Summary

Chapter 36. Book Four opens with Jane’s observation that people are always expecting to be led and that they are constantly waiting for “the One” to come and deliver them. Each child born brings this hope, and the boy called Jimmy Aaron was heralded as a strong candidate to assume the role of savior. When his mother moves away to find work in New Orleans, Jimmy is raised by his great aunt Lena, Jane, and several other community elders on the Samson Plantation.

After Tee Bob’s suicide, Jane expresses her desire to return to the quarters, but ultimately remains at the house, as Mr. Samson requests her to continue assisting his wife. Five years later, in the 1940s, Jane leaves to get her own place. In the quarters, Jimmy is seen as special, and by the age of nine, he has already...