Chapter 2

Summary

Two years later Maya and Bailey are studying at the Lafayette County Training School and work hard on their studies. They are also made to behave at home, being disciplined by Uncle Willie, who usually sits "like a giant black Z." WillieÂ’s face is always pulled down on one side from paralysis that has affected him since the age of three.

One day Maya observes Uncle Willie in the presence of two schoolteachers from Little Rock who do not know him; she realizes he is pretending not to be crippled. When Willie notices Maya, he sends her outside to play. She realizes that Uncle Willie may be tired of his disabled life.

Maya has developed a love of literature, having discovered Shakespeare, Kipling, Poe, Butler, Langston Hughes, W.E.B. du Bois, and other writers. She and Bailey decide to memorize a passage from The Merchant of Venice but change their minds because Momma will know that Shakespeare is white. Instead, they choose to learn The Creation by James Weldon Johnson.

Notes

This chapter develops the character of Uncle Willie, a proud, but "unlucky cripple." Although he is a strict disciplinarian whom Maya and Bailey regard with fear and sympathy, he is really a sensitive man.

Uncle Willie was not born paralyzed; when he was a baby, a lady taking care of him dropped him. It is obvious that he has some shame about his disability, for he tries to hide his being crippled from the schoolteachers from Little Rock. With wisdom beyond her years, the young Maya realizes that her uncle longs to be whole, even if only for a day in front of strangers.

The chapter also gives more information about Maya and Bailey. They attend a county school. Maya is a good student who has developed a love of literature. She thinks about memorizing some of Shakespeare, but decides against it, for Momma would not approve since he was a white man. Instead, Maya and Bailey decide to memorize the poetry of James Weldon Johnson, a black writer.

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