James Part Three, Chapters 9–12 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Part Three, Chapters 9–12

Part Three, Chapter 9

Under the cover of night, Jim leaves Jackson Island and sneaks into Judge Thatcher’s house. He sits at his desk in the library room, filling his satchel with matches, books, pencils, and a map. Judge Thatcher appears as Jim searches the desk for a bill of sale for Sadie and Lizzie, and he is shocked to discover that Jim has returned. Jim pulls out Hopkins’s pistol and, speaking in his normal voice, demands to know where his wife and daughter are. Judge Thatcher is extremely confused by these events, but out of fear for his life, he concedes that they were sold to a farm in Edina, Missouri. Gun in hand, Jim forces Judge Thatcher to follow him to the river and row him along in a skiff. As he does so, Jim admits to killing Hopkins and condemns Judge Thatcher for the inherent cruelty he embodies as a slaveowner. They come ashore as the sun rises, and Jim ties Judge Thatcher to a tree before he sets out to find Sadie and Lizzie.

Part Three, Chapter 10

Jim walks for three days until he runs into another Black man at the edge of a cornfield. Although startled, the man is kind to Jim and offers to bring him some food. Jim reads a narrative by escaped slave William Brown, which he stole from Judge Thatcher, while he waits, and discovers that it is almost identical to his own, eventually falling asleep. He wakes up when the man, April, returns alongside a woman named Holly. They talk to Jim about the Graham farm, a place for breeding slaves, and ask him about his plans. He eventually continues on through the darkness and comes upon a group of four Black men shackled to a post. They confirm that he has made it to the Graham farm, but the women are kept in a compound separate from the men. Jim asks the men if they want to run with him, and to their surprise, he unlocks their shackles using a knife from Judge Thatcher’s kitchen. The men, Morris, Harvey, Llewelyn, and Buck, agree to risk chasing freedom with Jim despite his lack of a clear plan.

Part Three, Chapter 11

As the group approaches the women’s quarters, Jim devises a plan. He ensures that there is a clear path north and inspects the cornfield, confirming that it is dry and that the winds are blowing. Jim strikes a match and sets the cornfield on fire, the blaze drawing everyone, both Black and white, out of their homes. Sadie and Lizzie emerge from one of the buildings, and Jim runs to embrace them before encouraging everyone to head north. When an old white man emerges from the main house demanding that the slaves put out the fire, Jim confronts him. He aims his pistol at the man, announces himself as James, and pulls the trigger.

Part Three, Chapter 12

The large group of slaves running from Graham’s eventually scatters, but Jim, Sadie, Lizzie, Morris, and Buck make their way to a town in Iowa. The white people there are not necessarily welcoming, but they tolerate their presence due to the war. When the sheriff confronts them and asks if any of them are known by the name of Jim, Jim responds that he is “just James.”

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