Boyhood Days Summary and Analysis

Washington notes that while slaves are overwhelmed with their newly acquired freedom, all seem to want two things - to leave the plantation for at least a few days to prove that they could, and to change their names. Many then return to the plantation, work out some sort of contract with their former owners, and go back to work. Washington and his family are not to be among those.

His stepfather has secured a job and a small cabin in Malden, West Virginia, and sends for the family to join him there. Washington, his mother and two siblings put everything they have into a small cart and walk the several hundred miles to their new home. They arrive in the salt-mining community to find the cabin is just as dilapidated as the one they left behind and that...