Summerland

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2002

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2, Chapters 6-10

Part 2, Chapters 11-15

Part 2, Chapter 16-Part 3, Chapter 20

Part 3, Chapter 21-Part 4

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Baseball

The central motif in Summerland’s action and mythology is baseball, which represents The Role of Competition. Baseball evolved from similar bat-and-ball games popular in Europe, and the modern version of the game, which Summerland reflects began in Canada and later became popular in the US. Michael Chabon structures the novel’s heroic journey around the game, labeling the book’s four parts after the bases and home plate, and the relationship between a pitcher and a catcher in a baseball game informs the relationship between Ethan and Jennifer T. Throughout the novel, Chabon refers to the mechanics of the game and how players rise to prominence for particular skills as a batter, pitcher, or fielder. By assigning such qualities to the faeries populating the Summerlands, Chabon makes baseball both a game and a culture within the story.

In addition to the game itself, Chabon also uses the tools of the trade as metaphors for battlefields and character growth. The baseball diamond is the setting of many games during Ethan’s journey. As in a battle, the opponents are on sides, or “teams,” that include various positions. The convention to continuously switch where teams play mirrors the unpredictable nature of battle and shows how every player/warrior has a place in the game/fight. The bat Ethan makes from wood of the Tree of Worlds marks his role as both the novel’s hero and the only one who can truly stop Coyote, since the bat is the one thing Coyote needs to complete his plan. At the book’s outset, Ethan dons his dad’s old catcher’s mitt, foreshadowing how Ethan will step up to protect his father and how Ethan must find his place on his team before he can become a hero.

The Tree of Worlds

A symbol of the novel’s greater setting, the Tree of Worlds represents how the four worlds come together or oppose one another. Images of great trees connecting all of creation persist across many cultures, including the World Tree of Norse myth and a similar unnamed tree on Gaia’s earth in Greek mythology. In Summerland, Chabon defines the tree as existing in the nothingness between worlds. At its base, it branches into four trunks, and each then expands into branches and twigs that tangle around one another. Different parts of the four worlds exist on leaves, and when two leaves meet, even if they aren’t from the same trunk, a link forms. The careful detail with which Chabon establishes the tree’s structure reflects the complex nature of existence and sets the stage for the fight between Coyote (who aims to destroy links between worlds to weaken the tree and destroy it) and Ethan’s group (who jump between branches and leaves and use the links between worlds to save those inhabiting them from Coyote).

The Tree of Worlds consists of the four worlds within Chabon’s story universe: the realm of the gods, the faerie Summerlands and Winterlands, and the Middling realm of the humans. In keeping with portal fantasy convention, Chabon begins his story in the Middling, focusing on protagonists who feel adrift in their lives but are unaware of the magic within their universe. Once Ethan arrives in the Summerlands, the Tree of Worlds represents the point of no return at which he knows he must take up the mantle of hero to save creation from destruction at Coyote’s hands. Most of the story unfolds in the Summerlands, where Ethan’s group encounters mythical creatures such as faeries, giants, and sasquatch. Additionally, Ethan faces the politics of warring tribes, mirroring the disagreements he understands from the Middling and showing him that other worlds aren’t entirely different from his own. Amid Ethan’s adventure, Chabon tracks Coyote’s progress through the Winterlands and the demon-like creatures that inhabit the colder of the faerie worlds.

Faeries

The abilities and culture of faeries play a critical role in Ethan’s journey through the Summerlands. When Cinquefoil (the leader of a tribe that Coyote destroyed) joins Ethan’s group, the quest to stop Coyote becomes both personal and political. Coyote’s drive to create chaos led to his indiscriminately destroying links between the worlds. This, in turn, harms the individual leaves and all those inhabiting them. The careless abandon with which Coyote acts shows his disdain for any group or species he considers beneath himself. As a leader, Cinquefoil’s decision to keep fighting after the loss of his people offers Ethan a glimpse at the hero he can become. Though Ethan knows he’s a long way from where he needs to be as a baseball player to stop Coyote, Cinquefoil’s refusal to give up inspires him, which makes Cinquefoil (and, thus, all faeries) an inspiration to Ethan and his quest.

Faerie abilities have a significant effect on what Ethan can accomplish. The most important of these is the ability of shadowtails: creatures who can traverse the Tree of Worlds and jump between and among worlds. Ethan first experiences this alongside the werefox Cutbelly, who acts as a mentor. Thus, after Coyote takes Cutbelly, his loss is an additional source of motivation for Ethan because he sees firsthand the devastating effects of Coyote’s actions on both the worlds and the tree itself. In Cutbelly’s absence, Thor becomes the resident shadowtail of the group, and his ability represents the power that Ethan holds, even though he’s just a human. Ethan takes strength both from his own growing belief in himself and from the collective skill of his companions. Thor’s shadowtail abilities bring Ethan into the Summerlands to begin his quest, and Ethan and Thor, working together, successfully take on challenges, such as escaping the faerie dungeon, which results in gaining new support for their cause.