Chapter 41 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to find what provokes the strongest feeling in the chapter’s first scene. Walking to school, Cal first asks Aron to quit school and go back to the ranch so they could “make some money for Father.” Aron refuses: he is going to college, “Everybody is laughing at us,” and “I didn’t lose the money.” Cal answers, “He didn’t mean to lose the money.” Then Cal offers to help Aron through college if he passes his examinations a year early, and Aron hurries off toward the principal. Cal calls him back: if the principal thinks he can do it, “don’t tell Father,” because “I was just thinking how nice it would be if you went to him and told him you’d done it.” Aron says, “I don’t see what difference it makes,” and “It sounds silly to me.” Then “Cal had a violent urge to shout,” and the words he holds back are “I know who our mother is! I can show her to you.” The narrator adds, “That would cut through and get inside of Aron.” The chapter shows the urge, not the shout; the next line finds Cal in the school hall with Abra. The question touches the hinge: before Cal plans his own gift to his father, he plans how Aron’s news should arrive, and the one person he tells finds the plan silly.

One reading

Aron has never had to win anyone. He cannot see what difference it makes who tells Father, because his father’s love has never been in doubt; later Cal tells Will, “Everybody loves Aron.” Cal plans gifts so they will land, and Aron simply receives them. The shout would take away the ease that lets Aron call it silly, by handing him the thing Cal carries alone.

• I don’t see what difference it makes.
• Everybody loves Aron.

Another reading

Nothing Cal says reaches him. The narrator’s words are “cut through and get inside,” which sound less like a wish to wound than a wish to be heard. Aron is, in Abra’s words, “in a cloud,” and he has just turned a gift into something silly. The shout is the one sentence Cal knows would make his brother stop and look at him.

• That would cut through and get inside of Aron.
• He’s just in a cloud.

Listen for

• Notices that Cal makes two offers on the walk, the ranch and then college, and that the second comes with a condition: “If you knuckle down.”
• Hears what Cal says he was thinking: “how nice it would be” for Aron to tell Father himself.
• Weighs “cut through and get inside” rather than reading the urge only as anger.
• Keeps to the page: the chapter shows the urge, not the shout, and it does not say whether Aron will pass early.

If stuck

• What does Cal offer Aron, and on what condition?
• What does Cal ask him not to do, and why?
• What does Aron say about waiting?

A strong answer A strong response names what in Aron’s answer provokes Cal and grounds it in the walk to school. One reader says Aron has never had to earn his father’s love, so the careful staging of a gift means nothing to him, and Cal wants to break that ease. Another says the narrator’s “cut through and get inside” shows a wish to reach a brother who is “in a cloud,” not only to hurt him. The best answers notice the “don’t tell Father” request as Cal’s first plan for how a gift should arrive, and claim nothing about Aron’s examinations.

What it asks It asks the student to take a quiet line seriously. Before the school bell Cal demands, “What’s the matter with Aron?” Abra says, “He’s just in a cloud. I think it’s that minister,” and, “I can see right through him. He’s wearing wings.” Cal says, “He’s still ashamed about the lettuce.” Abra answers, “I know he is,” and, “I try to talk him out of it. Maybe he’s enjoying it.” When Cal asks what she means, she says, “Nothing.” Earlier on the walk Aron has said, “I didn’t lose the money. I didn’t have a crazy lettuce idea. But people laugh at me just the same,” and, “I want to get out of this town. I don’t ever want to come back.” The question touches the hinge: the brothers face the same loss, and the chapter shows one setting out to repay it while the other carries it.

One reading

A way out and a clean name. Being ashamed lets Aron stand apart from his father’s mistake: he did not lose the money, he did not have the idea, and still he is laughed at. Shame gives him a grievance and a reason to leave, which he already wants. Cal answers the same loss by trying to make it up; Aron answers it by being the one wronged.

• I didn’t lose the money.
• I want to get out of this town.

Another reading

A feeling of being set apart, almost holy. Abra joins his mood to “that minister” and says he is “wearing wings.” Being laughed at for what he did not do can feel like suffering for being better than the town. That would explain why Abra cannot talk him out of it: he does not want to be talked out of it.

