Chapter 26 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to explain an agreement the narrator says was not true to him. Adam tells Will, “Such a man doesn’t really die,” and, “I can’t think of him dead. He seems maybe more alive to me than before.” Will answers, “That’s true,” “and it was not true to him. To Will, Samuel was dead.” Adam goes on: “I think of things he said,” and, “When he said them I didn’t listen very closely, but now they come back, and I can see his face when he said them.” Will answers again, “That’s true,” and, “I was just thinking the same thing. Are you going back to your place?” Before Adam came in, “He thought he was mourning for his dead father, but he was not.” He had decided “it was more dignified to lose oneself in business, as he intended to do, than in alcohol, as Tom was probably doing.” His leather chairs are there “to lull his customers past the size of the bills they were going to have to pay.” When Adam brings up a car, “A subtle change came over Will, a kind of silent alertness.” The student decides why Will agrees with something that is not true to him. It feeds the hinge: the chapter sets three men beside one death, and asks what each owes the dead and the living. The card must not say that Will felt no grief; the narrator says only that he was not mourning when he thought he was.

One reading

Because it is what a grieving son ought to feel. Will believes he is mourning, so he agrees with what a mourner should say, and the second time he even claims the thought as his own. His agreement shows what he wants to be true of himself.

• He thought he was mourning for his dead father, but he was not.
• I was just thinking the same thing.

Another reading

Because agreeing is his trade. Will’s leather chairs are there to put customers at ease, and he answers Adam as he would any customer, then moves the talk along in the same breath. He wakes up when Adam mentions a car. Agreeing costs him nothing and keeps a good customer comfortable.

• Are you going back to your place?
• A subtle change came over Will, a kind of silent alertness.

Listen for

• Notices that the narrator corrects the first “That’s true” and leaves the second to the reader.
• Hears “I was just thinking the same thing” followed at once by a change of subject.
• Weighs “He thought he was mourning for his dead father, but he was not” without claiming that Will felt nothing.
• Sets Will beside Adam, for whom Samuel “seems maybe more alive” than before.

If stuck

• What does Adam say about Samuel, and what does Will say back?
• What does Will ask right after his second “That’s true”?
• Why might someone agree with a thing they do not feel?

A strong answer A strong response gives a reason for the agreement and grounds it. One reader says Will agrees because it is what a grieving son should feel: he believes he is mourning, and he claims Adam’s thought as his own. Another says agreeing is Will’s trade: he eases a customer, changes the subject in the same breath, and wakes at the word automobile. Some will add plain kindness, since no one argues with a friend after a funeral. The best answers notice that the narrator corrects only the first “That’s true”, and do not claim that Will felt no grief.

What it asks It asks the student to hear one word in two mouths. Will says of his mother and father, “My father wasn’t very practical. He was always off in the clouds or buried in a book. I think my mother held us together and kept the Hamiltons out of the poorhouse.” After the funeral, “Well over a hundred people did” come back to Olive’s house, and Liza “fried all that chicken and saw that everybody had enough.” Will sums her up: “She’s practical. She knew they had to be fed and she fed them.” At home Lee answers Adam’s talk of the funeral: “My people bury them with drums and scatter papers to confuse the devils and put roast pigs instead of flowers on the grave. We’re a practical people and always a little hungry. But our devils aren’t very bright. We can outthink them. That’s some progress.” Adam says, “I think Samuel would have liked that kind of funeral,” and, “It would have interested him.” Lee himself is a man “too closely married to a quiet reading lamp”, a man buried in books. The student decides what practical means to Will and to Lee. It feeds the hinge: Lee is torn between being useful to Adam’s house and a life of books and argument.

One reading

Much the same thing: meeting need. Liza feeds a hundred mourners because they have to eat. Lee’s people feed the dead and themselves, “always a little hungry.” Both men mean that when someone dies, the body still has needs and someone must see to them. Lee is teasing, but he is also saying grief has work to do.

• She knew they had to be fed and she fed them.
• We’re a practical people and always a little hungry.

Another reading

Two different things. Will’s practical shuts out the clouds and the books, and it is half a complaint about his father. Lee’s practical has room for drums, devils and papers: it outthinks spirits instead of denying them. Adam says Samuel would have liked Lee’s kind of funeral. Lee’s is a practical a dreamer could love.

