Chapter 5 Summary

Grant is in the classroom, where he teaches between October and April. During the other months, the students work in the fields. The students are practicing Bible verses and the Pledge of Allegiance. The children are in primer, which is similar to Kindergarten, through the sixth grade. Grant assigns three sixth-grade students to teach primer, first and second grade students, while he teaches the older ones. Grant worries about having offended Tante Lou by not eating her food the evening before. In the morning, Tante Lou tells Grant that food is available, but makes a point about not caring if he eats or not.

After snapping at a student, Grant goes outside to walk along the road. The houses seem gray as Grant thinks about their occupants, all of whom he knows well. Grant's students are aware that their teacher's mood is poor...