50 pages • 1 hour read
The Amulet of Samarkand
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Part 2, Chapters 23-30Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2, Chapter 23 Summary: “Nathaniel”
Nathaniel tries to summon Bartimaeus three times, all of which fail. He hastily conceals his summoning circle and, while on his way to consult more books at the library, runs into his master. Like his wife, Arthur notes that Nathaniel smells like incense and candles, but unlike Martha, he immediately grows suspicious. He turns over Nathaniel’s room, finding all of his used summoning supplies and the circle he made on the floorboards—but not his scrying glass. Infuriated, Arthur promises retribution and a ruined career for what he perceives as Nathaniel’s complete disobedience. Later, Martha brings him food. Siding with her husband, she entreats Nathaniel to beg for forgiveness. She mentions, however, that Arthur has left the house to deal with a rogue djinni who impersonated Simon’s messenger imp. When she leaves, Nathaniel orders the imp in his scrying glass to find Bartimaeus, and the imp confirms that Bartimaeus is in the Tower of London.
Part 2, Chapter 24 Summary: “Bartimaeus”
The other utukku, Xerxes, stops Baztuk from killing Bartimaeus as he hears a tapping sound and worries that it is the magicians. They fight, and Bartimaeus goads them. As the utukku are about to attack him again, two ravens appear. One of them eats Xerxes, and Baztuk hurriedly sounds the alarm before dying. When the ravens turn their attention to Bartimaeus, he recognizes them as Faquarl and Jabor.
Part 2, Chapter 25 Summary: “Bartimaeus”
Bartimaeus pleads with Faquarl for his freedom. Faquarl tries to pressure him about his master and the Amulet, but Bartimaeus knows better than to provide the information he seeks. Faquarl, like Whitwell, would only kill him after he divulged the information. Faquarl eventually agrees to release him, using an iron ring from Simon to create a gap in the orb. As they make their escape, they are pursued by a hoard of horla spirits. Faquarl instructs Bartimaeus to become a raven, and though they lose Jabor along the way, they are able to mingle among the Tower’s flock of ravens. They fly with them to conceal themselves, but the Tower is enchanted with an illusion that confuses Bartimaeus and leads him back the way he came.
As they are quickly being cornered, Bartimaeus directs Faquarl to the cars leaving the Tower. There, they become imps who cling to the undercarriage of a passing car. They are doused in gasoline but make their escape. When the car eventually parks, Bartimaeus estimates that they are on the outskirts of London. Faquarl once again pressures Bartimaeus for information and attempts to persuade him to join Simon. Bartimaeus still refuses. As Faquarl is about to attack him, a six-year-old girl comes by to find her tennis ball. Noting Faquarl’s distraction, Bartimaeus sends a Spark spell his way, setting him aflame, which enables him to escape to Nathaniel and save the girl from Faquarl’s spell.
Part 2, Chapter 26 Summary: “Nathaniel”
Nathaniel struggles with his dread and whether to admit everything to his master when he returns from the Tower. An hour later, Arthur arrives and locks himself in his study. When Martha comes to give Nathaniel his dinner, he tries to admit what he did. Martha, however, tells him that she does not have time to listen and leaves him alone. Nathaniel spies on Arthur to know whether the rogue djinni at the Tower of London is in fact Bartimaeus. As he listens to Arthur speak to his colleague about what to do with him, Arthur notices the intrusion. He calls a spirit and takes on a ghostly form. Arthur emerges through the mirror, and then through the floorboards, to discover Nathaniel with his scrying glass. Furious, Arthur calls Nathaniel a traitor for spying on him and promises to come for him. Scared, Nathaniel tries to block the way and finds that he is too weak to move anything of substance. Then, a pigeon, whom Nathaniel recognizes as Bartimaeus, knocks at his window. Arthur enters the room with his physical body and accuses Nathaniel of working for his enemies, only for Martha to abruptly come in and tell them that Simon is at the door.
Part 2, Chapter 27 Summary: “Nathaniel”
Arthur tugs Nathaniel down to a cold room while Nathaniel tries to warn him about the Amulet. Arthur locks the door behind him. Bartimaeus comes to find Nathaniel, and the child accuses him of leading Simon to the Underwoods’ house. Bartimaeus denies it, along with Nathaniel’s demand that he go hide the Amulet since Simon will have brought his questing spheres with him. He then tells him what he’s gathered about the Amulet and how Simon had a government officer killed for it. Bartimaeus directs Nathaniel to wait for him in his room and leaves to go watch the developments between Arthur and Simon.
Part 2, Chapter 28 Summary: “Bartimaeus”
Arthur meets with Simon, and the latter explains that he was also a victim of artifact theft. In a roundabout manner, Simon accuses Arthur of being the thief and offers an arrangement if he hands the Amulet over. Arthur, however, is insulted and furious at the accusation and demands that he leave. Simon’s imp springs into action and breaks the heirloom table in Arthur’s living room. Arthur summons his own spirit, but he is ultimately defeated and concedes to show Simon his study when the latter summons Jabor through a portal.
