A Death in the Family (Plot Summary)

Plot Summary

Knoxville: Summer, 1915

The segment titled “Knoxville: Summer, 1915” was originally published independently of A Death in the Family. In it, the speaker identifies himself as a grownup looking back on his childhood. He does not mention the characters who appear in the book: still, the quiet neighborhood evenings that Agee remembers in this section resemble ones experienced by young Rufus in the story that follows it.

Chapter 1

The first chapter focuses on the perspective of Rufus Follett, a six-year-old boy in Knoxville, Tennessee. Rufus and his father go to a Charlie Chaplin motion picture. On the way home, the father stops at a tavern, bragging about his son to the other people there. He tells Rufus to not tell his mother they stopped. In bed and falling asleep, Rufus hears his parents talking in the next room, vaguely understanding that his father is going somewhere.

Chapter 2

Jay Follet, the father of Rufus, receives a call late, around two in the morning, from his younger brother, Ralph. Ralph is drunk and explains, unclearly, that their father has had a heart attack. Jay is not able to tell just how serious it is but agrees to drive miles to the town where they live immediately.

He tells his wife, Mary, to stay in bed, that he can stop at a diner for something to eat, but she insists on making him a breakfast before his journey. In exchange, he makes the bed, as a surprise for her after he is gone. He tells her to think about something that she wants for her birthday that is coming up, and they share a happy, loving moment as he leaves into the darkness in the middle of the night.

Chapter 3

To cross the Powell river in his overnight car ride, Jay has to waken a man asleep at a ferry crossing. The man has Jay drive onto his boat, warning him that he will have to pay double fare to cover the boat’s round-trip voyage, even though Jay himself is only going one way. When they reach the other side, though, they find a family in a horsedrawn wagon, waiting to take their produce to market. The ferryman says that he cannot fairly charge Jay the nighttime rate for a “dark crossing” since there is someone to pay for the boat’s return trip.

Chapter 4

Before rising that morning, Mary lies in bed and thinks about her relationship with Jay. Though they have had difficult times, and his family has not been good to her, she prays to God that their future together will be peaceful.

Chapter 5

Mary explains to her children, Rufus and Catherine, that their father was called away and that he hopes to be home by the time they go to bed. In telling them that their grandfather might be dying, she discusses God and God’s mysterious ways with them.

Chapter 6

Jay arrives at the family’s house in LaFollette and finds that his father is not really in mortal danger. The narrative describes the events of the evening before from Ralph’s point of view. Their father had suffered a worse heart attack than any he had suffered before, and the handyman called family and friends together. Distraught, Ralph had brought a bottle of liquor to the house with him and, as he drank through the night, had become increasingly angry and paranoid. He phoned Jay to make himself feel important.

Chapter 7

While Rufus’s father is away, Hannah Lynch, Mary’s aunt, stops by to take the boy shopping. They have a strong relationship and enjoy shopping together. At the end of the expedition, Aunt Hannah buys him a cap, which is something that he wanted but his parents refused him.

Chapter 7 finishes Part I of the book with an extended scene, from the young boy’s point of view, of being frightened in the darkness of night and of being comforted by his father with songs and with a stuffed doll that he had lost when he was younger. He then remembers the mystery surrounding his mother’s pregnancy with his sister and the process of finding out about it.

Chapter 8

Part II starts with Mary receiving a phone call saying that Jay has been in an accident. She calls her brother Andrew, who has his friend Walter Starr drive him to the site. While they are gone, Mary discusses her fears with Aunt Hannah, as she tries to hope that it might not be a very bad accident, although each passing minute makes it clear that something is terribly wrong.

Chapter 9

Mary’s parents, Catherine and Joel, who stayed home when Andrew received the call, wait for word about Jay.

Chapter 10

Andrew returns and confirms Mary’s fear that Jay is dead. In shock, Mary asks for all of the details, but he leaves them until their parents can arrive.

Chapter 11

With Mary’s parents in the house, Andrew gives the details of how Jay died: a cotter pin fell out, and he was unable to control the car, hitting his chin on the steering wheel and dying instantly.

Chapter 12

All of the people in the house feel a strange presence, and they become convinced that it is Jay’s spirit, come home one last time. Only Joel Lynch, Mary’s father, is skeptical about whether they have experienced a true supernatural event. In the end, Andrew takes his parents home, leaving Aunt Hannah to stay with Mary and to care for the children when they awake.

Chapter 13

Mary’s parents and brother walk home, and Mary and Hannah go to bed. The focus shifts to Rufus’s memories. This section begins with his encounters with the older boys on the block who took interest in him, having him dance and sing, though he could tell that they were laughing at him. It ends with a long story about a trip that the family once took out into the country to visit the oldest Follet, Rufus’s great-great grandmother, who was born in 1802. Though she could hardly talk, she recognized people and hugged Rufus.

Chapter 14

Rufus and Catherine wake in the morning, and their mother tells them that their father will not be coming home.

Chapter 15

Aunt Hannah tries to explain death to Rufus and Catherine, telling them that it is God’s will. Catherine still asks when their father is coming home.

Chapter 16

After breakfast, Rufus wanders outside, amazed that he does not have to go to school. He encounters the children who have bullied him. Some mock his father, calling him a drunk, or the car for being cheap, but most are sympathetic and a little in awe of Rufus.

Chapter 17

Father Jackson comes to the house. He is stern with the children, lecturing them about manners. The children are visited by Walter Starr, who treats them well and expresses his respect for Jay.

Chapter 18

They go to the house of Mary’s parents, where the body is laid out for viewing, and see Jay’s corpse.

Chapter 19

Walter takes the children away, but he breaks the family’s wishes and lets them watch the funeral procession from a hidden place because he thinks it is important for them.

Chapter 20

They return to their grandparents’ house that evening. Feeling ignored, Catherine hides under the bed. Mary’s brother Andrew takes Rufus for a walk and tells him an uplifting story about a butterfly that landed on the casket as it was lowered in the grave. His spiritual amazement gives way, however, to anger at Father Jackson, who has refused to give the full funeral prayer because Jay was never baptized. Rufus assumes that this antireligious stance means that his uncle hates Mary.

Media Adaptations

• A Death in the Family was adapted to the stage as the play All the Way Home in 1960; a film version of the play was made in 1963.
• On March 25, 2002, PBS broadcast an adaptation of A Death in the Family directed by Gil Cates and starring Annabeth Gish and James Cromwell, as part of its Masterpiece Theatre series. It was written by Robert W. Lenski. The series was later released on VHS from Public Broadcasting System.