61 pages • 2 hours read
Under the Dome
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Chapters 19-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 19 Summary: “Ashes”
Several events are converging: the Democrat and Julia’s apartment above are consumed by flames, though other downtown businesses are saved; Sammy Bushey has retrieved a handgun and returned to the hospital; and Thurston Marshall, the out-of-town professor, has volunteered to help at the hospital, where he is surprisingly well-versed and effective. Big Jim Rennie taunts Julia as she watches her paper and her possessions burn, but he places the blame squarely on her friend, Barbie, and later insinuates that she herself might have been involved. At the same time, Sammy hunts down her tormentors at the hospital and shoots Georgie Roux and Frank DeLesseps. She then turns the gun on herself. Thurston and the other nurses run to the horrific scene, but there is nothing to be done.
Andy Sanders, who has lost both his wife and his daughter in the drama of the Dome, sits in Barbie’s apartment with a bottle of OxyContin intended for Andrea Grinnell. He is contemplating death by suicide when he is interrupted by his cell phone ringing. The hospital needs his help in dealing with terrible scene of Sammy, Georgie, and Frank. When Andy arrives at the hospital, he realizes that there is little he can do except inform Phil Bushey, aka the Chef, that his wife is dead after undergoing a terrible assault. Andy goes to tell the Chef, even though he knows that the Chef is dangerous and on drugs. Andy has little care for his own safety at this point. Once Andy arrives and gives Phil the news, Phil offers Andy meth; they smoke together, and Andy is instantly hooked. It is the only relief to his unending sorrow. The Chef then goes to the hospital to retrieve his wife’s body and he and Andy bury her body outside the WCIK station.
Rusty conducts his clandestine investigation of the bodies supposedly murdered by Barbie and finds one notable detail: Reverend Coggins’s skull has stitch marks carved into it, like those one would find on a baseball. He remembers the gold-plated ball in Big Jim Rennie’s study and draws some damning conclusions.
Julia stays over at Andrea’s house until the morning of October 25, day four under the Dome. She and Andrea are both unaware that the envelope containing the VADER file has slipped between the couch and the end table. That morning, Linda, Jackie, Stacey Moggin, and Rusty meet to discuss events. They all know that Barbie is innocent of the murders and of the postmortem violations of the corpses (it seems that Junior has been sexually assaulting his victims). Rusty tells them that the teens have found something that might be generating the Dome, and they decide to investigate further.
Barbie is continually harassed in his cell. The group that believes in his innocence fears for his life, with good reason. Jackie conspires to get a message to him, and they decide to break him out of jail during the town meeting the next evening. Big Jim Rennie comes to visit him, and Barbie lets him know that he is aware of the VADER file and its contents. Rennie tells Barbie to compile a list of those in the town who are collaborating against him; if Barbie refuses, he will be executed.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Play that Dead Band Song”
Rusty and the others contemplate where to hide Barbie after they break him out of jail. In the interim, Rusty and Rommie will accompany the teens up Black Ridge Road to investigate their discovery. They decide to rig some radiation suits, as well, just in case. Rommie also decides to safeguard some guns from his store. He fears the worst, especially since the death of Brenda Perkins, his onetime lover. The group also enlists the support of Piper Libby.
Julia and Andrea discuss Andrea’s difficult recovery from her addiction. Andrea says that she is tired of Rennie holding all the power; his attempt to blackmail her was the final straw. Horace, Julia’s dog, sniffs out some stale popcorn beside the couch and stumbles upon the envelope. A “deadvoice” commands him to take it to his master (694), but he becomes distracted when Andrea gets sick again and forgets all about it.
Meanwhile, Rennie continues to goad Chief Randolph into instituting new officers. Colonel Cox calls Rennie and tells him that he is aware of the investigation into Rennie’s many crimes. While Rennie believes he has the upper hand—after all, Cox is outside the Dome, impotent to control what goes on under the Dome—Cox does put a wrench in some of his plans. A press conference will be held the day after the town meeting, wherein family members of those trapped inside the Dome will gather outside. This kind of exposure is most unwelcome to Rennie. Rennie’s heart begins to act up; he has been diagnosed with arrhythmia years ago but has not sought treatment. He asks one of his officers to take him to the hospital.
