The Cross And The Switchblade Summary
Desiderato Merriwether
The Cross and the Switchblade Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis tohelp you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:
- Plot Summary
- Chapters
- Characters
- Objects/Places
- Themes
- Style
- Quotes
The book begins with the author's description of the photograph (of a gang of teenagers accused of killing a polio-stricken fifteen year old) that eventually led him to change his life. He writes that through prayer, he came to believe that God's will for him was to travel from his small parish in rural Pennsylvania to the rough streets of New York City.
On his first trip into New York, the author discovers the depths of his innocence about the city, its justice system, and above all the nature of street gangs. His quest to visit the boys from the photograph is defeated at every turn; he feels humiliated and unsure about how to proceed. He is nevertheless reminded that "the Lord works in mysterious ways." After praying for further guidance, he decides to visit New York several more times, becoming more aware of how much work there is to do outside the particular gang he initially sought to help. A visit to his grandfather, a retired Pentecostal preacher, inspires him to consider broadening his mission to other members of other gangs. Again he prays and realizes he is being "called" to move to the city to begin his ministry there full time.
The author's first attempts at street corner evangelism result in the conversion to Christianity of a couple of the toughest gang leaders in the city - and the resentment of others. He also gathers allies, fellow ministers eager to help him free troubled young people from their addictions to drugs, sex and violence. At one point, the author initiates a series of rallies for the young people, which are at first sparsely attended and raucous, but through faith, prayer and trust, the author eventually wins the gangs over.
As the author's ministry expands and as he encounters increasing success with his techniques of reaching out to young people, the author again receives what he believes to be divine guidance. This time, he is inspired to fulfill his dream of establishing a drop-in center that the troubled youth of the area could use as a resource, a shelter from the horror of their lives. With the practical support of his wife and the financial support of some wealthy benefactors, he establishes what comes to be known as the Teen Challenge Center, and trains young students from Bible colleges across the country in the specific needs and circumstances of his ministry.
As the Center establishes itself and becomes more secure, it fosters and nurtures young people from the street as they awaken to a new, evangelically-based spirituality. Several of them, in fact (the author writes) move into the ministry. There are hardships (lack of funds, lack of food) but, the author writes, the Center's needs were all met through the power of prayer. Even though extended negotiations fail to win a full reprieve from the pending payment of a second mortgage, at the last minute (and exactly as prayed for) a donation for the full amount of the mortgage comes in from a wealthy donor. The Center, and the author, are free to continue their work. An epilogue describes how that work is expanding to other large cities with similarly troubled teen gang populations.
In chapter 2 of The Outsiders, Johnny's knife use is foreshadowed byhis traumatic experience with the Socs, which left him severely beaten andconstantly on edge. This event leads him to carry a knife for protection,setting the stage for its later use in a critical moment of self-defense.
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In The Outsiders by S E Hinton, the "Greasers" and the "Socs" aretwo rival gangs from different sides of town. They despise each other and havebeen known to start a fight for no reason other than their rivalry. The maindifference is that the Greasers always "fight fair" whereas the Socs donot.
In chapter 2, Johnny and Ponyboy talk to two Socs' girls, "Cherry" andMarcia, although initially Johnny is a little shy and, as Ponyboy, thenarrator, says, "Johnny was always nervous around strangers." Johnny is afavorite of the Greasers, their "pet," and when he tells Dally to leave thegirls alone, Dally and Ponyboy are completely taken by surprise because nobodywould ever dare to cross Dally. "You just didn't tell Dally Winston what todo." Normally, Dally would have put anyone else in his place but not Johnny.Dally walks away. Johnny is a little embarrassed, especially because heactually thinks of Dally as his "hero," but having recognized that Dally wasstepping over the line by harassing the girls, he speaks up.