• He’s wearing wings.
• I try to talk him out of it.

Listen for

• Reads Abra’s line against Aron’s own words on the walk, “I didn’t lose the money” and “They laugh at us.”
• Notices that Abra takes the remark back with “Nothing,” and asks why she might.
• Sets Aron’s answer to the lettuce beside Cal’s, without making either brother simply good or bad.
• Claims nothing about Aron leaving Salinas; the chapter shows only that he wants to.

If stuck

• What does Aron say about the lettuce on the walk to school?
• What does Abra think has put Aron “in a cloud”?
• What does Abra say when Cal asks what she means?

A strong answer A strong response names what Aron might gain from his shame and grounds it in both scenes. One reader says it gives him a clean name and a reason to leave: he did not lose the money, yet he is the one laughed at. Another says it lets him feel set apart, “wearing wings,” which is why Abra cannot talk him out of it. The best answers set this beside Cal’s answer to the same loss and keep Abra’s “Nothing” in view.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh Lee’s three words, “I don’t know,” in a chapter that turns on Cal’s naked answers. After supper Cal asks Adam whether he may go down to the ranch alone on Friday; he says he would farm it if Adam let him, and Adam answers that the lease has more than a year to run and that Cal “might want to go to college.” Lee “studied Cal” and asked, “Thinking seriously of going to farming?” At the door Lee asks, “Can you tell me what it’s about?” Cal says, “I just want to look around.” Lee says, “All right, I guess I’m left out,” turns back, then calls Cal: “You worried, Cal?” “No.” “I’ve got five thousand dollars if you ever need it.” “Why would I need it?” “I don’t know,” said Lee. Later Cal tells Will he can borrow five thousand dollars at no interest and will not say from whom. The chapter never says where that money comes from, and the card should not say it either. The question touches the hinge: in a chapter full of trades, Lee’s offer names no price, and the one man who gives without terms is the one who will not say why.

One reading

Not the whole truth. Lee guesses more than he says. He watched Cal at supper and asked about farming; he asks if Cal is worried. He cannot make Cal explain, so he offers help in a form Cal can take without explaining. “I don’t know” is a kindness: it spares Cal from having to admit anything.

• He studied Cal.
• You worried, Cal?

Another reading

The truth. Lee needs no reason. He offers before he knows of any need, and he asks nothing back. In the same chapter Will says, “I don’t give things away. I sell them,” and Cal goes to Will for advice, not a handout. Lee’s offer is the one in the chapter that wants nothing in return, so there is nothing for him to know.

• I’ve got five thousand dollars if you ever need it.
• I don’t give things away. I sell them.

Listen for

• Notices that Lee is shut out first, “I guess I’m left out,” and makes the offer after.
• Hears that Cal denies being worried.
• Sets Lee’s offer beside Will’s rule about giving and selling, and Lee’s few words beside Cal’s naked answers in the office.
• Does not say that Cal’s five thousand dollars comes from Lee; the chapter puts the two side by side and leaves it there.

If stuck

• What does Cal ask Adam at supper, and what does Lee ask Cal?
• What does Lee say when Cal won’t explain the trip?
• What does Lee answer when Cal asks why he would need the money?

A strong answer A strong response decides whether Lee’s “I don’t know” is true and grounds it in the supper and the door. One reader says it is not the whole truth: Lee has guessed that something is wrong and offers help that needs no explaining, and the answer spares Cal. Another says it is the plain truth: the offer needs no reason, and it stands apart from every other money talk in the chapter because it asks nothing back. The best answers weigh “You worried, Cal?” whichever side they take, and claim nothing about where Cal’s money comes from.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh the narrator’s three-way sentence against the scene. Before asking for advice, Cal asks whether Will is a father. Will says no, and, “I guess I’m sorriest about that.” When Cal says he wants to give his father back what he lost, and that he is fond of him, a memory sweeps over Will “like a chilling wind”: his father Samuel, “beautiful as dawn,” Tom “who was dark fire,” Dessie “of laughter,” Joe “the beloved,” each bringing “some gift into the family.” Will thought of himself as “slow, doltish, conservative, uninspired.” He “kept the books, hired the attorneys, called the undertaker, and eventually paid the bills. The others didn’t even know they needed him.” He “had loved them doggedly, had always been at hand with his money,” and “fought bitterly for their recognition.” Then: “Will understood him, felt him, sensed him, recognized him. This was the son he should have had, or the brother, or the father.” At once Will makes his voice stern: “I’m a businessman. I don’t give things away. I sell them.” In the car he corrects Cal’s “Yes, sir” to “Yes, Will!” The question touches the hinge: Will knows what it is to offer money to a family whose love he was never sure of.

