Chapter I and II Summary

In chapter one, Jake is a black sailor on a ship with many Arab sailors. The Arab sailors are resented by Jake and his fellow American sailors for not keeping clean. Jake had been a longshoreman, but enlisted in the US Army in 1917 when war is declared against Germany. At Brest, France, Jake sees that he is only going to work on the supply depot and he is not going to fight on the front. All the fights are between mostly black and white American soldiers. Jake goes on leave to the port of Le Harve and meets an English sailor. Jake resents the English sailor, calling him a darkie, but decides to desert the Army and go with the English sailor's boat to London, England. In London, Jake gets a job as a dock worker and...