The Frozen River

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Part 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 5: “The Grief That Does Not Speak”

Part 5, Chapter 1 Summary: “Ballard’s Mill”

Martha makes it back home safely, thanks to Moses, who went to rescue her from the back room after his father locked it up. Back at the mill, Ephraim reads over his letter that was in Burgess’s saddle bag, a survey of the mill property from 12 years ago when they first moved to Hallowell. The other letters are from the Kennebec Proprietors claiming that the Ballards failed to fulfill their 12-year lease, and awarding the property to North as a result. Martha speculates that North was bribing Burgess with the Ballard’s property in return for his silence, but this does not explain why Burgess was killed. Before they can finish their discussion, Jonathan comes in and informs them that something has killed Percy, the falcon. In the workshop, Ephraim finds coyote pawprints and feathers scattered everywhere. There is no sign of Percy’s corpse however, and Ephraim speculates that instead of dying, Percy fought back against the coyote and flew away.

Part 5, Chapter 2 Summary: “Pollard’s Tavern”

At the tavern, James Wall explains to Martha why he borrowed money from North. He says that he would not have taken the loan had he known that North was a rapist, and at the time, North was the only one with an eagerness to invest in his distillery. When James failed to pay his most recent debt, North pressured James into selling him 30% of the business. James asserts that North “wants to own the entire town” (288).

Part 5, Chapter 3 Summary: “Ballard’s Mill”

Sarah makes good progress in her reading lessons with Martha at the mill. Martha feels frustrated that Cyrus isn’t present during the hours that Sarah visits, and her plan to set the two up is therefore failing. She finds out that Ephraim intentionally sent Cyrus away to do errands during this particular lesson, and Sarah is escorted home by Jonathan instead. Martha scolds Ephraim, informing him that Jonathan is already sexually active with Sally Pierce. Before they can discuss further, they see Percy flying back to the mill.

Part 5, Chapter 4 Summary: “McMaster House”

Martha is called to Dr. Page’s residence to assist with his wife’s labor. Despite her reluctance, the idea of Dr. Page risking his own wife’s life and hearing the woman ask for help convinces her. Before delivering the baby, she asks for Mrs. Page’s name. When Mrs. Page tries to respond with her surname, Martha interrupts her, saying, “Page is your husband’s name. And missus is the thing you became on your wedding day. What is the one you were given at birth?” (297). Finally, she receives the answer she is looking for: Melody. After she delivers Melody’s baby safely, Dr. Page insists on paying Martha. When Martha refuses, he calls her a “stubborn old bitch” (298). Disappointed in his lack of growth, Martha makes him promise that he will never deliver another baby in Hallowell again as her payment.

Part 5, Chapter 5 Summary: “Dr. Coleman’s Store”

On her way home, Martha sees the general store open and crosses the icy river. Inside, she is relieved to see that the silver fox has still not been trapped or skinned. She suggests to Coleman that he hire Sarah as his shop assistant. Coleman is intrigued by the suggestion, but informs Martha that he recently sold the shop to a man in Boston who will come to take over its operation soon. He also tells her about how he lost his eye during the Battle of Signal Hill during the Seven Years’ War, and how his wife was murdered and scalped by a Huron warrior. This line of conversation serves as a segue to Coleman’s belief that North “lost his soul” during the war, since he built his personal fortune off of murdering Indigenous people and selling their scalps to the English (305).

Part 5, Chapter 6 Summary: “Pollard’s Tavern”

The Court of Common Pleas holds a session at the tavern to hear Cyrus’s testimony about the Burgess murder. Delivering his responses to the questions as handwritten notes read aloud by his lawyer, Cyrus pleads not guilty and insists that he had no interaction with Burgess after their altercation at the dance. The youngest Ballard son, Ephraim Jr., affirms that Cyrus slept in the same bedroom as him that night, and did not leave at any point. Without solid evidence to convict or acquit Cyrus, the court releases him from the jail yard, but does not drop the charges entirely.

Part 5, Chapter 7 Summary: “Pownalboro Courthouse”

Martha and Ephraim are in Pownalboro for the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts’s deliberation over the Foster rape case. Prior to the session, Martha and Ephraim watch the judges eating breakfast at the inn. Martha considers how mundane they look in this setting in contrast to the courthouse where the men present as intimidating figures. The Fosters have still not arrived, shocking everyone, especially the judges. The Fosters’ lawyer offers their written depositions instead, pointing out that Rebecca’s late-term pregnancy has made it particularly strenuous for her to travel to court. Martha delivers her journal to the judges. North pleads not guilty, and his lawyer argues that there were no witnesses to the crime, and that Rebecca’s word is not reliable. The Fosters’ lawyer argues that no reason has been given to doubt Rebecca’s testimony. In the end, the court acquits North of the rape charges.

