106 pages • 3 hours read
The Seventh Most Important Thing
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Quiz
Tools
BetaChapters 45-47Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 45 Summary
At Friday night dinner, Arthur asks his mom and Roger about the $50 for renting the garage. They balk at the price and ask if the art can be moved to somewhere that doesn’t cost so much. Arthur gets frustrated that no one understands what Mr. Hampton was doing. He blurts that someone will probably “go and throw it out” without knowing or caring what it is (224). Arthur’s mom gets a hurt look and leaves.
Arthur finds his mom crying upstairs. He apologizes, telling her he “wasn’t talking about you throwing out Dad’s things” (225). He explains how important saving Mr. Hampton’s art is. Arthur’s mom gives him his birthday present of $20 early.
“The Sixth Important Thing” Summary
Between Arthur’s birthday money and $30 from Squeak, Arthur pays the rest of the back rent on the garage, but he still doesn’t know what to do when May ends. Arthur mouths off to one of his teachers, who sends him to Vice’s office. There, Arthur sees a coffee can the school band is using to collect donations for new uniforms. Arthur realizes he can do something similar to raise money to pay for the garage. One of the secretaries sees Arthur eyeing the can and takes it away, telling him not to get any ideas. Arthur says nothing but thinks her warning is too late: “He already had the idea he needed” (229).
Chapter 46 Summary
The next day, Arthur and Squeak gather all the unused coffee cans at the garage. They put messages on each can, asking people for donations to save Mr. Hampton’s artwork. One of the cans reads: “save a Heavenly Work of Art” (232), and that turns out to be the can that helps the most.
Chapter 47 Summary
Arthur and Squeak drop the cans off at different businesses around Washington DC. A week later, they count the money, which is mostly change. In the “heavenly art” can, they find a reporter’s business card with a note on the back telling them to call. Arthur dislikes reporters because they wrote things “that weren’t true” about Arthur’s crime and his dad’s death (235). He doesn’t want to call, but he decides to after seeing how little money they’ve collected.
Arthur asks where Squeak put that can, and Squeak confesses he put the can at the newspaper office where his dad works. Squeak’s dad is the truck driver who found Mr. Hampton after Arthur threw the brick. This strikes Arthur as hilarious. When he finishes laughing at all the coincidences, he asks if Squeak’s parents know they’re friends. Squeak says he made up a name and identity for Arthur, so his parents don’t know who he is. Arthur responds, “I’m not who a lot of people think I am” (237)
Chapters 45-47 Analysis
These chapters examine some of the book’s major themes. Arthur hurts his mother by implying she threw his dad’s things away because she didn’t care. To the contrary, she threw them away because she cared too much. The line between trash and treasure blurs here. Arthur’s mother treasured Arthur’s dad—and by extension his things—so much that looking at them became painful. Her solution was to throw them away, which hurt Arthur. Keeping his dad’s things would have helped Arthur but hurt his mother. Turning treasure into trash eliminates the physical presence of items, but it doesn’t take the emotions.
In Chapter 47, Arthur remarks that many people don’t know who he is. Throughout the story, characters have judged Arthur without getting to know him. Judge Warner and Vice assume Arthur is a troublemaker and don’t give Arthur a chance to show them otherwise. Squeak creates an identity for Arthur, which makes this concept literal. Squeak’s parents don’t know their son’s friend is the kid who threw the brick at Mr. Hampton. Squeak did this purposefully because his parents would not approve of Squeak spending time with Arthur. Like Judge Warner and Vice, they would judge Arthur on one action, rather than who Arthur actually is.
Arthur initially doesn’t want to call the reporter who left his card. Even after all his growth, Arthur still distrusts reporters. He holds anger for the falsities they wrote about his crime and his dad’s death. Arthur doesn’t realize he’s judging reporters like others judge him. Arthur decides to call because doing so might save Mr. Hampton’s sculpture. Arthur puts aside his emotions to deal with a greater problem, which shows emotional growth.
Coffee cans symbolize Arthur finding and fulfilling his purpose. Arthur uses the cans to collect money for Mr. Hampton’s sculpture. When there isn’t enough cash, Arthur calls a reporter, who writes up an article for the paper. The article leads to the museum acquiring and eventually displaying Mr. Hampton’s art, the fulfillment of Arthur’s quest. It is fitting that the can labeled “heavenly art” helps the most, since the sculpture is Mr. Hampton’s view of heaven.
Unlock all 106 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Shelley Pearsall