Rusty, Rommie, and the kids make their way back up to the strange box. Rusty and Rommie both experience mild seizures and visions, just like the kids had when reaching its proximity; however, the teens show no symptoms. Once exposed, it seems, one is inoculated. They spy the beacon and note that it is pulsing with a purple light at regular intervals. Rusty also notices that, once they are close to the beacon, the Geiger counter no longer registers radiation. It is possible that the radiation is subterfuge. On the box is a symbol that nobody understands. When Rusty tries to lift the box, he sees what appear to be distorted faces; he thinks of the beings as “leatherheads” and senses their cruel laughter. He knows, instantly, that Rennie should be prevented from knowing about the device. Their explorations are interrupted by a fiery plane crash—this time, it is a commercial jet, Air Ireland 767, filled with people.
Meanwhile, Officer Henry Morrison spies Junior raging in the street outside of the McCain house. At first, he thinks Junior is drunk, but on closer inspection, he realizes that Junior is sick: His left pupil is dilated, and that side of his face is sagging. He takes him to the hospital. The Chef and Andy prepare for Armageddon, taking the crashed airplane as a sign. Jackie Wettington is fired by Rennie but reinstated to the army via the orders of Colonel Cox. The plan to break Barbie out of jail has explicit support from the military and government outside the Dome.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Busted”
The pro-Barbie group gathers at Sweetbriar Rose to catch the news. Cox has told Jackie that military and media outside the Dome are “going to do [their] level best to make Rennie’s life uncomfortable” (761). Cox announces on CNN that there will be a strictly regulated Visitors Day at the Dome on Friday, October 27, and that there will also be a press conference. He tells the press to question Rennie regarding the arrest and charges against Dale Barbara.
Rusty visits Junior in the hospital to assess the situation. It appears that he does not have long to live. He then goes to check on Big Jim Rennie, who is talking on his cell phone in defiance of hospital rules. In the back of his mind, all Rusty can think about are the premonitions spoken by his daughter during a dream: “He has a golden baseball, Daddy” (774). Rusty thinks that the Dome is causing some sort of precognition in certain people. Rennie’s imperious attitude and barely veiled threats finally cause Rusty to crack. He accuses Rennie of the murder of Reverend Coggins. Unfortunately, Rennie’s police henchmen are listening, and Rusty is immediately arrested. Rusty is beaten and placed in a cell near Barbie.
Andy Sanders is the latest in the list of people succumbing to seizures and experiencing visions. He tells Chef that the “bitter men” are coming (796). They both arm themselves with assault rifles: Chef’s bears the moniker GOD’S WARRIOR, while Andy names his CLAUDETTE, after his wife.
Meanwhile, the pro-Barbie group make their plans to free both Barbie and Rusty from the jail. They also decide on a safe house: the empty McCoy place that stands beyond the band of radiation; they believe that the radiation—which is likely only a decoy, designed to prevent people from finding the alien device—will keep Rennie and his men away. Andrea is watching Julia’s dog, Horace, who finally remembers the envelope and brings it to her: “Andrea opened the envelope, and most of Big Jim Rennie’s secrets fell out into her lap” (816).
Chapter 22 Summary: “Blood Everywhere”
Andrea has decided to confront Big Jim Rennie at the town meeting. If he does not step down or admit guilt, she has decided to shoot him. Junior, too, has had a revelation—hallucinations caused by his brain tumor—that he should kill Barbie in his jail cell. He believes that Barbie is behind his illness, that he has been poisoned. There are also more deaths by suicide in town. One of them is Ollie Dinsmore’s mother, who cannot handle the loss of her son, Rory.
Rennie informs his police force that Andy Sanders has taken up with Chef and that they will have to confront them, perhaps kill them, to retrieve the propane tanks. He also lies about Junior’s condition, telling the officers that Junior has suffered a drug overdose.