Johnny is very nervous since he was previously attacked by the Socs withoutany provocation. They left Johnny for dead so when Two-Bit, one of their ownmembers, jokingly comes up behind Johnny and Ponyboy, Johnny is noticeablyscared. Ponyboy relates the story of what the Socs did to Johnny. Johnny isused to being beaten up by his own father and has had a very tough upbringingbut, after the incident with the Socs, despite being "the most law-abiding ofus," Johnny never leaves home without a "six-inch switchblade." Thereader understands that Johnny has been pushed too far and when Ponyboyexplains:
The reader is under no illusion as to Johnny's fragile state of mind andability to use the knife in extreme circumstances. It is also obvious thatJohnny would need to be driven to the edge before he would use it. Thisforeshadows future tragic events.
Johnny is the gentlest of the Greasers. When he begins carrying the knife,it is seen as foreshadowing that it will be used at some point in the text.Weapons in the text are always associated with trouble.
During the period depicted in S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders,knives were the primary lethal weapon of choice for juvenile delinquents andothers seeking either to threaten or to provide a sense of security againstothers. Guns, while occasionally available, were rare, and actual shootingsrarer still. Hinton set her story in the mid-1960s, before the full-scaleanti-establishment rebellions that began to develop in response to the war inVietnam. It was considered a simpler time, and youth gangs were armed withlittle more than knives or switchblades. In the opening chapter of TheOutsiders, Hinton's young narrator, Ponyboy Curtis, is confronted by agroup of "Socs," the well-to-do teenagers from the more affluent side of town.As the Socs surround Ponyboy, one threatens the solitary Greaser:
Knives, then, play a prominent role in The Outsiders as the mostthreatening form of violence. Clubs and chains can certainly kill, but they donot represent the mortal threat that knives represent. In Chapter Two, thestage is set for Johnny's later use of his knife, or switchblade. In thatchapter, Ponyboy, Johnny's closest friend, describes Johnny as a good kid whocould be counted on in a rumble, but who was perpetually frightened by aserious beating he once endured at the hands of a group of Socs. As Hinton'snarrator describes the character of Johnny:
". . .after the night of the beating, Johnny was jumpier than ever. I didn'tthink he'd ever get over it. Johnny never walked by himself after that.And Johnny, who was the most law-abiding of us, now carried in his back pocketa six-inch switchblade. He'd use it, too, if he ever got jumped again. They hadscared him that much. He would kill the next person who jumped him."
So, we know that Johnny carries a switchblade, and that he does so as areaction to the brutal assault he had earlier survived. In Chapter Four, theinformation provided in Chapter Two become fully relevant. Ponyboy and Johnnyare attacked by five bigger Socs, and one of the latter is holding Ponyboy'shead under water in a fountain. The next thing Ponyboy knows is that Johnny hasstabbed one of the Socs in an effort to save his friend. Before Ponyboy cancomprehend what has transpired, however, he sets his gaze on Johnny:
Johnny began carrying the switchblade out of fear following his assault.Another assault at the hands of the Socs results in his use of that weapon,with deadly results. The incident triggers the chain of events leading toJohnny's heroic rescue of children from the burning church and his death fromthe smoke and fire he braved on behalf of others.
Ponyboy tells Cherry the story of when Johnny was beaten badly in the park.Johnny was practicing kicks when a group a soc's jumped him. He was almostbeaten to death by one of the boys who wore a lot of rings. Ponyboy explainedthat the beating didn't bother Johnny that much but he hated that he wasscared. He vowed if he was ever jumped again, he would kill them. Thisforeshadows the outcome of the fight in chapter four, when Johnny kills Bob tosave Ponyboy's fight.
Episode 5: Rise from the Ashes is the final episode of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, originally released as an extra episode for the Nintendo DS version of the game. Set two months after Turnabout Goodbyes, Phoenix Wright is brought out of a self-imposed break to investigate a case involving a friend of his mentor from law school, who has already confessed to murder. It spans three investigation chapters and seven trial chapters, and has the player carry more evidence in the court record than in any other episode in the main series of Ace Attorney games. Being made for the DS, this episode features touchscreen-oriented gameplay that allows the player to examine evidence from any angle, spray luminol fluid to see bloodstains, and dust for fingerprints.
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