Summary

Chapter 9: Joseph “Rufe” Seabury assumes the narrative for Chapter 9, where he notes the respect that Mapes has for Mathu as a real man. Mapes accepts Mathu’s confession, but is unable to convince him to tell the others to leave. The men each continue to claim responsibility, although Mapes maintains their confessions are all lies. Johnny Paul, angry over the Sheriff’s dismissal of their pain, declares that Beau’s death is payment for the suffering of the men and their ancestors.

Tucker then questions the law’s upholding of justice as he offers the story of his brother Silas, the district’s last black sharecropper, who was beaten to death for winning a race with his mules against a Cajun and his tractor. Stories from Yank, describing the loss of his horses, and Gable, telling about the death of his son by electric chair...