The pro-Barbie group prepares for their escape: Norrie’s grandfather, Earl, hotwires an old van in Rennie’s used car lot, and Rommie retrieves the hidden guns. The rest of the town gathers at the town hall for the meeting. Barbie and Rusty can hear the beginning of Rennie’s speech from their cells, which is interrupted by gunfire. When Andrea stands up to expose Rennie’s corrupt activities, the handgun falls out of her purse. In their panic, the cops start shooting, killing Andrea and others. Carter Thibodeaux picks up the forgotten envelope.
During the chaos at town hall, Junior slowly makes his way toward the jail. He immediately dispatches the officers manning the station and heads for Barbie’s cell. He can barely speak coherently at this point, but his intention is clear. However, he is intercepted by Jackie Wettington, who shoots him before he can pull the trigger. She and the former prisoners, along with Rommie Burpee and Ernie Calvert, speed toward Black Ridge. Julia and Libby, along with the teenagers and their moms, are already at the safe house, waiting for them.
Chapters 19-22 Analysis
The antagonism between Rennie’s cohort and Barbie’s group grows ever more serious in these chapters, and the conflict inevitably turns deadly. Rusty acknowledges the absurdity of this stance early in Chapter 19: “There really were starting to be sides, starting to be with us and with them” (625). The small-town atmosphere—with its hallmarks of familiarity, neighborliness, and mutual support (“we all support the team”)—rapidly dissipates under the Dome. The erosion of trust and shared goals makes it easier for Big Jim Rennie to engage in his elaborate schemes, which include scapegoating, fearmongering, and power-grubbing. After the Democrat is burned down on his orders, Rennie calls the fire “an act of terrorism, pure and simple” (633), as he tries to pin the blame on Barbie. Later, in his speech to the town, he goes much further, and blames Barbie for his own crimes, specifically the meth lab.
Because Rennie has effectively used fear to agitate the residents of The Mill, these accusations, however unfounded, gain traction. Under the Dome, lots of irrational events and actions seem plausible. The townspeople need someone or something to blame for their predicament. Rennie himself acknowledges that the Dome offers him a valuable opportunity: “The truth was, he liked the Dome” (637). Further, he needs the Dome to carry out his plans for consolidating power and taking control over the entire town. Rennie’s rationale for such total control is never fully elaborated, which suggests that Rennie desires power for its own sake. Thus, when he calls for the town to vote on Barbie’s punishment—“one unified body dedicated to the cause of freedom” (861)—it is with heavy irony. The town is trapped under the Dome and under the rule of a petty autocrat who is bringing about The Dissolution of Democracy.
The extent of Rennie’s corruption, both financial and moral, becomes clearer during these chapters. He amasses what amounts to an army to suppress freedom of movement and speech in The Mill. He justifies his actions by claiming that, without his firm leadership, the town will descend into chaos: “It’s us or anarchy,” he tells his right-hand man, Carter Thibodeaux (707). He even compares himself to the Christian God: “You see what Barbara’s friends on the outside are doing to me? Well, what’s the surprise? When Christ came to redeem mankind, they made him carry His own cross to Calvary Hill, where He died in blood and dust” (775). Like God, Rennie will also sacrifice his only son for the sake of his people: “Of course the kid was his own flesh and blood, but there was the greater good to think about; the good of the town. One of the extra pillows in the closet would probably do it” (799). Rennie’s delusions of grandeur grow ever larger, perhaps even beyond his rational control; it is not without reason that Julia questions the man’s grip on sanity. Rennie begins to believe in his own prophetic destiny.
Rennie’s decreasing grip on reality fits neatly into the recurring threads of prophecy which draw the disparate groups inevitably together: There are the visions experienced by several children and some adults about the horrors of Halloween; there is the apocalyptic religious rhetoric espoused by the Chef and his newfound acolyte, Andy Sanders; there is the jetliner crash that is interpreted as a kind of bad omen by all the various groups invested in Prophecy and Premonition. These events feed into the mob mentality and the urgency for some sense of cosmic justice.
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