Section 3-Volume 1, Part 2, Section 5-Volume 1, Part 3, Section 2 Summary

At a slave auction, Marcel is perceived as though he were on display, forcing him to acknowledge that he is not white though he has never thought of himself as black. Later, at the opera with Richard, he sees Philippe, his father, in the white section, but he allows himself to be overcome with the music when the opera begins. Marcel decides to teach himself to read like Jean Jacques, but he quickly realizes he is unable to progress without a teacher. Hence he begins to focus on his pending trip to Paris, which he sees as a promise to be Philippe's only educated child. He longs to leave early but must wait until he is eighteen.

Marcel visits Jean Jacques' grave for the first time due to his distress at...