"The Artificial Nigger" Summary

Mr. Head is sixty-years-old, and lives with his grandson, Nelson, in a room in a house near Atlanta, which the two are planning to visit. They get up early in order to leave at four to get to the railroad junction by five-thirty. Nelson has a new suit in a box next to his pallet and is excited about his "second" trip to the city, his birth being the first. Mr. Head intends to get up first and fry fatback, but Nelson has beat him to it and is cooking their breakfast when Mr. Head arises at three-thirty, all dressed to go even with his hat on his head that is too large.

The man and his grandson look alike, yet Mr. Head has a youthful expression and Nelson wears an ancient look. Mr. Head's wife and...