The Rock and The River

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-7

Chapters 8-9

Chapters 10-11

Chapters 12-14

Chapters 15-16

Chapters 17-19

Chapters 20-21

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapters 8-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 8 Summary

When the day of the Panther meeting comes, Mama asks Sam about Stick, but Sam does not say much. Mama explains that Father and Stick are the same: stubborn and uncompromising. Sam asks Mama if he can go see Maxie, but because it is late, he is not allowed. Sam sneaks out the window and meets Maxie at the Panther political education class anyway. Sam sees Stick there and listens to Leroy, a Black Panther leader, speak.

On his way home, Sam runs into Father. Father drives him home in silence. When they get home, Father tells Sam to go to his room, but Mama tells him to stay and explain himself. Mama and Father glare at each other, and Father tells Sam to go to his room for a few minutes. Mama and Father argue. They call Sam back, in and Sam admits he went to the political education class. Father encourages Sam to help him prepare for Bucky’s trial instead of getting involved with the Panthers. Sam agrees. He then goes to his room and reads more about the Panthers.

Chapter 9 Summary

Sam distances himself from Maxie when he sees her at school the next day. At home, he joins Father in preparing for the demonstration he is going to hold during Bucky’s trial. They talk about the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Sam was nine then and only remembers some of the day. Father tells Sam to remember that people are more afraid of ideas than of guns and explains everything that needs to be done for the demonstration. Sam tries to continue avoiding Maxie but walks home with her one afternoon. When they pass the building where they went to the political education class, he tells her that Stick left and bristles at her continued support of the Panthers. Maxie continues to challenge Sam and support the Panthers until Sam snaps at her and insults her father and her life in her neighborhood. Sam immediately regrets insulting her and lets her leave by herself.

Chapters 8-9 Analysis

Racism continues to shape Sam’s relationships with Father and Maxie. He goes to the political education class held by the Black Panthers with Maxie, and they are both inspired by what they learn. Since Sam had to sneak out to attend the class, he is anxious about being out so late and having to get back home. When Father catches him in the streets, Sam is relieved but later realizes the effect his involvement with the Panthers has on his parents when he hears them fight, which is something they almost never do. He feels unable to support Father and remain close with Maxie, so he insults Maxie’s father and life in the projects to push her away:

Maxie would never forgive me for saying what I had. She wouldn’t want me around anymore, wouldn’t push me to do Panther stuff with her. Maybe now I could return to Father’s world, bring all of myself back to the place I’d started from. Maybe I could learn to ignore the gnawing in the pit of my stomach telling me it wasn’t enough (156).

This quote reveals that Sam is blaming Maxie for his newfound understanding of the world and the Civil Rights Movement. Sam’s coming-of-age arc and his disillusionment with peaceful protesting begin to parallel here: He has begun to realize that the peaceful protests of his father may not be “enough,” but he wishes to disengage from his disillusionment and retire back into the childlike innocence he had known before. In becoming his own man, he will need to separate himself from the beliefs of his father and decide what he truly believes as an individual—an act that is frightening both in the consequences it has on his family relationships and on his future. Stick’s path proffers one potential means for Sam’s development, as Sam could easily leave his family behind and embrace the Panther lifestyle, but in this section, Sam rejects this path even as it makes logical sense to him.