• My father wasn’t very practical.
• I think Samuel would have liked that kind of funeral

Listen for

• Sets Will’s use beside Lee’s and does not merge them too fast.
• Notices that Will’s praise of his mother carries a judgment of his father: “off in the clouds or buried in a book.”
• Hears Lee’s joke about devils that “aren’t very bright” and asks what it is doing.
• Notices that Lee, “married to a quiet reading lamp,” is himself the kind of man Will calls impractical.

If stuck

• What did Liza do after the funeral?
• What do Lee’s people put on a grave instead of flowers?
• Is a dreamer always impractical?

A strong answer A strong response defines the word for each man and grounds each definition. One reader says both mean meeting need: Liza feeds the living, Lee’s people feed the dead, and both say grief must still see to hunger. Another says the two words part ways: Will’s practical shuts out the clouds and the books and quietly blames his father, while Lee’s makes room for devils and papers, which is why Adam thinks Samuel would have liked it. The best answers notice that Lee, the reader who wants a bookstore, is the kind of man Will would call impractical.

What it asks It asks the student to notice a small change at the table. Adam comes home, washes off “the sweet and now sickish odor of rum,” puts on overalls “washed until they were soft and pale blue,” and looks around his house: “And it was all new to him.” “Lee had set out one cup and a bowl of sugar on the table beside his big chair.” When Lee comes in with the teapot, Adam says, “Bring yourself a cup, Lee. And if you’ve got any of that drink of yours, I could use a little.” He had already told Lee, “I want to talk to you.” Lee brings “his cup and glasses and his stone bottle of ng-ka-py,” and says, “The only times I’ve tasted it for years have been with you and Mr. Hamilton.” Soon Adam says, “This time last year I would have run to Sam Hamilton to talk.” Later, looking at Lee, he “realized that Lee was not a young man any more.” The student decides what the second cup changes between the two men. It feeds the hinge: the talk that begins with two men at one table ends with Adam asking Lee to wait. The card must not say why Adam knocks over his cup at the end.

One reading

Lee becomes a friend at the table, not a servant beside it. Adam is seeing his house fresh, and now he sees Lee too. He asks for the drink the three men shared when the twins were named, and he talks to Lee as he once talked to Samuel. For once the two of them sit as equals.

• And it was all new to him.
• The only times I’ve tasted it for years have been with you and Mr. Hamilton.

Another reading

Adam begins to need Lee. Samuel is gone, and Adam has no one to talk to. The second cup puts Lee in the place Samuel left. The invitation is kind, but it is the start of what Lee will soon fear: being needed.

• This time last year I would have run to Sam Hamilton to talk.
• I want to talk to you.

Listen for

• Notices that Lee set out only one cup, beside Adam’s big chair.
• Hears that the ng-ka-py has been tasted for years only “with you and Mr. Hamilton.”
• Links the second cup to “This time last year I would have run to Sam Hamilton to talk.”
• Does not say why Adam knocks over his cup at the end.

If stuck

• How many cups does Lee set out, and where?
• Who did Adam use to go to when he needed to talk?
• What does it mean to ask someone to sit and drink with you?

A strong answer A strong response names the change and grounds it. One reader says Lee becomes a friend at the table: Adam, seeing his house as new, sees Lee too, and asks for the drink they shared at the twins’ naming. Another says Adam begins to need Lee: with Samuel gone, he wants someone to talk to, and the second cup puts Lee in Samuel’s place. The best answers see that the talk which opens with a second cup ends with Adam asking Lee to wait, and they give no reason for the cup Adam knocks over at the end.

What it asks It asks the student to hear what lies under Adam’s question. Lee has just given up his first plan, a wife and sons, and told Adam, “I made her up just as you did, only mine had no life outside my mind.” Then he names the second plan: “I talked to Mr. Hamilton about that. I want to open a bookstore in Chinatown in San Francisco. I would live in the back, and my days would be full of discussions and arguments.” He lingers on the ink: “those dragon-carved blocks of ink from the dynasty of Sung,” in worm-bored boxes, made “from fir smoke and a glue that comes only from wild asses’ skin.” “When you paint with that ink it may physically be black but it suggests to your eye and persuades your seeing that it is all the colors in the world.” Adam says, “Are you making this up?” Lee answers, “No. If you are well and if you are free, I would like to have my little bookshop at last. I would like to die there.” Soon Adam admits, “I never thought of your going,” and, “I took you for granted.” The student decides what Adam is really asking. It feeds the hinge: whether Adam takes Lee’s dream as real bears on whether it is fair to ask him to put it off. The card must not say whether Lee ever opens the bookstore.

