Part I, Twenty-One,Tragedy at Toluca—Time to Leave Summary and Analysis

Langston gets his poetry and articles published in a magazine called "The Crisis." When James sees his son' success, he finally agrees to let Langston go to Columbia University in New York. As Langston is preparing to go, several tragedies befall their village. A man is run down by a trolley car, and a young girl commits suicide by drowning herself in a shallow fountain. One day, while Langston and his father are both out, their German housekeeper is visiting with several German friends in the kitchen. The employer of one of the guests, Gerta, comes in, looking for Langston to kill him. The man shoots Gerta three times, twice in the head, and also shoots Frau Schultz, the housekeeper, in the arm...