Later Chapter 37: Jamie Seeks Advice from Professor Burkett

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Jamie visits Professor Burkett, who makes them both tea from loose leaves. After Jamie admits he wants to discuss something difficult, the professor asks for an account. Jamie explains his ability to see dead people, starting with Robert Harrison in Central Park, then Mrs. Burkett, and all subsequent encounters, including the rings. The professor listens without interrupting. He checks his iPad to verify the Robert Harrison case from 2003 or 2004. He acknowledges that the last Regis Thomas book exists, which Jamie’s mother wrote using Jamie as a medium. Burkett notes that Jamie’s mother’s ex-friend could corroborate the story but agrees not to contact her. Turning to the haunting by Kenneth Therriault, Burkett speculates that what remains of Therriault may have been infested by a demon rather than possessed. Although he leans toward a rational explanation—possibly a fugue state—he concedes he cannot dismiss Jamie’s story outright. When Jamie asks about exorcism, Burkett doubts a priest would help. He then asks if Jamie has heard of the Ritual of Chüd.

Key Events

Professor Burkett brews loose-leaf tea for Jamie and insists on a five-minute steep.
Jamie recounts his entire supernatural history: seeing Robert Harrison, Mrs. Burkett, the dead from the Thomas house, and the persistent ghost of Kenneth Therriault.
Burkett uses his iPad to confirm the details of the Central Park man, finding a record of the death.
The professor acknowledges the existence of the final Regis Thomas book and praises Tia for discarding the ex-friend who brought drugs.
Burkett proposes that Therriault’s lingering presence might be a demonic infestation rather than a simple ghost.
He rejects an exorcism as impractical and instead introduces the Ritual of Chüd as a potential solution.

Character Development

Jamie Conklin: Shows great trust by confiding fully in Burkett, after keeping his secret from his mother. He is relieved to share the burden but disheartened by the possibility that he is “crazy.”
Professor Burkett: Moves from polite skepticism (“I believe that you believe”) to genuine curiosity. His willingness to consider supernatural possibilities (the rings, the Thomas book, the idea of demonic infestation) shows an open-minded scholar who still anchors himself in reason.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The conflict between rational and supernatural: Burkett represents empirical thinking (he’s never seen a ghost) but cannot explain away concrete evidence like the rings or the Thomas manuscript. Their conversation becomes a microcosm of the novel’s central tension.
The burden of secret knowledge: Jamie’s description of his relief at “getting it all out there” underscores how isolating his ability has been. The act of confession becomes a motif.
The Ritual of Chüd: Referenced from Stephen King’s own It, this concept now appears in Later. In this chapter it is presented as an obscure, possibly fictional solution, hinting that Jamie may need to confront the “demon” on a mental or mythic plane.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is the first time Jamie voluntarily reveals his full story to an adult he trusts. It shifts the narrative from passive haunting to active problem-solving. Burkett’s suggestion of demonic infestation reclassifies the threat as something more sinister than a typical ghost. The mention of the Ritual of Chüd forewarns that dealing with Therriault will require a dangerous, ritualistic confrontation—likely in a future chapter. It also deepens the novel’s intertextuality, connecting Later to King’s broader mythos.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Jamie decide to tell Professor Burkett his story instead of his mother?
Jamie believes telling his mother would upset her. He chooses Burkett, a bookish and trusted elder, because the professor already knows about the rings and can offer a more detached perspective.

2. What evidence does Professor Burkett find most convincing about Jamie’s abilities?
Burkett points to the rings and the existence of Regis Thomas’s last book (written with Jamie’s help) as tangible proof. He also notes that Detective Dutton must have witnessed something at Thomas’s home to believe in Jamie’s talents.

3. What is the “Ritual of Chüd,” and why does Burkett mention it at the end of the chapter?
The Ritual of Chüd is a supernatural combat from King’s novel It. Burkett introduces it as a possible method to rid Jamie of the Therriault entity, implying that conventional approaches (e.g., exorcism) won’t work and that Jamie may need to fight the being on a psychic level.