One reading

The son. Will is sorriest never to have been a father, and Cal asked about that first. Will gives him advice, takes him for a drive, tells him “I want you to listen,” and explains the trade. The handshake is between “the stout man and the lean dark boy.”

• I guess I’m sorriest about that.
• Solemnly the stout man and the lean dark boy shook hands.

Another reading

The brother. Will was the one in his family whose gift no one counted, and Cal stands beside a brother whom “Everybody loves.” Both mean to win a place with money. Will makes Cal call him by his first name, and partners stand level, the way brothers might.

• The others didn’t even know they needed him.
• Everybody loves Aron.

Listen for

• Uses the long memory: the gifts of Samuel and the others set against Will’s “care, and reason, application.”
• Notices “He had loved them doggedly, had always been at hand with his money,” and what it shares with Cal’s plan.
• Asks why the narrator offers three roles, and whether “the father” fits at all.
• Holds Will’s warmth and his stern “I sell them” together, and does not call the partnership a trick.

If stuck

• What does Cal ask Will before he asks for advice?
• How does Will think his family saw him?
• What does Will say right after his silence?

A strong answer A strong response chooses one of the three roles and grounds it in the office and the drive. One reader says the son: Will is sorriest never to have been a father, and he teaches Cal as a father might. Another says the brother: Will was the uncounted one in a gifted family, as Cal is beside Aron, and both try to hold on with money. The best answers use the memory passage and Will’s stern line after it, and keep his warmth and his business sense together.

What it asks It asks the student to test Cal’s judgment of himself against the rest of the chapter, and so to choose between two measures of goodness, Will’s and Cal’s. Will asks why Cal wants to give back the money. “Ordinarily Cal’s eyes were squinted and cautious, but now they were so wide that they seemed to look around and through Will. Cal was as close to his own soul as it is possible to get.” He says, “My father is good,” and, “I want to make it up to him because I am not good.” Will asks, “If you do that, wouldn’t you be good?” Cal says no: “I think bad.” Will “had never met anyone who spoke so nakedly.” The question touches the hinge from the inside: before deciding what the plan is, the student weighs what Cal thinks it can and cannot do for him.

One reading

Cal is right, by his own measure. He places goodness in thought, not deed, and his thoughts in this chapter bear him out: he wants to shout the one thing that would cut Aron, and he admits he would be buying love. A deed done to make up for himself does not change the self it makes up for. His father “is good” without having to try.

• I want to make it up to him because I am not good.
• I think bad.

Another reading

Cal is too hard on himself. Will’s question assumes a person is what he does, and Cal’s deeds in this chapter are kind: he defends his father to Aron, offers to help Aron through college, and keeps back the shout he wants to make. If thinking bad and doing good go on together, the doing may count for more than Cal allows.

• He didn’t mean to lose the money.
• If you do that, wouldn’t you be good?

Listen for

• Names the two measures in play: Cal’s, which judges thoughts, and Will’s, which judges deeds.
• Uses Cal’s deeds earlier in the chapter, the offer to Aron and the defence of Adam, as evidence.
• Notices the narrator’s “as close to his own soul as it is possible to get” and what it says about how far to trust Cal here.
• Keeps this question on what makes a person good; the written questions take up whether the plan is a gift.

If stuck

• How does Cal describe his father, and how does he describe himself?
• What does Will ask him then?
• What kind things does Cal do or say earlier in the chapter?

A strong answer A strong response decides whether the chapter bears out Cal’s “I think bad” and grounds the answer in the office and the walk to school. One reader says yes, by Cal’s own measure: goodness is in how a person thinks, and Cal’s thoughts in this chapter are not good ones. Another says no, he is too hard on himself, since his deeds are kind and the chapter shows him holding back the worst of his thoughts. The best answers name both measures, Cal’s and Will’s, and say which one the chapter seems to trust.

