41 pages • 1 hour read
Ninth House
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Chapters 4-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary: “Last Fall”
This chapter continues Daniel’s perspective of his first meeting with Alex. After calling off the jackals, he introduces her to Pamela, or “Oculus,” a grad student who takes care of the clubhouse and of Lethe members. She is an introvert who hates loud noise and new people. Daniels shows Alex around the Lethe mansion, where both Dante and Virgil have their own sets of rooms. Alex seems unimpressed with the opulent interior.
Daniel recalls what he knows about Alex: She and another young woman had been found at a crime scene where five men had been beaten to death. The police were unable to solve the case.
Alex tells Daniel that she has always been able to see Greys; for a long time, she thought they were regular people. Only after Child Services got involved did she realize that they were not.
At the end of their tour, Darlington shows Alex a box filled with magical moths. The insects can absorb any kind of ink and transfer it to anything else. The young woman takes off her shirt, displaying the extensive tattoos covering her arms. The moths feed on her tattoos, showing Alex magic for the first time. It makes her feel happy and excited.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Winter”
After leaving the crime scene at the gym, Alex showers at the Hutch and goes back to her room. It is already early morning and her roommate Mercy is up. Alex tells her she had gone for a run and the two go to breakfast. Mercy is supposed to help Alex with one of her papers, so she uses some belladonna tincture eye drops as a stimulant.
At breakfast, Professor Marguerite Belbalm, the head of Jonathan Edwards College, notices Alex. The professor invites the young woman for a talk in her office, where she takes an interest in Alex and offers her a summer job if her academic standing improves by the end of the year. Alex is excited at the prospect of staying on campus—this would give her the chance to catch up with her studies and plan her future.
After the meeting, Alex walks by the gym, still thinking about the murder from the previous night. The victim was a blond woman, reminding her of her dead friend, Hellie, who had overdosed.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Last Fall”
The Aurelian society, which specializes “in unbreakable contracts, binding vows, stories that can literally put the reader to sleep” (96), initiates the first ritual Alex witnesses as Dante. It takes place at the Beinecke Library on behalf of an alum who wrote one best-selling novel eight years ago. The ritual will help him recover his inspiration by allowing magical ink to literally enter his head and heart.
During the ritual, Alex and Daniel must repel Greys attracted to magic and blood. At first, the young woman enjoys her newfound ability to banish ghosts, but at one point, she falls on the ground and Greys are overtaking her. Daniel comes to her aid, but there are too many ghosts. Alex and Daniel begin reciting and singing anything that has to do with death and Alex recalls a Ladino phrase her grandmother had often repeated. The words conjure a ghostly wave that scatters the Greys.
Back at their headquarters, the Daniel berates Alex. She tells him the ghosts started touching her, which Darlington thinks is a lie. His presumption of omniscience angers Alex, who realizes that Lethe could have contacted her years ago and told her how to manage the Greys, but no one bothered until she became useful to them. The society’s indifference has caused her great suffering. Daniel sees that his assumptions about Alex’s bad choices are probably incorrect, since she has had to struggle with being haunted all her life. As a way to channel her anger, they go on a rampage, breaking all the expensive glass and china in the kitchen at Il Bastone.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Winter”
Alex searches for information that will help her figure out Tara’s murder in Lethe’s magical library. She decides to go to the morgue in order to recover Tara’s last memories, and asks Pamela for help.
From a flashback, it becomes clear that Alex had a difficult time at school because of her special ability. The adults around her assumed all kinds of things that could explain her behavior, from ADD to developmental problems. When Alex was 12, an older girl at school took pity on her and invited her to hang out. The girl’s boyfriend, Len, had been a small-time drug dealer who gave Alex pot. Soon Alex learned that marijuana, alcohol, valium, and other depressants could keep her from seeing Greys. This discovery led to her drug addiction.
Alex started skipping school and stealing from her mother, Mira, to buy drugs. When Alex turned 15, Mira tried to send her to rehab. Alex ran away to live with Len, surviving by selling drugs or working minimum-pay jobs in shady places. Her life was depressing until Len had brought Hellie to join them. Alex loved the new girl.
Chapters 4-7 Analysis
The theme of privilege develops further, both through the ways Darlington differs from the stereotypical Yale student, and through Alex’s realization that Lethe could have helping her cope with her powers all along. Darlington is much more sensitive and empathetic than expected. He has pre-conceived notions about who belongs at the university—not someone like Alex—but he can grow and adapt. His opinion of Alex begins to change as he discovers more about her life; their interactions affect his understanding of the world. Thinking about her childhood experiences with Greys and her road to addiction makes Alex feel betrayed by Lethe, as they are indirectly responsible for much of her suffering. If they had bothered to tell her how to deal with ghosts, she would not have become an addict. Alex’s history also plants a seed of doubt in Darlington’s mind. Until her arrival, he never had reason to doubt the society’s intentions and Dean Sandow’s actions.
The novel introduces the theme of social and gender inequality through Professor Belbalm’s speech. Alex’s shrewd observations of the professor’s word choice point out flaws in the Professor’s argument. Belbalm’s refers to herself as a “peasant” (83)—a word the truly underprivileged or impoverished would not use. Nevertheless, the professor is a potential role model for Alex and seems to offer a type of sanctuary for the freshman. Belbalm is the only strong, independent, adult woman depicted in the novel: Alex’s grandmother is dead; her mother is a good person, but oblivious and not successful; and her other female acquaintances are around her age. The professor represents a potential future for Alex. Her motives, however, come into question—she claims to want to mentor Alex, but does not even know her real name, calling her “Alexandra” (80).
Readers gain insight into the activities of the various Houses, and the uses and limitations of magic. We see the magical rituals that the different societies perform, and explore the potential volatility and danger of magic, especially for those who see Greys, through the incident at the library.
Alex’s ghostly wave foreshadows her growing ability to control and use her gift. The fact that she chants a Ladino phrase could imply some connection between Jewish beliefs and customs and her supernatural powers.
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