One reading

Whether Lee has a life Adam never saw. Lee has just told him of a wife who lived only in his mind, and now he describes a shop down to the worm holes in its boxes. Adam has lived beside this man for years and never heard any of it. He cannot tell which of Lee’s lives is real, because he never looked.

• only mine had no life outside my mind
• I took you for granted.

Another reading

Whether Lee really means to go. If the shop is only a story, nothing has to change, and part of Adam may hope it is. Lee hears the doubt and answers it flatly, then names what he has been waiting for. Adam has to admit he never thought of Lee going.

• No. If you are well and if you are free, I would like to have my little bookshop at last.
• I never thought of your going

Listen for

• Hears the question coming just after Lee’s made-up wife.
• Notices how exact the ink is: the worm-bored boxes, the fir smoke, the glue.
• Notices Lee’s answer: a plain “No,” then “If you are well and if you are free.”
• Does not say whether Lee ever opens the bookstore.

If stuck

• What has Lee just told Adam before he describes the ink?
• How does Lee answer Adam’s question?
• Why might a person ask “Are you making this up?” about something true?

A strong answer A strong response says what lies under Adam’s question and grounds it. One reader says Adam is asking whether Lee has a life he never saw: after the made-up wife and a shop described down to its worm-bored boxes, Adam cannot tell what is real, because he took Lee for granted. Another says Adam is asking whether Lee means to go, half hoping the shop is only a story, and Lee answers with a plain “No.” Some will hear simple wonder at the ink. The best answers notice Lee’s conditions, “If you are well and if you are free”, and leave open whether he ever opens the bookstore.

What it asks It asks the student to judge a confession. Lee has told Adam his plan: “If you are well and if you are free, I would like to have my little bookshop at last. I would like to die there.” “Adam sat silently for a while, stirring sugar into his lukewarm tea.” Then: “Funny. I found myself wishing you were a slave so I could refuse you. Of course you can go if you want to. I’ll even lend you money for your bookstore.” Lee answers, “Oh, I have the money. I’ve had it a long time.” Adam says, “I never thought of your going,” and, “I took you for granted.” Then he asks Lee to wait, and Lee asks, “You wouldn’t lay a trap for me?” He goes on: “My wish isn’t as strong as it once was. I’m afraid I could be talked out of it or, what would be worse, I could be held back just by being needed.” The student decides whether Adam’s honesty helps Lee or weighs on him. It feeds the hinge: the confession comes just before the request to wait, and what it does to Lee bears on whether the request is fair. Name the word slave plainly; Adam uses it of a wish he rejects.

One reading

It helps. Adam names the wish so that it cannot work in secret. In the next breath he says Lee can go and offers him money. A man who tells you he wishes he could hold you, and then lets go, has shown you the worst of himself and turned from it.

• Of course you can go if you want to.
• I’ll even lend you money for your bookstore.

Another reading

It weighs on him. Lee is about to say that his wish is weaker than it was. Now he has heard how much he is wanted, and that is the bait he fears most. He asks whether Adam would “lay a trap” for him. The confession can be honest and still be part of the trap.

• You wouldn’t lay a trap for me?
• I could be held back just by being needed.

Listen for

• Notices the pause before the confession: Adam stirring sugar into “lukewarm tea.”
• Weighs “Funny” as a way of making the wish small, or as a true surprise.
• Links the confession to Lee’s fear that he “could be held back just by being needed.”
• Treats the word slave plainly, as a wish Adam names and refuses.

If stuck

• What does Adam say right after the wish?
• What is Lee afraid could hold him back?
• Is it kinder to admit a selfish wish, or to keep it to yourself?

