The Seventh Most Important Thing

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

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Chapters 48-50Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 48 Summary

An hour later, Arthur and Squeak meet the reporter and a photographer at the garage. The photographer seems impressed by the art, but the reporter doesn’t. The reporter asks for Arthur and Squeak’s names. Arthur is hesitant about having his name appear with the article, and Squeak saves him by saying they’d “like our volunteer work on this project to remain anonymous” (241).

Chapter 49 Summary

The article doesn’t gain as much interest as Arthur hoped. Donations don’t add up to $50, and after viewing the artwork, a minister goes so far to say that “no church is going to want a sculpture of heaven made of trash” (245). When Officer Billie calls to say some people from an art museum want to see the piece, Arthur agrees to show them, even though he isn’t feeling optimistic.

Chapter 50 Summary

Arthur takes an immediate dislike to the people from the art museum, who look like “they had come straight from a country club” (247). The group debates whether the piece has artistic value. Annoyed, Arthur tells them the piece is The Third Throne of Heaven. He shows them the first box Mr. Hampton made during World War II. The group likes the idea of turning death and war into something beautiful. They observe how the sculpture is covered in reflective foil and conclude that it could mean “heaven is supposed to reflect us, the viewers” (249).

Arthur tells the group about the seven important things and says he doesn’t know why Mr. Hampton liked seven so much. One of the people from the museum defines seven as “the number of completeness and perfection” in the Bible (250). Arthur finally understands the seven important things. They aren’t just things to collect from the trash, they are the seven things Arthur needed to find to fix his own life, too.

Chapters 48-50 Analysis

Arthur completes his character arc in these chapters. After the man from the museum explains the number seven, Arthur realizes the truth about Mr. Hampton’s list and the seven things. Arthur understands now that each item on the list represented something he needed in his life. The hidden meanings of the list and the important things become clear.

While Arthur has completed his character arc, he is still a work in progress. He judges the people from the museum on sight because they look rich and like they wouldn’t understand the meaning of a sculpture constructed from trash. Arthur continues to judge them while they debate the sculpture’s merit. When Arthur finally explains the sculpture, the people from the museum understand, and Arthur realizes he has misjudged them; they just needed clarification to grasp the meaning of Mr. Hampton’s art.

One of the people from the museum suggests the sculpture’s reflective surfaces mean heaven is meant to mirror the viewer. Earlier, Arthur pictured heaven a specific way for his dad. After seeing the sculpture for the first time, Arthur realized Mr. Hampton’s idea of heaven was very different. Here, this idea expands to include all people. Heaven, like angel wings, is different for everyone, and each person’s heaven may reflect who they are inside.

The minister who disrespects Mr. Hampton’s sculpture offers a frame against which to compare Arthur’s growth. At the beginning of the story, Arthur had a similar outlook. He thought of Mr. Hampton as the “junk man” and couldn’t fathom why anyone would collect trash. The minister can’t find the beauty in Mr. Hampton’s art, even though the sculpture shines like treasure. To the minister, the sculpture is trash, no matter how lovely it may be.