We Were Liars

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2014

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Part 3, Chapters 50-57Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3: “Summer Seventeen”

Part 3, Chapter 50 Summary

Cady and Mirren talk on the beach. Mirren confesses she has been lying about her boyfriend and sex. She tells Cady to leave Gat alone because she will hurt him.

Part 3, Chapter 51 Summary

Cady goes to meet the Liars and realizes they are lying to her about what they have been doing, but she can't figure out why.

Part 3, Chapter 52 Summary

Gat comes to visit Cady in her room when she is sick in bed. He sees her sticky notes on the wall, which she uses to try to remember summer fifteen. Gat tells her about Raquel during summer fifteen. He says he was cruel to her and to Cady. When Cady wakes later, she sees Carrie sleepwalking. Her son, Will, awakes from a nightmare and needs help but Carrie keeps walking.

Part 3, Chapter 53 Summary

Cady finds a box of Legos she wants to give away. She offers them to Johnny, who says he gave all of his to Taft and Will.

Part 3, Chapter 54 Summary

Cady goes kayaking with the Liars. They climb a rock and jump into the water. She recalls the saying, "always do what you are afraid to do" (141). She recalls that the book Charmed Life is about parallel universes, in which events have multiple variations, and she wonders what variations exist for her life with the Liars.

Part 3, Chapter 55 Summary

Cady recalls a memory of summer fifteen. Carrie is crying while wearing Johnny's jacket. Cady goes to Cuddledown and asks Mirren to help her remember, but Mirren refuses. Cady notices that Mirren never leaves Cuddledown.

Part 3, Chapter 56 Summary

Cady remembers a swing that hung on a tree by the old Clairmont house. She recalls how she and the Liars all sat on it at the same time. She goes to the new swing and finds an envelope for her from Gat with dried beach roses in it.

Part 3, Chapter 57 Summary

This chapter offers a new version of Cady's fairy tale. This time, the eldest daughter has twins, a boy and a mouseling, the latter of whom disgusts the king and queen. The mouseling leaves because he knows he will always be a dirty secret in the family. He dreams of burning the palace down.

Part 3, Chapters 50-57 Analysis

Cady's fantasy world begins to come undone as she comes closer to remembering the disaster. Mirren admits she’s been lying, and Cady senses the Liars are hiding things from her. In a way, she has been using her fantasy that the Liars are still alive to protect her from the pain she must face when she fully remembers that she is responsible for killing them. Dealing with trauma often requires remaining in a comforting space that lets one approach the traumatic pain slowly and in a controlled way. The imaginary Liars have allowed Cady to feel comfortable about the traumatic memory she must recover. They allow her to get closer to it slowly and without fear. It is crucial that she and the imaginary Liars do something dangerous—jumping off rocks into the ocean—that requires putting aside fear. That is what Cady needs to do. She won't be able to remember and overcome the trauma until she overcomes her fear of the pain associated with it. An important memory of summer fifteen at this moment in the story is of seeing aunt Carrie crying and carrying Johnny's jacket. Cady finally sees the pain she has caused. She also at this point sees the motive—her love for Gat, and her anger at how badly he was treated by her family, and especially by Granddad. That she has to tell the story of the rejected mouse (Gat) as a fairy tale one last time indicates that she has not quite found the courage yet to overcome her fear and face the truth.