A Lion to Guard Us

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1981

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-15

Chapters 16-18

Chapters 19-21

Chapters 22-23

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 19-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 19 Summary: “A Fire at Night”

One evening, the children are sitting outside their house and Jemmy is polishing the door knocker. Two former passengers, Robert Waters and Chris Carter, walk by and stop to look at the door knocker. Jemmy tells them that the saltwater made spots that he is trying to get off. Master Carter offers to help, but Jemmy declines.

The men walk on, but a while later, Master Waters returns and asks if they like Palmetto berries and tells them where they can find some. The children decide to go in search of the berries. Along the way, Meg begins to skip. They do not find the berries, but they do find a large rock covered in moss that Meg begins to jump on. She takes off her restrictive clothing and jumps up and down, pretending to be a bird. Jemmy begins to play too. Amanda does not join them; she has forgotten how to play.

When they arrive home, they cannot find the door knocker. Anne Hopkins asks what they are looking for, and when they tell her, she suggests that someone might have taken it.

Every night, the village lights a fire at the tip of the island to guide the ship coming from Virginia. September and October pass by, and in November, the Admiral says it’s no longer necessary to light a fire since it’s clear the boat didn’t reach Virginia and no ship is coming.

Chapter 20 Summary: “A Quarrel”

The winter is much milder than those the children experienced in England. Under the direction of Admiral Somers, the men are building another ship made from cedar trees and the remains of the Sea Adventure. Admiral Somers tells them that they must build a second ship since one won’t be able to carry all the people and their possessions. This makes many of the men angry because it’s extra work.

Mistress Hopkins tells the children about the quarrel among the men. Many don’t want to go to Virginia since they like their lives here in Bermuda. Admiral Somers counters that they must go to Virginia because they were sent to help the people there, but some of the men, like Master Waters, want to stay. Seven of the men stop work on the boat and go live on the other side of the island.

Anne asks her mother if Master Waters is gone and not coming back, and her mother says yes. Anne then tells Amanda that Master Waters took the door knocker. She saw him go into their house while they were out. Amanda is uncertain because Master Waters helped them build their house and has been kind to them. Anne says that Amanda doesn’t have to believe her, but that is what she saw. Amanda and Jemmy talk about it once they get home, wondering if he took it and if he still has it.

Chapter 21 Summary: “Waiting for Jemmy”

The men who moved to the other side of the island come back, except for Chris Carter and Robert Waters. The men complete both ships and prepare to leave on May 10.

Two days before the ships are to depart, Amanda and Meg can’t find Jemmy. He does not return by evening. Amanda asks the governor for help, but he imagines Jemmy is roaming the island and will come back.

The next day, the girls search for him, but by evening they still haven’t found him. They discuss what they’ll do if they still haven’t found Jemmy when the ships leave. Amanda realizes it’s so dark that if Jemmy returns, he won’t be able to find them. She finds a candle and lights it from the coals burning in a neighbor’s fire. Amanda returns to the house and stands at the entrance with the candle held high. Almost immediately, she hears footsteps: it’s Jemmy. He tells her that he has the “knock-knock” (104).

Chapters 19-21 Analysis

Free of England’s strict class delineations, the island is a space where the children grow and transition. The Freebold children become more independent as they run their own household. When the door knocker is stolen, Jemmy takes it upon himself to get it back, demonstrating an independence that he hasn’t shown previously. He was the one who started the rumor that the door knocker was made of gold, so he is the one who undoes the damage, a clear throughline in his coming-of-age journey. Similarly, Amanda and Meg decide they will not leave the island without Jemmy, regardless of the consequences. They have proven to themselves that they can survive on the island and would rather continue this lifestyle than be separated. This reinforces the theme of Resilience and Youth. The children’s desire to stay together is symbolized by the door knocker—they will be wherever it is so long as they can be a family. When Jemmy returns with the door knocker in hand, it affirms their status as a close-knit family and foreshadows their reunion with their father.

While the children grow, the island’s relaxed social norms allow Jemmy and Meg to act as children in ways they have never felt comfortable doing. In contrast with being confined to dark, tight quarters, Meg finally learns to play in the island’s expansive nature—jumping, skipping, and pretending in the sand, rocks, and moss. Her new freedom is symbolized by her stripping away her constrictive clothing—needed in polite English society but not here. While the younger siblings are freer, Amanda is still the caretaker, and her Journey From Childhood to Independence is permanent. She has forgotten how to play since the burden of being the decision-maker is part of who she is. She still tells stories, but they are not for her own entertainment. Rather, they help her brother and sister interpret the situations they are facing as a family and give them comfort.

The dynamics among adults on the island continue to show the difference between The Imagined and Real “New World.” While things are different in Bermuda than in England, Sir Thomas Gates’s leadership as an unelected governor (and his title) highlights the historical fact that England and its colonies were still under monarchy rule at this time. Together with the Admiral, he can give orders to the men on the island; though those men left England in pursuit of greater freedom, they cannot decide their own fates here. Of the men that rebel, only two stay away, one of whom—Master Waters—is a thief. This emphasizes that these men are acting outside of the social contract that made the transatlantic journey with them.