79 pages • 2 hours read
Jack GantosHole In My Life
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2002A 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.
Part 2, Chapters 3-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2, Chapter 3 Summary: “Ship’s Log”
Chapter Three starts with a dated entry log, as Gantos records his voyage in the manner of a proper ship’s log. His first entry involves Hamilton throwing his film and the contents of Gantos’ wallet overboard; Gantos thinks of these things as souvenirs and Hamilton reminds him that they are smugglers: it’s evidence that can be used against them. Gantos fills the remaining chapters with emotional highs and lows. He has an adventure with a Japanese fishing trawler: Gantos swims over to request gas; he and the Japanese captain trade rum for sake, and Gantos relishes in an impressive dive and swim back to his own boat. Gantos and Hamilton reach land in Cape May, NJ, after evading the U.S. Coastguard. However, Gantos continues to smoke hash on board while Hamilton randomly shoots at cans. Gantos writes log entries about his fear of getting caught. Hamilton asserts: “You are afraid. […] [a]fraid of the punishment” (84). The seasoned criminal Hamilton forces Gantos to accept the fact that he lacks shame for committing a felony; Gantos’ fear exists because he knows he could get into trouble.
Part 2, Chapter 4 Summary: “I Love New York”
By reflecting on the stories criminals tell of how they were finally caught, Gantos introduces this chapter as the one where he meets those consequences so feared in the last chapter. The pair finally reach New York City and rendezvous with Rik. First, the trio visit Woodstock, to sell drugs; on the way there and back, Hamilton confesses he believes they are being followed. When they return, Hamilton and Gantos realize their boat has been boarded by unknown men while they were gone. Gantos acknowledges the danger, saying, “[s]omething was up, and I could only think it would get worse” (108). Gantos presses Rik for his share and Rik offers him another smuggling job. Despite his fears, Gantos continues to move hash and considers Rik’s deal. However, he also explores the idea of enrolling in a creative writing program, using his earnings from drug smuggling. The decision process comes to a halt when federal agents attempt to apprehend the men; Hamilton creates a diversion that permits the smugglers to escape. Gantos boards a train and makes it back to King’s Court in Ft. Lauderdale.
Part 2, Chapters 3-4 Analysis
These chapters do not deviate from the formatting of earlier chapters. Time oscillates between the past and future past, as Gantos intermingles the lows of getting caught with euphoric stories of adventure on the high seas. This revisits how easily Gantos lets himself off the hook and how blind he is to consequences. A bad event is punctuated by a positive spin from Gantos, and the narrator finds himself back on the very same dangerous path.
The interaction with the Japanese trawler exemplifies how badly Gantos wants to be seen as a bold, courageous figure, and, ultimately, a man with good fortune. He dives recklessly into the water with the sake, excited by the crews’ cheers and Hamilton’s approval. The reader, however, notices a darkness creeping in, even as Gantos swims along the boat. For as many entries of adventure and intrigue into the ship’s log as there are, there are more entries that are flat, expressing paranoia over getting caught or days misspent due to a hash hangover. Gantos’ ability to bounce back from the brink of disaster seems increasingly less elastic. For example, the boat has no radio or sextant; Hamilton and Gantos are more or less drifting north, rather than navigating. After a three-day storm, the boat wanders into Coast Guard territory by mistake, docks, and Gantos wanders around shakily. His wobbly sea legs seem an appropriate reflection on the state of his mind upon arrival in New York City: unstable, unaware, and in over his head.
Fueled by drug use, Gantos is still living in a fantasy world. Ever-present dangers abound—a run in with the Coast Guard, inexperience as a sailor, Hamilton’s erratic and suspicious behavior, the threat of men following him, and chronic drug addiction—but Gantos is too high on drugs and too lacking in self-motivation to do anything proactive to distance himself from a clearly failing scheme. Instead, he imagines he will use his share of the money to attend a creative writing program. However, his never-ending need to put off work in favor of experience compels him to consider another smuggling trip for Rik.
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