Chapter 7 Summary

In Chapter 7, the superintendent of schools, Dr. Joseph Morgan, makes an annual visit to the school where Grant teaches. A warning of the impending visit is delivered from Henri Pichot to Grant through Farrell Jarreau. In preparation, Grant instructs his students to bathe each morning and to show up wearing their best clothes each day. He drills them on how to behave.

Dr. Morgan calls Grant "Higgins," instead of Wiggins, throughout the chapter. He is critical of the school's unsophisticated features, but praises the students' performance. One child gives a poor rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance; however Dr. Joseph is unfazed. The superintendent also inspects teeth by asking children to spread their lips. Grant is polite, but thinks about slave owners who once inspected the teeth of slaves this way.

Dr. Morgan lectures the students on the value of nutrition, specifically beans...