Sounder by W. H. Armstrong - Free Online Book Summary

FREE CHAPTER SUMMARY FOR SOUNDER BY W. H. ARMSTRONG

CHAPTER 7

Summary

When the boy came home after each trip he made in search for his father, Sounder would hobble down the road to meet him. Mother would wait patiently to hear any news about Father; when the boy had nothing to share, Mother would try to reassure the child. One time the family hears that twelve men have killed in a dynamite blast in the quarries and fear that Father might be one of them; however, the newspaper does not mention his name amongst the dead

Although months of waiting turn into years, the boy never gives up hope of finding his father. Whenever he hears news about a new road camp, the boy goes there to look for his dad. One time, as the boy looks for his father through the barbed wire surrounding a camp, something crashes against the fence; suddenly a jagged piece of iron wedges into his fingers, causing them to bleed profusely. As tears of pain run down the boy’s face, the guard bursts into a callous fit of laughter instead of helping him. The prisoners, who are busy whitewashing the rocks, do not try to give him any assistance. Now the boy is sure that his father is not among these prisoners. Feeling dejected, he leaves the place, sucking his bruised fingers and nursing a bruised spirit.

Later in the day, the boy sees a man dumping a book in a trash barrel. After the man leaves, the boy retrieves the book and tries to read it. The book is full of strange new words, which the boy cannot understand; nonetheless, he carries the book with him and hopes that someday he can read it. When the boy spies a schoolhouse, he walks up to it and saunters around, full of curiosity. When the schoolteacher spies him, he comes outside and asks the boy what he wants. The boy shows him his bruised fingers and says that he is looking for some water to wash his wounds. The schoolteacher takes the boy to his house and bandages his fingers.

The schoolteacher notices the book that the boy is carrying and says it is a great book, written by an important humanist named Montaigne. After the teacher reads him a story from the book, he asks the boy a lot of questions. Since the teacher is so very nice, the boy tells him all about himself.

Notes

The chapter begins with a cursory glance at the changes that have come about for the family during the father’s absence. The boy has taken his father’s place in the field, managing to provide for the family’s needs; the mother has taken in more laundry from the white families, as evidenced by the clothesline that grows longer and longer; even the boy’s young siblings have begun to “fetch and tole.” Overtly, the family seems to have come to terms with Father’s absence, but beneath the exterior of patient complacency, there is a restless rumbling and a wild yearning for Father, especially within the boy. As a result, each fall he begins his “long, fruitless journey with new hope.”

The boy’s experience at the quarry when he bruises his hand is similar to his experience on his visit to his father in jail. The white guard at the camp is as insensitive to the boy’s feelings as the white jail keeper was; instead of helping the boy whose fingers are bleeding profusely, the guard callously laughs at him. Both the guard and the jailer have a deep and obvious prejudice against all blacks, even the young ones.

The sight of the convicts crawling on their knees with their backs bent over stones saddens the boy; he thinks about the story in the Bible when people were “chiselin’ out rocks to make ole pharaoh’s gravestone” in Egypt. Back then, the Jews were terribly mistreated by the Egyptians, just like the prisoners in the book are mistreated by the guards and other State officials. Unfortunately, the State’s tyranny is no different from that of the pharaoh; both treated their “slaves” cruelly, forcing them to do back-breaking labor. The crouching position of the convicts is symbolic of their suppression and lack of human dignity. It is no wonder that the boy refuses to believe that his father could be present among these humble men.

During his travels, the boy is still eager to learn and gain from his experiences. When he sees a book being thrown away, he quickly retrieves it. The fact that a work by Montaigne is dumped in a trash barrel symbolically shows that mankind thoughtlessly discards human values. The boy cannot read the book because it is too difficult; he cannot understand such words as “education” and “justice.” Still he keeps the text, hoping to be able to read it in the future.

When the boy passes by a schoolhouse, he is overcome with curiosity and walks up close to look in. The teacher spies him wandering around and comes out to see what he wants; the boy makes up the excuse that he is looking for water to clean his wounded hand. The kind teacher takes him to his house and bandages his fingers. He also tells the boy about the book he is carrying and reads him a story from it. When the boy tells the teacher his own story about his life, the teacher pities the lad’s plight. With care and attention, the teacher knows the child can flourish in the future; fortunately, the teacher wants to help the boy.

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