Part 5, Chapter 8 Summary: “Oxford, Massachusetts”

In 1769, a diphtheria epidemic killed three of the Ballard daughters: Triphene, Martha, and Dorothy. Martha’s mentor, Elspeth, was unable to enter the house, and therefore unable to help. It seemed that Cyrus would also succumb to the illness, but miraculously, he recovered. In the process, however, he lost his voice. Martha and Ephraim buried their daughters on the family property in Oxford, but Ephraim soon began insisting that the family move elsewhere. Martha was distraught about leaving her children’s graves, and angry at Ephraim for suggesting such a thing, but the family eventually made the move to Hallowell.

Part 5 Analysis

Martha’s confrontation with Dr. Page, the book’s secondary antagonist, anticipates her impending confrontation with North, the primary antagonist, in the novel’s climax. Though the reasons for their hatred of one another have previously gone unspoken, in this conversation, both parties articulate their feud plainly. Page’s use of a gendered expletive as he addresses Martha underscores the disdain he feels for her with implicit misogyny: “You are a stubborn old bitch, aren’t you?” (299). He further remarks, “I think you are full of yourself. A country woman bloated with the idea of your own skill” (299), adding a layer of elitism to this misogyny, distinguishing himself as superior by virtue of being a man, affluent, highly educated and hailing from an affluent city without interrogating the disparity of privilege, access and resource involved in those claims. And yet, despite his rhetorical attempts to demonstrate his own superiority, Martha’s actions speak louder in the narrative. Having just saved the lives of Page’s wife and child, Martha’s retains the moral high ground in the conversation, rendering Page’s insults as ignorant bluster.

Martha’s ability to save Page’s wife and child resolves the debate raised in their initial meeting (pitting Page’s Harvard education against Martha’s years of experience in the community) in Martha’s favor—the ultimate blow to Page’s masculine pride. When Martha demands that Page never again deliver a baby in Hallowell, it prompts a physical response on his part. “The young Dr. Benjamin Page grows still,” she notes, “Then pale. I see his jaw tremble with rage” (300). The doctor’s silence in this moment is notable, since only minutes prior, he was eager to wield violent language against Martha. In a town where misogynistic men continuously seek to maintain their power over women by ensuring that the women stay silent, Martha’s ability to the turn the tables and render her male enemies silent provides a satisfying narrative momentum heading into the novel’s final act where She will go on to wield this ability against a far more dangerous opponent, Joseph North, in Part 6 (see Part 6 Analysis). Chapter 4’s concluding sentence: “That is enough” succinctly conveys the sense of satisfaction Martha feels in besting her rival. Far beyond her personal triumph, however, her victory is also a broader victory for all the women of the community, who will no longer have to fear Page’s high mortality rate.

Throughout the novel, the emphasis Martha places on the names of the women in her life signifies an attempt to assert their inherent value as human beings in a world that consistently dehumanizes and devalues them through Puritan Shame Culture and Gender Oppression. During Martha’s delivery of Page’s baby, she takes great care to learn the name of Page’s wife, Melody, who initially identifies herself as Mrs. Page—a detail that suggests that Page displays the same misogyny in private as he does in public. Through the simple act of learning her name, Martha signals to Melody that she is respected. In this way, Lawhon connects the first names of the women with personhood itself.

Lawhon adds an additional layer to the value of women’s names in the novel by investing many of them with symbolic significance. During a flashback chapter, Martha takes great care to illuminate the meanings behind the names of each of the three daughters that she loses to diphtheria—Martha, Triphene, and Dorothy. For instance, she describes her youngest daughter as “Triphene, the girl we had named after the first woman I attended in childbed” (328). The meaning that Lawhon invents behind the name of Martha’s daughter links it to the wider community of women that Martha has attended throughout her career as a midwife, tying her Familial Loyalty in the Face of Suspicion to her passion for women’s empowerment and care. No such meaning can be traced in the historical record, but Ulrich also remarks upon this unique name, writing, “Classical or pseudo-classical names […] became more popular after the Revolution. The Ballards […] displayed an uncharacteristic bit of whimsy when they named their third daughter Triphene” (Ulrich 10). Where Ulrich restricts herself to a discussion of broad historical trends, Lawhon’s fictionalized account allows her to fill in intimate details with fictional license that form a highly intentional aspect of her storytelling—a key component of how she imbues her characters (especially the women) with individuality and personhood.