Part 2, Chapter 29 Summary: “Nathaniel”
Feeling helpless, Nathaniel debates following Bartimaeus’s direction when he hears Martha puttering in the kitchen. Knowing that Simon wouldn’t hesitate to kill her or Arthur, Nathaniel quickly makes his way to his master’s study, only to be stopped by the hex on its door. When he hears Arthur and the others coming up the stairs, he hides and watches them. When they discover the Amulet, Arthur thinks that Simon is framing him, but Nathaniel steps in to claim responsibility. Arthur initially does not believe him, but when he recalls the summoning circle he found in Nathaniel’s room, he doubts himself. Nathaniel explains that stealing the Amulet was only meant to be a prank. Simon asks Nathaniel why he would take the responsibility, and the child admits that he doesn’t want Arthur to be held accountable for something he didn’t do. He was wholly ignorant of his scheme. Simon then promises to kill them all, and Arthur repeatedly tries to hand over Nathaniel to save his own life. Simon sets Jabor after them.
Part 2, Chapter 30 Summary
Bartimaeus grabs Nathaniel and ambles up the stairs as Nathaniel calls for Martha. As Jabor sets the house aflame, Bartimaeus pushes Nathaniel to flee by claiming that Arthur and Martha are most likely already dead. Bartimaeus’s words only succeed in shocking Nathaniel, rendering him unresponsive. They go out through the window of Nathaniel’s room, and as Nathaniel hides behind the chimney of a nearby house, Bartimaeus turns back and blasts a Detonation spell that breaks the tiles beneath the roof where Jabor stands. The roof caves in, taking Jabor down four floors below. With Jabor temporarily incapacitated, Bartimaeus collects Nathaniel, jumps to a giant evergreen, and slides down. Together, they run away.
Part 2, Chapters 23-30 Analysis
In this third section of the narrative, Nathaniel’s character undergoes a reckoning, revealing his moral compass. With Bartimaeus imprisoned in the Tower of London and Simon banging on the Underwoods’ door with misplaced accusations, Nathaniel finally realizes that he has trifled with forces that far surpass his strength: “[A]ll he could do was stand and watch, helpless to react. He was at the mercy of the events he had set in motion” (288). Though Nathaniel has always believed himself far superior to his peers, his master, and his enemies, this section of the narrative captures his true circumstances: Though he is a talented young summoner, he remains a child whose discerning abilities have not yet equipped him with the self-awareness, foresight, and forbearance needed to navigate the world by himself.
Even if he were to admit to his lack of judgment and schemes to the Underwoods, his lack of support network renders him truly powerless. Neither of his guardians is willing to listen to him. Though Martha tells him that there is “[a] very small chance” that Arthur will forgive him if he is honest (234), Arthur was never a kindly mentor who would listen or protect his apprentice. Even in his last moments, Arthur willingly foregoes protecting Nathaniel: “At [Nathaniel’s] side, Underwood uttered the words of a defensive charm. A shimmering green net of protective threads rose up to enfold him. Nathaniel was excluded, defenseless” (297). He thus proves the depth of his selfishness to both Simon and Nathaniel, revealing that he only regards Nathaniel as a peon to sacrifice for his own safety. More difficult for Nathaniel to accept is Martha’s response to his lie. Depicted as the only loving character in Nathaniel’s life, the veneer of her role as a maternal figure shatters in this section as she demonstrates that she, like her husband, cannot be the parental role model Nathaniel needs. Though Nathaniel believes that Martha is “the only person he [can] trust, the only person who truly [cares], […] she [will] make everything all right” (264), she too fails to listen to him, silencing him seemingly to cater to Arthur’s temper and hunger.
Despite these failures on the Underwoods’ part, however, this moment reveals Nathaniel’s hidden sense of justice that prevails above his need for revenge. Though both Arthur and Martha do die in the end, Nathaniel demonstrates a sense of accountability and justice when he states, “[I]t wasn’t his [Arthur’s] fault. […] He knew nothing. Your quarrel was with me, whether you knew so or not” (296). Despite his selfish streak and vows for revenge, as well as his bloated self-confidence and recklessness, Nathaniel nevertheless demonstrates a growth in maturity: He is capable of taking responsibility over letting someone else take the blame for him.
Nathaniel’s character development in this section demonstrates The Illusion of Power. Though even Simon is “almost very impressed” with Nathaniel for having summoned a djinni of Bartimaeus’s caliber and having sustained the summoning for several days (295), this section of the narrative emphasizes Nathaniel’s dependency on Bartimaeus. His hubris and ability to act at this stage are entirely reliant on his ability to summon Bartimaeus (and, extendedly, other spirits he can bind) and order him to complete his tasks. With neither the djinni by his side nor the ability to summon him at will, Nathaniel only has his wits and physical abilities to rely on, which are inadequate against Simon and his bounded spirits. Supportless, alone, physically weak, and caught off guard, Nathaniel loses the façade of power he has polished over his young life and instead is rendered as defenseless as the commoners he observed earlier in the narrative: “[H]uman, yes, but […] they had no power [and] this made them oddly two-dimensional” (145). While commoners in the Resistance, however, will prove themselves resilient and resourceful, Nathaniel is incapable of doing the same, showing himself to be a vulnerable character with only one trick up his sleeve.
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