Survival, pages 76-95 Summary

The little boy manages to escape the worst of the Teacher's mockery because he sits next to Big Bellybutton, who draws most of the Teacher's anger. Big Bellybutton takes all this and lets it wash over him, never giving up or losing his smile. This makes the little boy admire him. Big Bellybutton has a lot of energy and is always fiddling with something. He is not as dull-witted as the Teacher believes, and soon proves himself to be very good at mental arithmetic. The Teacher is amazed but not pleased. He attempts to break Big Bellybutton by putting harder questions to him, but he always gets them right. After that the Teacher changes tactics and ignores Big Bellybutton instead, only calling on him when he is teaching French pronunciation, which Big Bellybutton is terrible at.

The little boy...