33 pages • 1 hour read
Jerry SpinelliWringer
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1996A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Palmer LaRue does “not want to be a wringer” (3). A wringer literally wrings the necks of injured pigeons during the Family Fest, and Palmer has known for a long time that he could never be one. But as his ninth birthday approaches, he knows he’s one year closer to making that choice.
Chapter 2 Summary
It’s Palmer’s ninth birthday, and he’s ecstatic when he realizes that the neighborhood boys—Beans, Mutto, and Henry—showed up at his house to celebrate. Palmer’s mother isn’t as happy because she thinks of the boys as naughty and rude. Palmer opens his presents from the boys and finds that they each got him something disgusting, like “an ancient cigar butt” (8) and an old sock. Rather than being grossed out, Palmer appreciates that they cared enough to bring him anything at all. He’s also thrilled because they nickname him Snots, which shows that he’s really part of the group.
Chapter 3 Summary
After eating cake and ice cream, Palmer’s mother shoos the boys out of the house. Beans, the ring leader, wonders where “Fishface’s house” is located (12). Palmer is hesitant to say because Beans is derogatorily referencing his former close friend Dorothy Gruzik. Beans leaves mud on her door, and they all run off. Palmer feels “shivers of excitement” (14) while running with the group.
Chapter 4 Summary
Palmer and his newfound friends go to the main park in town. “Palmer hated the park” (15) because it reminds him of Family Fest, the event where thousands of pigeons are shot every year. Henry pretends to be a wounded pigeon, while Beans and Mutto pretend to wring his neck. The sight reminds Palmer how much he dreads the thought of becoming a wringer, and he runs away.
Chapter 5 Summary
Palmer and the other boys meet up at the playground. They bond over “sliding down stacked” (19) on the slide, which is where the boys pile on top of each other. Palmer’s mother warned him against this, but he does it because it’s fun and he wants to fit in with the other boys.
Afterward, they see Farquar, an older boy who gives every boy “The Treatment” (21) on their birthday where he punches the birthday boy in the same spot on the arm, once for every year the boy has been alive. Most boys in town “turned into quivering zombies” (21) at the thought of The Treatment, but Palmer desires it because he knows it will bring honor and respect from the other boys in town. Palmer receives nine punches and manages not to scream in pain.
Chapter 6 Summary
Palmer’s mother is appalled by his bruised arm, but his father calls him “big guy” (26) and seems proud that Palmer endured the town tradition. Palmer’s mother isn’t okay with the tradition and asks if he’s okay. His arm hurts, but he thinks it’s worth it to be accepted by Beans and the other boys. His mother brings up Dorothy and wonders why he hasn’t played with her in a while. He repeats Beans’s nickname for Dorothy and says she has a fish face. This makes Palmer’s father laugh and his mother angry.
Palmer’s father gives him the family’s beloved toy soldiers heirloom for his birthday. He feels grown up because his father trusts him enough to take care of them. That night, despite feeling grown up and excited about his new friends and experiences, he starts crying because he realizes he only has one year left before he’ll be forced to become a wringer: the one thing in life he dreads the most.
Chapters 1-6 Analysis
Chapters 1 through 6 introduce Palmer LaRue as a nine-year-old boy filled with simultaneous hope and dread. He is thrilled that the most popular boy on the street, Beans, has accepted him into his small group of close friends. He’s grateful that his father trusts him enough to give him the toy soldiers and that The Treatment earned him honor and respect from his peers. But he’s terrified that he only has one year left before he’ll be forced to become a wringer.
Ever since he was little and witnessed his first Family Fest pigeon shooting, he knew that he never wanted to become a wringer. He has always dreaded turning ten-years-old, because this is the year the boys become wringers. Although he desperately doesn’t want to become one, he doesn’t feel like he has a choice in the matter. That’s what ten-year-old boys do in his town, and it doesn’t occur to him that he could decide his own fate. This internal conflict is evident from the very first line in the story and remains the central plotline throughout.
Palmer’s mother and father represent two very different sides of his character. His father doesn’t question the traditions of the town. When Palmer comes home with proof of The Treatment on his arm, his father reminisces about his own youthful Treatment. Palmer desires his father’s respect and finds out that going along with these traditions earns him that respect. The opening section of the novel foreshadows what may happen to this tenuous relationship is Palmer refuses to be a wringer come his tenth birthday.
Palmer’s mother doesn’t agree with The Treatment, and she doesn’t like Palmer hanging out with Beans and the other boys. She wants Palmer to hang out with Dorothy instead and shows displeasure in Palmer’s mocking Dorothy. Palmer initially fights against his mother’s desires, but—as the reader will later learn—he eventually realizes that he’s a lot more like his mother than his father. The reader gets a hint of this reflected in Palmer’s attitude toward the idea of being a wringer.
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