Chapters 6 and 7 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 6:

Wole describes the differences in odors between Essay's room, where he stays, and Wild Christian's room. Wild Christian takes in stray or unruly children and has them sleep on a communal mat on the floor. While Essay's room has an "ordered mustiness," Wild Christian's room is a "riot of smells," not the least of which is urine, as several of the children, through illness or otherwise, wet their mat at night.

Wole is destroyed when one day he is judged too old to sleep in his father's room, and he is forced to sleep with the other children on the mat in Wild Christian's room. Wole describes dreams of being attacked by snakes, only to wake up to find another child's arm around him in slumber.

Wole describes a funeral procession from Ake into the parsonage. The "procession...