James Part Two, Chapters 1–4 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Part Two, Chapters 1–4

Part Two, Chapter 1

Jim wakes up to the noise of something rustling in the woods, and he soon hears a voice calling out his name. Norman appears and reveals that he, too, ran away from Emmett after seeing how he responded to Jim’s disappearance. Emmett, Norman explains, yelled like any slaveowner might, threatening to hang Jim. After Norman rests, Jim proposes a plan that would allow them both to purchase their families. He suggests that Norman, passing as white, sell Jim and use that money to buy Sadie, Lizzie, and his own wife. Norman initially thinks this idea is crazy, but as he washes off his blackface makeup, he begins to see how it might work. They attempt to walk south but end up finding their way back to the Mississippi River after three days. Coming upon a small town called Bluebird Hole, Norman pretends to be a white man looking to sell Jim. An exchange with an old white woman sets them both on edge, and Jim begins to fear that Norman may run away with whatever money they manage to get. Jim gives Norman Emmett’s notebook to avoid arousing suspicion but continues to keep his pencil safe.

Part Two, Chapter 2

As Jim and Norman continue to walk through town, a man calls out to them. He introduces himself as Frank McHart, constable, schoolteacher, postmaster, and egg seller. Norman suggests that he buy Jim, and McHart is intrigued; having never owned a slave before, he asks Norman lots of questions about what it is like to have one. Meanwhile, Jim desperately fears being sold to someone in law enforcement. Internally, he continues questioning Norman’s authenticity, unnerved by the ease with which Norman conducts the conversation. Ultimately, McHart is unwilling to buy Jim for the proposed amounts of money, so the deal falls through. However, he suggests they ask after a man named Henderson, a slaveowner in town who runs a sawmill.

Part Two, Chapter 3

Feeling hungry, Jim and Norman head to the general store where they buy a potato for a penny, and Jim helps to cook it back at their camp. After resting, Jim tells Norman that they should find Henderson. He also instructs Norman to call him by the name of February rather than Jim, since Jim is known to be a runaway. They arrive at Henderson’s sawmill, and Norman tries to persuade him to purchase Jim. He refuses to pay the initially proposed five hundred dollars, but after some negotiating, they settle on three hundred and fifty. Henderson instructs Luke, another slave, to help Jim get started at his work.

Part Two, Chapter 4

Jim follows Luke out into the yard, listening to him explain that he believes Henderson is a good master because he keeps everyone in line. Paired up with another slave named Sammy, Jim climbs down into a pit and attempts to saw a log with an extremely dull saw. The end of the day arrives and Henderson instructs Jim to come out of the pit for his lashes. Jim questions this demand, and Henderson angrily whips him until he passes out. When he comes to, Sammy explains that Henderson beats all new slaves during their first few days at the mill. Jim feels that he can trust no one, so he begins crafting a lie that would allow him to escape. Taking another look at young Sammy, however, makes him pause. Sammy reveals that she is a fifteen-year-old girl, a detail that simultaneously surprises and horrifies Jim. He can only think of his own daughter and yearns to save her from the suffering she is surely enduring at Henderson’s sawmill. Together, they sneak out and run to the meeting place that Jim arranged with Norman only to discover that Norman is not waiting for them. Jim leaves Sammy to go looking for him, rushing back when he hears her screaming.

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