A strong answer A strong response judges the confession and grounds the judgment. One reader says it helps: Adam names the wish so it has no secret power, then lets Lee go and offers money in the same breath. Another says it weighs on Lee: a man who fears being held back by need has just heard how much he is needed, and he asks at once about a trap. The best answers notice that both can be true, and that honesty about a wish does not end the wish.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh the narrator’s theory against Adam’s own acts. The chapter opens with Adam on the train, “in a cloud of vague forms and sounds and colors. He was not conscious of any thought at all.” The narrator then says, “I believe there are techniques of the human mind whereby, in its dark deep, problems are examined, rejected or accepted,” so that a sleeper may wake to “a whole new direction and a clearness,” or to joy with “nothing in the thoughts to justify it or cause it.” “Samuel’s funeral and the talk with Kate should have made Adam sad and bitter, but they did not. Out of the gray throbbing an ecstasy arose.” To Will he says, “Maybe your father is responsible for a change in me,” and, “I don’t know as I could explain it.” Of Samuel’s sayings: “When he said them I didn’t listen very closely, but now they come back.” Yet Adam chose to go to Kate: “I went down to see her,” drinking “before and during. I needed it for courage, I guess.” On the road he felt “a quick pleasure so sharp that he began to examine it,” and then found the words: “I’m free, I’m free.” To Lee: “I seemed to come out of a sleep,” and, “In some strange way my eyes have cleared. A weight is off me.” The student writes a thesis on whether Adam freed himself, meets the strongest objection, and revises. It feeds the hinge: Lee’s freedom has to be asked for, and Adam must decide whether to grant it.

One reading

It happened to him. He was “not conscious of any thought at all” on the train, and the joy rose out of “the gray throbbing.” He cannot explain the change to Will. Samuel’s words come back on their own. The narrator’s whole paragraph says this kind of change comes from beneath thought, and Adam’s own word for it is waking from sleep.

• He was not conscious of any thought at all.
• I don’t know as I could explain it.

Another reading

He freed himself. He went to see Kate, and needed drink “for courage”, which means it cost him something. The dark deep may sort out what a man has faced, but he has to face it first. On the road he did not just feel the joy: he examined it until he found its words.

• I needed it for courage, I guess.
• a quick pleasure so sharp that he began to examine it

Listen for

• Uses the narrator’s paragraph as a claim to test, not as the answer.
• Weighs Adam’s visit to Kate as a choice, and the drink as a sign of its cost.
• Notices that Adam examines his pleasure before he names it: “I’m free.”
• Revises rather than restates, and does not call Adam’s freedom a simple happy ending.

If stuck

• What does the narrator say the mind does while we sleep?
• What did Adam need to go and see Kate?
• Can you take credit for a change you cannot explain?

A strong answer A strong response builds a thesis, meets the strongest objection, and revises. One thesis says the freedom happened to Adam: he was not conscious of any thought on the train, he cannot explain the change to Will, and he calls it coming out of a sleep. The strongest objection is that he chose to face Kate, and needed courage to do it, so the dark deep had something to work on only because he went. A good revision might hold that Adam made the choice that let the change come, and that the change itself arrived from somewhere he could not see.

What it asks It asks the student to test Lee’s theory against the whole chapter. At the garage Adam says, “Such a man doesn’t really die,” and, “I can’t think of him dead. He seems maybe more alive to me than before.” Will answers, “That’s true,” “and it was not true to him. To Will, Samuel was dead.” Adam goes on: “I think of things he said,” and, “When he said them I didn’t listen very closely, but now they come back, and I can see his face when he said them.” Will says his father “wasn’t very practical.” At home Adam says, “This time last year I would have run to Sam Hamilton to talk.” Lee answers, “Maybe both of us have got a piece of him,” and, “Maybe that’s what immortality is.” When Adam says his eyes have cleared, Lee says, “You even use words that sound like Mr. Hamilton,” and, “I’ll build a theory for my immortal relatives.” Lee talked to Samuel about the bookstore. “Mr. Hamilton knew” that Lee was lonely. Lee says, “I loved Mr. Hamilton,” and asks to go to Salinas: “I want to put a little roast pig on the grave of my father.” The student writes a thesis on whether and how Samuel goes on, meets the strongest objection, and revises. It feeds the hinge: the piece of Samuel each man carries bears on what Adam and Lee now owe each other. The card must not say why Adam leaves the room at the end.

One reading

In a real sense. Samuel’s words come back to Adam and change what he does: he wants a car, will pay cash, and sees his land again. Lee hears Samuel in Adam’s speech. And Lee, no kin by blood, calls Samuel “my father.” What a man gave goes on working in the people he gave it to.

• You even use words that sound like Mr. Hamilton
• I want to put a little roast pig on the grave of my father.

Another reading

Only as memory, which is not the same. Lee says “maybe” twice and then makes a joke of his “immortal relatives.” Will, Samuel’s own son, is already selling cars. And Adam has no one to run to now. A piece carried by two men is not the man, and the chapter keeps showing the gap he left.

• To Will, Samuel was dead.
• This time last year I would have run to Sam Hamilton to talk.

