PLOT NOTES / LITERATURE NOTES: THE CIDER HOUSE RULES

CHAPTER 7 - Before the War

Summary

Melony moves from orchard to orchard along the Maine coast determined to find Homer. She stopped at one apple mart, but no one had heard of Ocean View. The foreman offered her a job when the picking started in 3 weeks, but she declined and left. Down the road, she walked passed two men who got in their truck and followed her. She ran, and they chased her on foot. The slower man was farther behind, but the other one was catching up. Suddenly she stopped to face him, and before he could stop, she flung herself at him, knocking them both to the ground. She crushed his throat; jumped as high as she could landing in the small of his back; and knocked him unconscious. Before the other man could catch up, she’d taken a large buckled leather belt off the unconscious man and whipped the slower man with it until he curled up into a ball. She left in their truck, while they lay beaten and scared.

Melony drove the truck back to the apple mart and told the foreman that two of his hands had tried to rape her and he could either call the police or fire them and give her their jobs. The foreman gave her the job and set her up in the cider house. The slower fat man needed 41 stitches and suffered a broken nose. The other man only needed 4 stitches, but he had 2 cracked ribs and a concussion. He suffered repeated muscle spasms. The foreman told him that he had given Melony a job, and they’d better leave her alone.

Homer and the other workers were again cleaning and painting the cider house in preparation for the migrant workers. It was in much better condition than the one Melony was staying in and several hundred miles away. While painting, Homer came across the cider house rules. The rules were for the migrant workers. The rules mostly discussed not doing things, such as operating the grinder or sitting on the cider house roof, while drinking. The other workers told Homer that no one paid any attention to the rules.

The workers, except Grace Lynch, went to lunch, and Homer went up on the roof. Soaking wet from the rain, he climbed down. Grace, who had been cleaning the 1,000 gallon vat, asked for help. She said she couldn’t get out. She was lying. When Homer came over, she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him in. She was naked. It wasn’t ..........

Notes

Both Homer and Melony are struggling to leave St. Cloud’s behind and adjust to their new lives. Both cannot help but remember where they have come from. Homer remembers Dickens: “I have stood aside to see the phantoms of those days go by me. They are going, and I resume the journey of my story.” And Melony is touched by Bronte: “I must part with..........



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The Cider House Rules by John Irving: Free BookNotes Summary

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