Part 1: Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis

The house Raymond builds is five rooms and has a green frame and a gray porch. They still do not have indoor plumbing, but the water line has been run to the house and Raymond promises to add on a bathroom soon. Mama and Essie Mae go to town to buy furniture and wallpaper for the house. When Essie Mae asks for a white post bed like Miss Ola's, Mama tells her not to want everything that white people have and that the Claiborne's have ruined Essie Mae. Once the family is settled into their new home, Raymond brings James, who is four years old, to live with them.

Essie Mae, Adline, and Junior quickly make friends with Raymond's family, but Miss Pearl and the rest of Raymond's family refuse to accept Mama. When the children start school again...