Summary

In Chapter 4, Elwood has been wrongfully arrested, charged, and convicted for theft of a motor vehicle. He is sentenced to attend Nickel Reformatory School. Elwood is devastated that his studies have been interrupted by these occurrences, but he hopes to graduate from the school as quickly as possible and pick up where he left off at his actual school. Nickel’s superintendent is a white man named Maynard Spencer. Nickel’s inmates are all male. Nickel has both white and black inmates, but it is segregated. Elwood goes through a brief orientation at the school. Students are awarded points for good behavior and are released from the school when they gain enough points, or on their eighteenth birthday, whichever comes first. The students have some classes, but they are also forced to do manual labor that earns money for the school and the state...