53 pages • 1 hour read
Ali BenjaminThe Thing About Jellyfish
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “Hypothesis”
Chapter 6 Summary: “Best Educated Guess”
Suzy composes a list of statistics and facts about jellyfish, their stings, and people in her life, eventually coming to the hypothesis that Franny may have drowned because a jellyfish sting incapacitated her. Suzy labels this idea “HYPOTHESIS” and decides that even though her friendship with Franny ended “in the worst way” (43), validating her hypothesis might be the key to “prove that there was an actual villain in Franny’s story” (43). Suzy’s mother announces the appointment with the counselor just as Suzy constructs the hypothesis.
Part 2 Analysis
Part 2: “Hypothesis” is the shortest section of the novel; only one chapter, it outlines Suzy’s educated guess: Franny died because she suffered an Irukandji sting. If Suzy is right, then Franny’s death was caused by “a villain worse than [Suzy]” (43). Suzy is alluding to the way in which their friendship ended and to the failed message Suzy tried to send Franny to revive their friendship. In order to formulate her formal hypothesis, Suzy first relates facts and statistics about jellyfish, their stings, and Franny, showing that Suzy has the capacity to think logically.
Suzy blames herself in part for Franny’s death, as evidenced by her search for a villain who is responsible for Franny’s drowning.
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