Chapters 6-10 Summary and Analysis

About a week later, Tom had to go to police court. He had been in a bad mood because a family had brought an English cook to Nantucket, and he didn't appreciate the English. This particular English woman was obese. While they were on the beach one day, she leaned over to unlace her sneaker. Tom picked up a piece of driftwood and walloped her, toppling her over. He was shocked and apologized, telling her that he didn't know why he had done that.

As he apologized, he suddenly began to laugh. This outraged the cook, who went off to find the law. When he had to talk to the judge, Tom explained that he had no excuse for what he had done. As he retold the tale, he began to laugh once again and couldn't stop laughing. The...