Richard in hopes of his conversion. When Richard says that he would believe in God if he saw an angel, Granny misunderstands him, thinking that Richard actually has seen an angel. The incident is an embarrassment to Granny and Richard promises to pray out of guilt. When trying to pass his "prayer time," Richard writes a story about an Indian girl who commits suicide by drowning. In school, Richard is isolated from his peers because he has no money. Intent on earning money for books and lunch, Richard obtains a job selling papers. One day, a family friend points out to Richard that the papers he has been selling are full of racist propaganda. Afterwards, Richard refuses to sell the papers. Meanwhile, his grandfather falls ill and passes away soon thereafter. Afterwards, Richard disobeys against his grandmother and decides to take a job where he is required to work on the Sabbath. Richard never returns to his first job, where he does chores for a white woman, because he is mistreated: given stale bread, asked if he stole, and told that niggers could never be writers. He takes another job in a different white family, serving breakfast and doing chores. His mother begins to recover and convinces Richard to attend a Methodist Church with her; he obliges not because of faith, but because all his schoolmates socialized at church meetings. During a religious revival, Richard is forced in converting and being baptized by his mother as well as the entire black community. Meanwhile, Uncle Tom and his family move into the upstairs of Granny's house. Tom, who disapproves of the tone of Richard's voice, threatens to beat him. Richard defends himself against Tom by grabbing razorblades to fend him off. Richard obtains a job at the brickyard and is bitten by the boss's dog. He receives no treatment, and the white person in charge claims that no dog bite can hurt a nigger. Meanwhile, Richard writes a story called "The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre," which ...
