Opening
In Sam’s second week at Our Lady of Mercy, a single playground confrontation forges an unbreakable friendship and a lifelong rivalry. As the adults choose sides and the school whispers grow, Sam learns two truths at home: he is more alone than he admits—and far more capable than anyone suspected.
What Happens
Chapter 16: Devil Boy and Black Boy
Six-year-old Samuel 'Sam' Hill hides on the bleachers at lunch, stretching out each bite to avoid the gauntlet of the playground. He disassembles his lunch with ritual precision, saving the cream of his Twinkie for last. A new student, Ernie Cantwell, the only Black child at school, sits beside him and asks—without fear or judgment—about the slow eating and Sam’s red eyes. Two outsiders, they start a tentative, curious exchange.
The moment shatters when David Bateman, bigger and older, pegs Sam in the face with a red rubber ball, obliterating the Twinkie. He and his friends crowd in, sneering “Devil Boy” at Sam and a racist slur at Ernie, turning the playground into a stage for humiliation and the possibility of Overcoming Otherness and Prejudice. Ernie refuses to yield, bolts with the ball, and boots it away; Bateman blindsides him with a punch. Something in Sam breaks open—he launches onto Bateman’s back, choking and hanging on as kids chant, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” The showdown freezes when Sister Beatrice appears.
Chapter 17: The Principal’s Office
Seeing only the end, Sister Beatrice drags Sam by the ear to her office and calls his mother, Madeline Hill. She pushes for suspension or expulsion, satisfied that her doubts about Sam are confirmed. Bateman’s mother storms in, wielding parish authority and demanding expulsion, her outrage masking prejudice. Madeline stands her ground, pointing to Sam’s swollen face and Twinkie-smeared hair, an unflinching act of Parental Love and Sacrifice.
Sister Kathleen arrives with Ernie, who calmly recounts the sequence: the thrown ball, the “Devil Boy” taunts, the slur, and Bateman’s punch. When pressed, David admits it—he learned the word from his father. His mother hauls him out in embarrassment. Sister Beatrice has no rebuttal. Sister Kathleen sends Sam and Ernie to clean up and return to class—case closed, Sam vindicated.
Chapter 18: A New Friendship
In the lavatory, Sam and Ernie rinse Twinkie cream from their hair and faces. Ernie asks if Sam wants to be friends, and Sam, stunned with relief, says yes. Their bond begins not with ease but with shared peril, planting the roots of The Power of Friendship.
Back in class, Sam braces for mockery or applause and receives neither. Silence greets him—a heavier judgment. Defending Ernie doesn’t buy acceptance; it deepens his loneliness, painting him as unpredictable and dangerous.
Chapter 19: The Grate
At dinner, Sam’s parents avoid the fight. Later, he lies on the floor and listens through the heating grate to the conversation below. Madeline tells Maxwell Hill that, per Sister Kathleen, Sam sits alone and has no friends—exposing the lie of the imaginary boys Sam mentions at dinner, Dillon and Barry. The truth stings.
Then a second revelation: worried by Sam’s silence in class, the nun had tested him. He scored in the high nineties across the board. “Sam is not slow, Max. He’s gifted,” Madeline says—an identity shift that reframes his difference and accelerates his Coming of Age.
Chapter 20: The Sandwich
The next morning, Sam claims a small independence—he’ll walk in alone. He meets Ernie at the entrance; together, they approach the doors. Bateman blocks the way, knocks Sam’s lunchbox to the pavement, and, without a word, crushes the peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich under his shoe. The message is unmistakable: the fight isn’t over, and Bullying and Its Lasting Impact doesn’t end with one victory.
Character Development
These chapters redraw the map of Sam’s world—who will stand with him, who will stand against him, and what strength he carries inside.
- Sam: Moves from hiding to action, defending Ernie despite fear; learns he is academically gifted even as social isolation hardens; asserts small autonomy by walking in alone; discovers that bravery can deepen his outsider status.
- Ernie: Arrives confident and direct; refuses to accept insults; tells the truth with clarity; proves loyal from the first crisis.
- David Bateman: Emerges as the primary antagonist—physically aggressive, racist, and vindictive; his confession reveals prejudice learned at home, adding context without absolution.
- Madeline Hill: A fierce, articulate advocate; refuses to be cowed by authority; centers compassion and evidence over bias.
- Sister Beatrice: Exposes her bias by leaping to punish Sam; her authority falters when truth contradicts her certainty.
- Sister Kathleen: Quiet moral ballast—listens, verifies, and restores justice without spectacle.
Themes & Symbols
Sam and Ernie’s alliance forms under pressure, a blueprint for Overcoming Otherness and Prejudice. Their differences—red eyes and Black skin—mark them as targets, but the same differences become the basis for solidarity. The friendship born in crisis embodies The Power of Friendship, not as comfort but as chosen courage. Madeline’s stand in the office epitomizes Parental Love and Sacrifice, refusing to surrender her son to rumor, hierarchy, or intimidation. Meanwhile, David’s silent retaliation and the school’s hush show Bullying and Its Lasting Impact: it adapts, persists, and often goes unpunished.
Authority divides along moral lines. Sister Beatrice’s rush to judgment contrasts with Sister Kathleen’s listening and verification, sharpening the novel’s meditation on Faith and Doubt: true faith expresses itself through justice and compassion, not reflexive discipline. At home, the grate scene accelerates Sam’s Coming of Age: painful knowledge (his isolation) arrives alongside empowering truth (his intellect), teaching him that identity holds multitudes—wounds and gifts interlaced.
Symbols:
- The Twinkie: Sam’s private ritual of order and comfort; its destruction marks the intrusion of cruelty into his last sanctuary.
- The Red Ball: Bateman’s chosen weapon and emblem of aggression; its color mirrors Sam’s eyes—the trait used to dehumanize him.
- The Grate: A portal to adult truth; through it, Sam loses imaginary companions and gains a clearer, harder self-understanding.
Key Quotes
“Devil Boy.”
The label reduces Sam to the color of his eyes, revealing how quickly children learn to weaponize difference. It catalyzes the chapter’s conflict and exposes the social cost of being visibly other.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!”
The chant turns pain into spectacle, showing how group excitement erases empathy. It isolates Sam and Ernie further, framing violence as entertainment instead of injustice.
“Sam is not slow, Max. He’s gifted.”
Madeline’s declaration reframes Sam’s difference as strength, countering assumptions rooted in silence and stigma. This affirmation becomes a cornerstone of his identity going forward.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters lay the emotional architecture of Sam’s childhood: his bond with Ernie, his clash with David, and the unwavering circle formed by his parents. Sam’s leap onto Bateman’s back marks his first open act of resistance, shifting him from passive target to active agent, even as it costs him socially.
The office confrontation clarifies the story’s moral landscape, revealing who listens and who condemns. The grate scene fuses pain with possibility, proving that Sam’s journey isn’t merely about surviving difference—it’s about integrating brilliance, bravery, and belonging in a world determined to deny him all three.