65 pages • 2 hours read
No Great Mischief
A 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
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaChapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
Alex and his twin sister were raised by their paternal grandparents. His maternal grandfather, whose own father died before he could marry his mother, was a careful man. An exceptional carpenter and man of many skills, Alex’s maternal grandfather—who he refers to as “grandfather”—built his own home and raised one child; his wife died during childbirth. This child was Alex’s mother. Both Alex’s maternal grandfather and his paternal grandparents are distantly related, part of clann Chalum Ruaidh.
The maternal grandfather groomed the paternal grandfather for a job in a newly constructed hospital, helping him to settle in the town rather than the country. The maternal grandfather—whom Alex refers to as “Grandpa”—produced nine living children, and the small wages from his hospital job allowed the family to live in relative comfort.
Chapter 5 Summary
Alex confesses that he thinks of his grandparents often. He can detect their presence in certain gestures and memories. In their later years, they talked almost entirely in Gaelic. One year, Alex remembers, Grandpa stopped in a tavern on Christmas Eve, having gone out to buy presents. When he finally arrives home, Grandpa drunkenly unpacks a taxi’s worth of presents and then passes out. Grandma, mulling over what to do, begins to decorate Grandpa’s unconscious body with leftover Christmas ornaments. Later, when he tries to extricate himself from the decorations, Grandma laughs at his predicament and takes a photograph. At church that night, artificial snow is still lodged in his hair. Grandpa develops the picture and keeps it in his wallet for years.
Chapter 6 Summary
Alex’s father served in the Navy. On leaving the service, he takes a job as a lighthouse keeper. The family lives on the island that holds the lighthouse, and on the morning of March 28, they are set to walk across the ice to their home. The family makes plans: Alex’s older brothers will visit cousins, while Alex and his sister, only 3 years old, will spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa. One brother, Colin, returns to the lighthouse as he wants to try his new winter coat in the thick snow outside. The parents will go ahead to the lighthouse, and the older brothers will collect the young twins the next day, taking them to their new home.
From shore, the dark shadows (two parents, Colin, and the dog) can be seen against the white of the ice. As they cross, the sun sets. They light their lanterns and continue. The distant lanterns move and then suddenly stop. Only one keeps moving. Grandpa rushes to help, leaving Alex and his sister at home to play. A search party is formed, and they find the dog, who is “soaked to the spine.” The party follows the tracks until they end at open water.
Alex recalls a Wordsworth poem he and his sister read in school, describing a set of tracks that disappear. The search party waits for the tide to change, and hours later, Colin’s body surfaces, still wrapped in his new coat. The bodies of Alex’s parents are never found.
Chapters 4-6 Analysis
In these chapters, Alex’s formative years are shaped. The death of his parents is recounted as a secondary explanation, following anecdotes about his grandparents. In terms of his closest family, it is Grandpa, Grandma, and his grandfather whom he is closest to. As only a small boy when his parent vanished on the ice, he naturally feels closer to the people who raised him.
The difference between the two grandfathers is stark. One is a merry, rambunctious old man, who tells dirty jokes and drinks beer, giving off a warmth to every person in his presence. The other is a quiet, reserved, and fiercely intelligent man who does an incredible amount to help his family. Although they could hardly be more different, these chapters serve to juxtapose their characters and indicate to the reader just how strong the bonds of clann Chalum Ruaidh can become. Throughout the novel, the similarities and the differences of these two men will become a common theme, both of them helping to raise Alex in different ways, their influences casting a long shadow across his character.
Unlock all 65 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