What it asks It asks the student to carry the chapter’s first paragraph to its last scene. The narrator says the nation “slid imperceptibly toward war,” that “Business picked up and prices began to rise,” that “British purchasing agents roved about the country,” and that “People didn’t really believe in war even while they planned it.” At the side road to the Trask place, after Cal refuses to say where his money will come from, Will “gunned his motor,” then asks, “Do you read the papers?” and says, “We’re going to be in this war any minute now.” Cal answers, “That’s what it looks like.” Will lays out the plan: guarantee Rantani and the other farmers five cents a pound with a seed loan, and contract five thousand acres of beans. Cal says, “What are we going to do with five-cent beans in a three-cent market? Oh, yes! But how can we be sure?” After the handshake Will tells him of his contract with the British Purchasing Agency and his friend in the Quartermaster Corps: “I bet we can sell all the dried beans we can find at ten cents a pound or more.” He will “sell before we sign anything.” The chapter does not say whether the plan works, and the talk should not guess. The question touches the hinge: the money Cal means to give his father is to come from the war.

One reading

Mostly attraction. Cal’s “Oh, yes!” is the moment he sees what a war is worth to a seller of beans. Will has the buyers lined up and bets on ten cents a pound, and the two seal it with a solemn handshake. Neither of them says a word about what the war will cost anyone else. The pull the narrator describes in the nation is in the car, at full strength.

• Oh, yes!
• I bet we can sell all the dried beans we can find at ten cents a pound or more.

Another reading

Fear is there too, but only of losing money. Cal’s first thought after “Oh, yes!” is “But how can we be sure?” and Will has an answer ready: he will sell before he signs. Neither is frightened of the war itself. They are like the people who “didn’t really believe in war even while they planned it.”

• But how can we be sure?
• People didn’t really believe in war even while they planned it.

Listen for

• Carries the opening paragraph’s words into the last scene rather than treating it as background.
• Notices the gap between Cal’s “Oh, yes!” and his question, and keeps the scene in order: Will is “filled with pleasure” at Cal’s secret about the money, before the war is named.
• Notices that Will, who told Adam there were “no guarantees” on lettuce, now offers farmers a guarantee and sells before he signs.
• Asks what it means to profit from a coming war, and leaves the arithmetic of cents to one side; claims nothing about whether the venture succeeds.

If stuck

• What two feelings does the narrator give the nation in the first paragraph?
• What does Will say about the war in the car?
• What does Cal ask when he understands the plan?

A strong answer A strong response weighs the two feelings in the car and grounds the weighing in the opening and the end. One reader hears mostly attraction: Cal’s “Oh, yes!”, the handshake and Will’s bet on ten cents a pound. Another hears fear as well, but only the businessman’s fear of losing money, which makes the pair like the nation that planned a war it did not believe in. The best answers keep the war in view as a war, not only a market, and claim nothing about the outcome.

What it asks It asks the student to judge Cal’s honesty in Will’s office by what follows it. From the start Cal is testing: “Will knew that Cal was feeling him, testing him, observing him, and he approved of that.” Cal “had made up his mind, but first he asked” whether Will was a father, and then ignored Will’s question about why. Then “Cal did something Will Hamilton approved even more. He used candor as a weapon.” He opens the box of Murads he had closed earlier and lights one as he says, “I’ll tell you why.” At the hard questions, Cal’s eyes are wide, and “Cal was as close to his own soul as it is possible to get.” He says, “I think bad,” and, asked whether he would be trying to buy his father’s love, “Yes, sir. It would. And it would be true.” Will “knew how safe Cal was in his stripped honesty.” When Will says, “That’s all I want to ask,” he sits shaken, and “in Cal there was a cautious leap of triumph. He knew he had won and he closed his face against showing it.” The question touches the hinge: before asking what the plan is, it asks what Cal’s honesty about the plan was.