Listen for

• Hears the two maybes in Lee’s guess, and the joke that follows it.
• Sets Will, the son for whom “Samuel was dead,” beside Lee, who calls Samuel “my father.”
• Finds Samuel at work in Adam: his words coming back, the “change in me.”
• Revises rather than restates, and gives no reason for Adam leaving the room at the end.

If stuck

• What does Adam tell Will about Samuel?
• What does Lee call Samuel in the chapter’s last lines?
• Can a person live on in what they taught others?

A strong answer A strong response builds a thesis, meets the strongest objection, and revises. One thesis says Samuel goes on in a real sense: his words change what Adam does and how he speaks, and Lee, who is not his kin, calls him father. The strongest objection is that Lee himself hedges with “maybe” and turns it into a joke, and that the chapter keeps showing the gap Samuel left, from Will’s office to the friend Adam can no longer run to. A good revision might hold that Samuel goes on as a change in other people, but not as company, which is why both men feel his loss so sharply.

What it asks It asks the chapter’s whole question. On the road home Adam chants, “I’m free, I’m free. I don’t have to worry any more.” At Will’s he chooses to pay cash for a car: “There’d be no point in putting it off.” At home, looking at Lee, he “realized that Lee was not a young man any more.” Lee says, “Maybe if you’re free, you can free me,” and, “Could you let me go?” Adam: “Why, of course you can go. Aren’t you happy here?” Lee: “I don’t think any man is contented when there are things undone he wishes to do.” He names the bookstore and adds, “If you are well and if you are free, I would like to have my little bookshop at last. I would like to die there.” Adam: “I found myself wishing you were a slave so I could refuse you. Of course you can go if you want to.” Lee: “Oh, I have the money. I’ve had it a long time.” Adam: “I never thought of your going,” and, “I took you for granted.” He straightens his shoulders: “Could you wait a little while?” His reasons: “I want you to help me get acquainted with my boys. I want to put this place in shape, or maybe sell it or rent it. I’ll want to know how much money I have left and what I can do with it.” Lee: “You wouldn’t lay a trap for me?” and, “My wish isn’t as strong as it once was.” And: “Please try not to need me. That’s the worst bait of all to a lonely man.” Adam: “A lonely man. I must have been far down in myself not to have thought of that.” When Lee asks to go to Salinas, Adam says, “Do anything you want,” and, “God knows you’ve done enough for me.” The student writes a thesis on whether the request is fair, meets the strongest objection, and revises. The card must not say whether Lee leaves or opens his bookstore, why Adam knocks over his cup and walks out, or what kind of father Adam will become.

One reading

Fair. Adam asks; he does not order. He says Lee can go and offers money before he asks anything. His reasons are real: two boys he hardly knows, a ranch, his money. A little while is small against the years Lee has waited, and Lee raised the boys, so helping Adam know them finishes his own work. When Adam hears the word lonely, he stops and listens.

• Of course you can go if you want to.
• I want you to help me get acquainted with my boys.

Another reading

Not fair. Lee has had the money “a long time” and has waited until Adam was well and free. That same day Adam would not put off paying for a car, and at home he asks Lee to put off his life. Lee has just said his wish is growing weaker and that need is the bait he cannot refuse. Asking a man like that to wait may be asking him to stay for good.

• Oh, I have the money. I’ve had it a long time.
• There’d be no point in putting it off.
• Please try not to need me.

Listen for

• Weighs Adam’s reasons for the wait as real reasons, not only excuses.
• Sets “There’d be no point in putting it off” at the garage beside “Could you wait a little while?” at home.
• Hears why Lee calls need “bait”: his wish “isn’t as strong as it once was.”
• Revises rather than restates, and claims nothing about whether Lee goes, why Adam walks out, or what kind of father he will be.

If stuck

• What does Lee ask Adam for?
• What reasons does Adam give for wanting Lee to wait?
• When is it fair to ask someone to put off what they want for you?

A strong answer A strong response builds a thesis, meets the strongest objection, and revises. One thesis says the request is fair: Adam frees Lee first, offers money, and asks only for a little while, for reasons that matter, two boys he hardly knows among them. The strongest objection is Lee’s own warning: a lonely man whose wish is fading can be held back just by being needed, so a request to wait may be a request to stay, from a man who would not put off paying for a car. A good revision might hold that the request is fair in its words and unfair in its weight, and that Adam’s answer to “A lonely man” shows him starting to see the difference.