The Seventh Most Important Thing

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

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Chapters 35-37Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 35 Summary

On Saturday, Squeak and Arthur go to the garage. Arthur is relieved his mother and Barbara aren’t home to say how good it is Arthur made a friend. The boys arrive at the garage, and Arthur unlocks it to find Mr. Hampton already working.

Chapter 36 Summary

Arthur introduces Mr. Hampton to Squeak. Mr. Hampton is glad Arthur brought a friend because he lost so much time in the hospital the week before. The sculpture of Heaven impresses Squeak and Arthur, even though Arthur has seen it before. The creation makes Arthur feel like he’s looking at “something both real and unreal at the same time” (168).

Mr. Hampton tells the boys how the project started while he was fighting in World War II. He had terrible dreams every night until he wanted to die, and then, he had a vision to build “heaven out of broken things” (170). He shows them the first box he built out of debris from the war, “Death and War turned into something beautiful” (170).

Not knowing what else to say, Squeak asks why Mr. Hampton calls it the third throne of heaven. Mr. Hampton doesn’t know, except that he dreamed of a giant number three in the sky.

“The Third Important Thing” Summary

Arthur and Squeak help Mr. Hampton with his sculpture. They put foil on lightbulbs, which Arthur isn’t suited to, and break mirrors, which makes Squeak nervous about bad luck. Arthur doesn’t care about bad luck. He figures he’s already had enough and that maybe breaking mirrors “will bring me good luck” (174).

Chapter 37 Summary

Monday, Arthur calls Officer Billie to tell her he’s not quitting on Mr. Hampton, but she already knows by the kind of person Arthur is. He asks if she knows “what the seven most important things in the world are” (178). Officer Billie replies that the most important thing to her is “seeing that you don’t mess up” (178). Arthur hangs up, feeling triumphant that Officer Billie doesn’t know everything.

Chapters 35-37 Analysis

Mr. Hampton reveals the motivation behind his sculpture in these chapters. The idea of turning debris into beauty came in a dream, and he began his life’s work. His confession that he had nightmares after the war suggests that he suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the sculpture helps him cope with his illness. In the same way, the sculpture will help Arthur recover from his grief. The box Mr. Hampton made during the war is the first example of how Mr. Hampton used trash to create treasure. The fact that he made the box from the debris of war points to the idea that he is creating beauty from his pain.

Even though Arthur’s seen it before, the sculpture dazzles him in Chapter 36. He thinks of it as both real and unreal, representing the two ideas of heaven he’s grappled with throughout the story—concrete or abstract. Arthur’s observation foreshadows that there is no answer to whether heaven is a real place.

The mirrors in “The Fourth Important Thing” present Squeak and Arthur are foils. Squeak is nervous about breaking mirrors and catching bad luck. Arthur figures he has nothing to lose and breaks the mirrors without concern. Squeak is cautious and thinks before he acts. By contrast, Arthur is impulsive and less concerned with consequences.

Mirrors reflect one’s outward self and thus come to represent perception. Breaking the mirrors helps Arthur to let go of his perception of himself and others’ perception of him. Up until this point, Arthur has been trapped in a prison of his own making; he’s allowed his emotions, the opinions of others, and death to control him. By breaking the mirrors, Arthur breaks out of his prison.