Chapters 26-27: Moving the Town & Luke's War

In chapter 26, Isabel Newbury dies and Lila marries Reese.  Lila now owns all of Melrose Island after her divorce with Henry, and her land ownership and Reese’s political power allow them to fuel a campaign that would relocate all of Colleton’s residents and turn the county into a nuclear research and bomb construction facility.  Luke protests this move more than anyone else and single-handedly tries to stop it.

The entire novel builds up to this event, and Tom tells Lowenstein that this is even worse that Callanwolde returning in chapter 22.  At first, we were surprised by this claim because, in terms of content, these chapters were boring compared to Callanwolde’s return.  However, when we considered their literary significance, we realized that the events of these chapters were the key to nearly all of the Wingo family’s problems.

Luke’s campaign to stop the moving of the town begins with his speech at the assembly.  In his speech, he compares Colleton to the Garden of Eden and says that the forbidden fruit that would destroy it is plutonium.  He encourages his fellow citizens to join him in a war against moving the town.  Even though no one in the town is brave enough to help him, Luke still carries out his war by himself and does everything he possibly can to achieve his goal.  He hides in the woods and blows up construction sites.  The workers are afraid of him and the FBI is after him.  He eventually plans to surrender, but before he gets the chance, one of the people who had been hired to hunt him down finds him and kills him.

Luke told Lila after his speech that while “most people are smart about a hundred things,” he is “just smart about four or five things (600).”  Luke had seemed unintelligent before this chapter, but this quote and his actions in these chapters show how passionate he is and how he just has different priorities than other people.  We had seen before with Caesar and the white porpoise that Luke is passionate about nature, but in these chapters, we see the extent of his love for his town and how far he is willing to go to save it.  Tom admires Luke for his passion and wishes that there was something he himself felt that strongly about.

Lila betrayed her family by marrying Reese Newbury and selling Melrose Island.  Ironically, Lila had always told her children that family loyalty was the most important thing, but her actions in these chapters are completely disloyal.  The Wingos hate the Newburys and everything they stand for, but Lila marries a Newbury because she wants money and high social standing.  More significantly, she sells Melrose Island, which has belonged to the Wingo family for generations and represents everything that is important to them and particularly to Luke.  Lila’s actions here completely tear the family apart and cause Tom to hate her.

Luke’s death is not tragic simply because he died.  It is tragic because of how it happened and how the whole town died with him.  The town and the island held everything that mattered to Luke, but Lila was selfish enough to destroy them for her own benefit.  Tom hates Lila because her selfishness took away his island, his town, his connection with his family, and his brother’s life.