Opening
Past and present collide as Samuel 'Sam' Hill relives rites of passage that shape him—graduation, first love, a new nickname—only to be dragged back into terror by the bully who never outgrows cruelty. The section pivots the novel from memory to menace, forcing Sam to confront old wounds that now carry real-world consequences.
What Happens
Chapter 51: Eighth-Grade Graduation
In 1971, Sam graduates from Our Lady of Mercy. He dreads starting over at an all-boys Catholic high school, worried his red eyes will define him again. The last two years at OLM ease after David Bateman is expelled and Sister Beatrice mysteriously disappears, but the fear of being marked an outcast lingers. Before the ceremony, Sam finds a Bible wrapped in his desk. Inside, Sister Beatrice writes a warm inscription wishing him well—an act that shocks and unsettles him, given her past cruelty.
Afterward, Sam shows the gift to his parents. His mother, Madeline Hill, reads it as sincere and prayerful; Sam doubts it, calling it hypocrisy. Madeline advises acceptance without judgment. He can’t throw the Bible away, and it stays with him into adulthood. At the dance, Mickie Kennedy pulls him to the floor and coaxes him through the awkwardness; during a slow dance to “Maggie May,” he realizes he has real feelings for her. A flash-forward reveals Mickie later engineers her own expulsion from a rigid all-girls school by getting caught smoking marijuana with a senior in his car—proof of her rebellious streak.
Chapter 52: Officer Bateman
The timeline jumps to 1989. Driving home at night, Sam—now a practicing ophthalmologist—is pulled over by a towering cop: Bateman, now a Marine and a police officer. He forces Sam to address him as “Officer Bateman,” sneers “Dr. Devil Boy,” and shines a flashlight into Sam’s eyes, reveling in humiliation. The encounter escalates fast. Bateman accuses Sam of drunk driving, yanks him out, sweeps his legs, and handcuffs him.
Pinned against the car, Sam receives a threat: he must fix Bateman’s daughter’s eyes and tell no one—especially Bateman’s ex-wife—how the injury happens. If he disobeys, Bateman promises worse to come. He removes the cuffs, then slams a billy club into the backs of Sam’s legs, leaving him kneeling in pain while Bateman smiles and drives away. The childhood power dynamic returns, now weaponized by authority.
Chapter 53: The Phone Call
Sam limps home, legs welted and throbbing. The physical pain merges with emotional collapse; he feels like the helpless seven-year-old he once was. The message is unmistakable: Bateman causes his daughter’s eye injury and intends to keep it hidden. Sam understands why Trina Crouch, Bateman’s ex-wife, denies abuse—her abuser is the police, and she has no safe avenue for help.
Isolated and afraid, Sam reaches for comfort. He calls his girlfriend, Eva Pryor, who is on a Boston business trip. A groggy man answers her hotel phone. Before Sam can apologize for dialing the wrong room, he hears Eva whisper in a panic in the background. The line goes cold, confirming her betrayal.
Chapter 54: "Hell"
Back to 1971: freshman year at Saint Joe’s isn’t the disaster Sam fears. His best friend Ernie Cantwell becomes a sports standout, and by association Sam gains acceptance—proof of The Power of Friendship. The initial whispers about his eyes fade as he folds into the school’s social life.
Determined to be “normal,” Sam tries out for freshman basketball. He lacks natural talent but makes the team through relentless hustle. In brief spurts of play, his pest-like defense and unnerving red eyes rattle opponents. The stands erupt with “Give him Hell!” and the nickname “Hell” sticks for the rest of high school. Unlike “Devil Boy,” Sam embraces it as respect and belonging, a step forward in his Coming of Age.
Chapter 55: A Sixteenth Birthday
It’s 1973, Sam’s sixteenth birthday. His father, Maxwell Hill, takes him to earn his driver’s license—he passes—and the family keeps their tradition of dinner at the Sixteen Mile House. Money is tight, but Sam can’t help hoping for a car, like Ernie’s.
He bolts through his favorite steak-and-baked-potato meal to rush home for cake—and maybe a surprise in the driveway. The moment captures teenage longing for independence, a bright vignette poised against the darker present.
Character Development
Sam’s journey fractures across time: a boy craving normalcy, a teen finding belonging, and an adult stripped back to childhood terror.
- Sam Hill: Accepts “Hell” as a badge of community, but in 1989 his confidence collapses under Bateman’s assault and Eva’s infidelity, reigniting old powerlessness.
- David Bateman: Evolves from schoolyard tormentor to sadistic abuser cloaked in institutional power, using the badge to control, threaten, and silence.
- Mickie Kennedy: Emerges as fearless and nonconformist; her engineered expulsion signals a will to live on her own terms.
- Madeline Hill: Models grace and belief in transformation, reading Sister Beatrice’s Bible as genuine care and urging acceptance over resentment.
- Eva Pryor: Once a source of stability, she shatters Sam’s trust, compounding his isolation at the worst possible moment.
Themes & Symbols
Bullying and Its Lasting Impact: Bullying and Its Lasting Impact resurfaces with lethal stakes. Bateman’s traffic stop proves that childhood cruelty doesn’t evaporate; it calcifies into adult violence when joined to authority. Sam’s regression to helplessness shows how trauma imprints and reactivates.
Faith and Doubt: Faith and Doubt plays out in Sister Beatrice’s Bible. For Madeline, the gift embodies prayer and redemption; for Sam, it’s a sanctified reminder of hypocrisy. The Bible becomes a symbol he can neither embrace nor discard, mirroring his ambivalence toward grace.
The Power of Friendship: In high school, acceptance flows from The Power of Friendship with Ernie. Social protection blunts prejudice and helps Sam build a healthier identity, contrasting starkly with the isolation he faces in 1989.
The Nickname “Hell”: Unlike “Devil Boy,” “Hell” signals earned respect. It’s a reclaimed identity, proof that Sam can transform stigma into strength—until Bateman tries to strip it away.
Key Quotes
“Give him Hell! Give him Hell!” The chant reframes Sam’s difference as power. What once isolates him becomes an engine of belonging, marking a pivotal step in his self-acceptance.
“Dr. Devil Boy.” Bateman’s taunt collapses decades in a word, fusing past cruelty to present authority. The insult underscores how abusers keep victims trapped in old narratives.
“It’s ‘Officer Bateman’ to you.” This demand for submission reveals Bateman’s creed: control first, humanity never. The badge amplifies his violence and shields it from consequence.
“Say nothing.” Bateman’s order weaponizes silence. It encapsulates the terror of systemic abuse—when the protector is the perpetrator, truth itself becomes dangerous.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters mark the novel’s hinge. The return of Bateman—now armored by the law—transforms a reflective coming-of-age into a high-stakes confrontation with institutionalized abuse. The same night, Eva’s betrayal severs Sam’s last refuge, leaving him alone, exposed, and forced to re-engage battles he thought he’d outgrown.
Against that darkness, the flashbacks supply the emotional blueprint for survival: friendship that shelters, a name that empowers, and a mother’s faith that complicates easy judgment. The section sets the central challenge of the latter half: Sam must find the courage and community to confront Bateman when family, friends, and the law can’t be trusted to save him.