One reading

Yes, it makes the honesty a move. Cal came to the office with his mind made up and tested Will before he spoke. The narrator calls his candor “a weapon,” and the truth won him what he came for. A boy who hides his triumph knew all along that the truth was his best card.

• He used candor as a weapon.
• He knew he had won and he closed his face against showing it.

Another reading

No, the truth was true first. What Cal admits costs him: no schemer would choose to say “I think bad” or agree that he means to buy love. The narrator says he was “as close to his own soul as it is possible to get,” and Will sees that he was “safe” in his honesty because it was honest. Being glad it worked does not undo it.

• Cal was as close to his own soul as it is possible to get.
• he knew how safe Cal was in his stripped honesty

Listen for

• States a thesis on the honesty and grounds it in the order of the scene: the testing, the candor, the soul, the triumph.
• Uses small moves as evidence: the question about whether Will is a father, the ignored “What makes you ask?”, the Murads closed and later opened.
• Meets the strongest objection and revises: a truth can be both a confession and a tool, and the triumph comes only after the truth is told.
• Keeps to the chapter: Will’s warmth is real, and the chapter does not make his partnership a trick on Cal.

If stuck

• What does Cal ask Will before he asks for advice?
• What does the narrator say Cal used as a weapon?
• What does Cal feel when Will has finished asking, and what does he do with the feeling?

A strong answer A strong response builds a thesis on Cal’s honesty, meets the strongest objection, and revises. One thesis says the triumph shows the honesty was a move: he tested Will first, used candor “as a weapon,” and hid his win. The strongest objection is that the truths cost him, that the narrator puts him “as close to his own soul as it is possible to get,” and that the triumph comes after. A good revision might say Cal’s truths are real and he knows their force, so the same words are a confession and a weapon at once. The best answers follow the scene in order and do not make Will a fool or a trickster.

What it asks It asks the chapter’s whole question. Cal tells Will, “I want to make enough money to give him back what he lost.” Asked why, he says first, “I want to,” then that he is fond of his father, and later, “I love him.” Will asks whether his father likes Aron better; “Everybody does,” Cal says. “My father is good,” he says. “I want to make it up to him because I am not good.” Asked whether he would be trying to buy his father’s love, he answers, “Yes, sir. It would. And it would be true.” Earlier he asked Aron to keep his news from their father until he could bring it himself. Will, who has told him, “I don’t give things away. I sell them,” makes him a partner in a plan to profit from the war the nation is sliding toward. The chapter does not say whether the plan succeeds or how Adam would receive the money, and the answer should not guess.

One reading

A gift. Cal wants to give back what his father lost, a loss he did not cause, and he will work and risk to do it. He loves his father and calls him good. Hoping to be loved back does not make a gift a sale. His plan for Aron’s news shows the same wish: to bring his father a joy, whole.

• I want to make enough money to give him back what he lost.
• My father is good

Another reading

A bargain. Cal names the price himself: the money is meant to buy love, and he says “it would be true.” He chooses a partner whose rule is “I sell them,” and the money is to come from beans sold into a war. A gift that expects love in return is a trade, and Cal is honest enough to say so.

• Yes, sir. It would. And it would be true.
• I don’t give things away. I sell them.

Listen for

• States a thesis on what the plan is and grounds it in Cal’s answers in the office.
• Weighs “I want to,” “I love him” and “I am not good” together, rather than one at a time.
• Meets the strongest objection and revises: a plan can begin as a gift and still carry a price, and naming the price may change what it is.
• Considers where the money is to come from, the coming war, and claims nothing about the venture’s outcome or Adam’s response.

If stuck

• What does Cal want to give his father, and why does he say he wants to?
• What does Will ask him about buying love, and what does Cal answer?
• Where is the money to come from?

A strong answer A strong response builds a thesis on the plan, meets the strongest objection, and revises. One thesis says it is a gift: Cal wants to restore a loss he did not cause to a father he loves and calls good. The strongest objection is that Cal names the price himself, “And it would be true,” and that the money is to come from selling into a war. A good revision might say the plan is a gift with a price written on it, and that Cal’s honesty in naming the price is the most generous thing about it, or the most calculating. The best answers keep both the love and the bargain in view and say nothing of how the plan turns out.