Chapter 13

Info

• page: 104-111
• place: church, Miss Emma's home, Grant's home
• time: third Sunday of the month, Friday evening
• people: Grant, Miss Emma, Reverend Ambrose, Vivian, Tante Lou

Content

• On the third Sunday of the month, Miss Emma usually attends her church, where she then sings songs with the other worshippers, and talk about the afterlife
• Elementary school teacher Grant thinks back to the Friday of his conversation with Vivian in their classroom. A little later he was about to leave for Miss Emma's and through the window of the house, he saw that Reverend Ambrose was visiting Miss Emma's
• When Miss Emma asked how Jefferson was and how the last visit had gone, Grant replied that the prisoner was fine and did not tell her about Jefferson's disturbing behaviour
• The Reverend tries to find out from Grant whether he has already taught Jefferson Christian values during his visits. Ambrose had also visited Jefferson in prison and now anticipated that the academic and scientific Grant might now shake his religious values
• Grant, on the other hand, has no use for values-based purely on faith, preferring to rely on the pragmatic truth of science
• Grant is working on correcting the exams for his class when his Aunt Lou returns home from Sunday service. The teacher remembers that he always went to church even during university, but moved further and further away from the church's beliefs due to the scientific knowledge gained during his studies. Aunt Lou was critical then, as she is now, of Grant's rejectionist attitude towards the church
• His teacher, Mr Antoine, repeatedly recommends that Grant leave Bayonne once and for all, and so Grant sets off for California to visit his parents
• However, Grant does not stay long in California. He returns to Bayonne after only a few weeks and once again finds himself in the clutches of the church, which he had always wanted to escape. For the young man, it feels as if he is stagnating and will never be able to escape his old life
• Surprisingly, Vivian, who has never shown her face in Grant's house before, suddenly appears

Chapter 14

Info

• page: 112-119
• place: Grant's home, sugarcane field
• time: on a Sunday
• people: Grant, Vivian

Content

• As it is Vivian's first time in her boyfriend's house, he first shows her around and also invites her for coffee and cake. Vivian's good upbringing is noticeable when she wants to wash the dishes after they have eaten and is not satisfied with Grant's statement that Aunt Lou would do it later
• After dinner, the two set off for a walk that takes them through the plantation streets out into the sugarcane field, where they make love to each other
• After being intimate with each other, the couple have a conversation about possible child names and Grant expresses that he does not want to raise a child in a society like the one that exists in Bayonne

Chapter 15

Info

• page: 120-127
• place: Grant's home
• time: Sunday evening
• people: Grant, Vivian, Tante Lou, Miss Emma

Content

• After the two have been out for a while, they return to Grant's house. Grant's girlfriend is a bit excited as she hopes her future in-laws will like her. Vivian's family is descended from the Free LaCoves, a mulatto tribe. Her husband, who she met during her studies, is black as well
• In the beginning, Vivian and her husband had to hide their marriage because her family would not have approved of her marrying outside the community. As their marriage progressed, Vivian confessed to her family that she had married a black man and, as feared, the family cut off contact with her completely, even now that divorce is on the cards
• At home, Grant and Vivian meet Tante Lou and Miss Emma, among others. The primary school teacher introduces his girlfriend, and as Vivian feels a little uncomfortable, Aunt Lou and Miss Emma also sense a tension between the two. The two elderly women are also caught up in the tension that hangs in the air
• When asked, Vivian tells them where she comes from and that she is a believer but does not go to church regularly. Tante Lou asks Vivian the encroaching question of whether she would leave the church for Grant, to which Vivian admits she would do that for Grant too
• To get Vivian out of the uncomfortable situation, Grant leads his girlfriend towards the porch. But Vivian is glad that there are also peculiarities in other families. Grant, on the other hand, insists that everything is fine with his family, whereupon Vivian suddenly becomes quiet and wants to leave as quickly as possible
• Aunt Lou calls Vivian "a lady of quality" (p. 126, l. l. 240) and tells the girl not to lose her faith in God. As Grant and Vivian say goodbye, a black girl comes along with her boyfriend, and Grant doubts whether their love will remain so carefree for long

Chapter 16

Info

• page: 128-134
• time: Monday
• place: Grant's school on the plantation, Miss Emma's home
• people: Grant, Miss Emma, Jefferson

Content:

• Grant, on his visit to Miss Emma on Monday, sees that she is returning home from a visit to Jefferson with Aunt Lou and Reverend Ambrose. Grant decides to leave again without saying hello after this discovery
• Meanwhile, it's almost Christmas and at Grants school, his students are busy thinking about the less fortunate ones, by which he refers to Jefferson
• The next time Grant visits Miss Emma, she tells him about how she had slapped Jefferson in anger because he had asked if she had brought corn for a hog (for him)
• The primary school teacher is upset that he is unable to help Jefferson in his hopeless situation. At the same time, Grant resists the guilty conscience that Jefferson evokes in him. However, he has to promise Miss Emma that he will continue to visit the prisoner regularly