Part 2: Chapter 9 - 10 Summary and Analysis

Three months later Castaneda asks don Juan why he no longer talks about seeing, and don Juan answers that the author needs to wait and develop strength. Castaneda needs to live like a warrior. Don Juan goes on to say that thoughts keep directing Castaneda's actions, and that this is the wrong way to go about gaining power. Additionally, and perhaps key to the lack of progress, is that Castaneda had once made a promise that holds him back.

They talk about their childhoods. Castaneda's had been difficult but not nearly as hard as don Juan's. The Mexicans had killed his mother, wounded his father, and put him and his father into a railroad car. Don Juan's father had died in the car. This leads to Castaneda's memory of injuring a boy younger than himself while they...