Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary

Lame Bull, a friend of the narrator's mother, joins him at the river. They discuss the fish and then talk about a flood that happened twelve years ago. Lame Bull remembers the narrator being a child when the flood took place even though he was in his twenties. They go into the house where Lame Bull teases Teresa, the mother. The narrator goes out to the barn to separate the calf from its mother since they are trying to wean it, then feeds the animals.

Part 1, Chapter 4 Analysis

The introduction of Lame Bull is important on two counts. First, it is clear that he is the mother's boyfriend, which foreshadows a change in the family dynamics. Second, Lame Bull purposely mistakes the narrator's age while telling a story and attempts to make himself sound better than the narrator's father, which adds...