Chapter 37 – A Litany of Injustice
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot. This section discusses key plot points from I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai. If you have not finished Chapter 37 (Chapter 106), please be aware that spoilers follow.
Summary
Chapter 37 presents a series of brief, devastating vignettes, each describing a crime that went unpunished. The chapter contrasts cases where the system failed—through legal maneuvers, victim-blaming, technicalities, or outright prejudice—with a single case where the system worked humanely. The common thread is the profound gap between the ideal of justice and the reality for marginalized victims, particularly young women and trans women of color. The narrator (likely Bodie Kane) compiles these examples as part of her ongoing examination of how the Granby case fits into a larger pattern of unaddressed violence.
Key Events
- A man marries the victim's mother, the only witness, to prevent her from testifying.
- A defense attorney makes a thirteen-year-old best friend testify about the victim watching R‑rated movies, used to argue the twelve-year-old was “sexually active” and thus could have been killed by anyone.
- A man is released on a paperwork technicality and attends his victim's funeral.
- A boy who pushed his father off a restaurant deck is treated with care—given a blanket and hot chocolate—because the system recognizes him as a child.
- Five Black trans women are found murdered in the same park within a year, and police dismiss the deaths as a coincidence in a “seedy” park.
- A 1990s case: An eleven-year-old girl is murdered; semen is found in her mouth, vagina, and anus. The state declines to charge the family friend, arguing the girl could have touched a surface with his semen and then her mouth. The man demonstrates on live TV how a girl wipes herself after using the bathroom.
Character Development
- Bodie Kane (narrator): Her voice emerges through the accumulation of these stories, revealing a deep awareness of systemic injustice. She is not a passive observer; she is compiling evidence of a world that routinely fails victims, which informs her own investigation into Thalia's murder.
- Unnamed perpetrators and victims: Represented only through their horrifying cases, they serve as archetypes of impunity and tragedy. No individual characterization is offered; they exist to illustrate the patterns Bodie sees.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Justice vs. Impunity: The chapter explicitly contrasts cases where legal loopholes or bias let offenders walk free with the one case (the boy who killed his father) where the system responded compassionately. The disparity highlights that justice is not evenly applied.
- Victim-blaming and sexualization of girls: The use of a dead girl's movie habits to imply consent or culpability echoes the defense strategy in Thalia's case. The motif of “front to back” wiping turns a grotesque violation into a mundane, excusable act.
- Invisibility of Black trans women: The police ignoring five murders in the same park underscores how certain lives are deemed unworthy of investigation. This motif connects to the broader indifference Bodie sees in the Granby case.
- "Get out of jail free" cards: Marriage, paperwork errors, dismissal as coincidence—each vignette reveals a different escape hatch from accountability.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 37 is a crucial expansion of the novel's scope. It moves beyond the single focus on Thalia Keith's murder to show that Granby is not an isolated anomaly but part of a nationwide pattern of failures. Bodie's listing of these cases illustrates her analytical mind and reinforces the book's central argument: that the justice system is rigged against certain victims. The chapter also humanizes the boy who killed his father, reminding readers that the system can work with compassion, making the other examples even more damning. This collective evidence strengthens Bodie's resolve and the reader's understanding of her mission.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does the chapter's juxtaposition of the well-treated boy with the other cases deepen the critique of the justice system?
The boy who pushed his father off a deck receives a blanket and hot chocolate; he is seen as a child in need of support. The stark contrast with cases where girls are blamed for their own murders or trans women are ignored shows that the system reserves its humanity for those who look like “deserving” victims—often white, male, and from privileged backgrounds.
2. What purpose does the 1990s case about the eleven-year-old serve in the context of Bodie’s obsession with Thalia’s death?
That case demonstrates how forensic evidence can be twisted into a narrative of innocent contact. The defense’s “front to back” wiping argument is a grotesque rationalization that dehumanizes the victim. It parallels the way Omar’s team might argue away evidence in Thalia’s case, and validates Bodie’s fear that truth can be buried under plausible doubt.
3. Why does the narrator include cases seemingly unrelated to her own experience?
By expanding the lens beyond Granby, Bodie (and Makkai) argue that Thalia’s story is not unique. The chapter functions as an indictment of systemic failures that allow violence against women, girls, and trans women to go unpunished. It also shows Bodie’s developing political consciousness, moving from personal inquiry to broader social critique.