious Mara and Kellan ran after them: they were hit as well they would probably have took hifa too if they had seen she was a woman > K partly ashamed because he was relieved they didn't took Hifa Kellan and Mara ran after them screaming begging them to wait and stop the pirate shot both of them James prepares to prime his grenade - K and Hifa hiding, keeping their heads down two explosion an energy went through all the rafts and hit their lifeboat in the side - The rafts have broken up and were on fire 2) - The wall is 10,000 km long, 3 m wide and 5 m high on the seaside two types of colds: 1) is always there 2) is also always there but gets colder and goes through you The coldness leaves traumatic traces compares concrete poetry to the life on the wall Life on the wall is more like a poem then it is like a story because all days are the same there are always risks of disaster but most days nothing happens day, responsibility and thoughts are all about the war Time and life blur - his first shift: 12 hours - official name of the wall is the national coastal defense structure 3) time goes but very slowly kitchen staff brings hot drink after first 2h so lonely is happy about the empathy of the kitchen staff (Mary) when bringing the drink jealous ab Mary talking to Hifa intensively energy bars for power some say the tea makes one think about sex LITTL on the wall there isn't much to think about so he became obsessed with food - power bars tastes more intense then ever Captain looks scary and reassuring Captain observed kavanagh's power bar absorption : K apologies Captain a good leader but : liar 4) Woman with red hair is called Shoona Simpson Kavanagh, Hifa and Shoona sitting on a bench by lunch Shoona and Cooper are casually having sex Kavanagh wants to know where they were having sex because there is no privacy on the wall > just breeders and officers got separate accommodation K has learned to not look at his watch too often - with the sun higher in the sky there a better view > but the others know that too so that you couldn't rely on it -> if everyone knows it's a time of low risk maybe that's a good moment to try something "Low risk is high risk" two hundred thousand active defenders - all of them unnecessarily that's why everyone goes to the wall: no exceptions! if one breeds, one can leave the wall drones and planes search for others from the sky as well - for every Other who got over the wall :one defender (The most responsible one) be put to sea members of the flight and the guard don't get put to sea Kavanagh wears glasses imagines the others as black robed figures at night when everyone was asleep Kavanagh went over to Hifas bed to see if she was a woman -> she was awake, saw him and glanced at him 5) it's better when nothing happens, because if something happens then it's bad Chewy stuck along and is now his nickname gets teased by Shoona that he and Hifa are a couple wonders what she looks like under her layers is daydreaming about sex with Hifa The captain was an Other 10years ago -> therefore he is so hard-core because he wants to proof he is worth being allowed to stay -> he's obsessed with keeping them out 6) Others who gets over the wall have to choose between getting in an overdose, becoming help or being put back to sea no mercy no forgiveness just black and white on the way home - 30+ people in the lorry drunk alcohol forbidden on the wall everybody's in the same place but they hardly know each other - shifts make him feel depressed and resentful finishing a shift makes him feel euphoric, ecstatic & relieved Hifa has black hair, is skinny, tough and weak at the same time Hughes is Kavanagh's shift twin, slim dark haired man with brown eyes and a four day beard The group split up in London as he arrives at home he realizes that home is just a concept -> once you've spent time on the wall you understand that everybody has a choice nobody has to take you in they can choose to 7) he and his generation cannot talk to their parents some love getting told stories about how life was back then not kavanagh "show me an actual beach and I'll express interest there are no beaches left due to climate change Kavanagh's mom is hard to understand she's feeling guilty all the time, never says bad words -> Kavanagh just knows that she's furious and disappointed sometimes his father is worse but he still has emotional reflexes of a parent, wants to be in charge - The bond between him and his father stopped after he became a teenage Kavanagh thinks that it's parents and their generation's fault that the world is the way it is - Father and son don't talk much Kavanagh goes out and sees his mates > complaining to each other about work on the wall > Kavanagh proud of himself because he is in a strict place, which makes him a real defender - his parents have waited for him to leave 8) Night shifts are frightening you never change posts meaning you ate with the same 3 people everyday for 2 years The captain is on the wall for eight years now (4 tours) > became a sergeant after the first tour first encounter with the others >He saw some lights and reported it to the captain -> The captain doesn't know why they do that but they do that sometimes K can imagine what it would be like to be an other thinks that the others must have a terrible and brutal perception of the wall 9) they, in a group of six, went camping > together with the Help Hughes does tai chi (dance) Kavanagh's vague dream is to get away from home and become one of the elites K wants to be one of those who fly in planes > doesn't want to be like other defenders Mary loves cooking and wants to open her own place K has no alone time with Hifa finally had a one on one walk but K missed his chance to make a move on her - K asked the Help what the Others call the change: Kuishia (swahili for 'the ending' 10) back on the wall: training (completely new things) rivers were concreted over "defend-attack-exercise" > another group of defenders will attack -> the fight is filmed > once that is over they are the attackers -> everyone is excited K is nervous even though it's not "real" the scenery is nicer: it has got trees weather was better there > feels like fun waiting for sb who's pretending to attack you they attacked the same night K managed to shoot some -> was nonetheless dead in the end 11) plan sneak-attack test combat skills K is pro training Other who got trough, still don't have chips, so they don't last long because Hifa was "killed" it really got to her K comfort Hifa, tells her it's just a game "let's pretend" - second attack: none of em got over the wall third: still none 'our turn' : conference with Captain many small attacks then one big defenders are distracted bc of all those small attacks - spends a lot of time with Hifa seeing the Captain designed an attack like that, K understood how he could possibly get over the wall. - K volunteered to rearguard Shoona got away, K didn't 19 got over the wall: new record 12) - party:alcohol > bc it's not the real wall next day: hungover/ still drunk a politician starts a speech of pride towards the defenders K says baby politician because his speech has somehow no point and is quite weird > appears lying and insincere - he knew it went bad, so he made it quick, showed his power more - The Change: a particular shift of sea level and weather - whatever was left of the pirate ship was on fire too Hughes is still unconscious and also still alive if the fire hasn't made its way to him they were untying the unanchored raft from the other raft to not get burnt now that they did it, they are on a single unanchored raft in the dark, alone on the sea 23) - too distraught to feel frightened they woke up, they are on the open sea now away from the island and the community they had water and food for just four weeks they don't really know where they are but they decide to head south, where a lot of Others are, bc they now are Others as well Hifa has mood-swings K says the chances are low that they will survive they see something on the horizon Because of the diving, K is fit enough to row towards it after three hours of rowing, they saw that it was an oil or gas rig searching for a ladder to get up there: no luck out of the blue that was a retractable ladder which somebody extend it for them they were not alone and they were welcomed they climbed up 24) they were now in an outdoor hallway in front of them a locked and bolted metal door in the hallway was water and a bag of power bars somebody is welcoming them but also watching them at least a dry and safe night The power bar gave K a flashback of his first morning on the wall A fresh jug of water had been put out The door was slightly open now inside was lots of chaos it's a control center A pale very thin man wearing nothing but black trousers with a thick dark beard they were approaching him and Hifa introduced herself and K - he didn't say anything Hifa and K taking a tour through the building the man unbothered they found many food crates: hope and joy They found heated living quarters such as rooms -K finds oil and is very happy both cry out of happiness got now a bedroom 25) they call the man 'hermit' still not talking bringing their food supplies from the lifeboat up K afraid of heights it's very exhausting laying on the ground (on a platform in the middle) eating power bars and drinking water they needed to go back up : Hifa first after seconds she was gone: K worried - K has absolutely no strength to get back up completely alone