Summary

Life continues as normal. The slaves work in the fields. Waller whips the slaves. John teaches Sarny. Although brutal, Sarny finds a sense of comfort in the plain repetition of her days. She is so comfortable, in fact, that she forgets the danger of her lessons. She has learned the letters A-G and spends her days daydreaming of new combinations and new ways to form words. While working in the garden, she takes a stick and proudly scratches the word “BAG” into the dirt. All of a sudden, Waller appears and grabs her by the dress. Enraged, Waller demands to know who is teaching Sarny to write. “Don’t know nothing about writing,” Sarny says, but Waller knows it’s a lie and starts beating her. Somehow, she manages to escape from his violent grasp and sprint back to the shed, to the safety of Mammy...