what appears to be the narrators greatest humiliation in the interview in chapter 6

is determined to expel the narrator, who threatens that he will tell Norton and fight to stay. Bledsoe relates that it does not matter who is told, the narrator does not amount to anyone and has no power in comparison to himself. He is at the controls and part of the larger set up of government power. He had won his place at the top by years of manipulation, of "playing the nigger" to some and acting tough to others.

Claiming to be impressed by the narrator's spirit, Bledsoe agrees to give him letters to important friends in New York where he can find a job and then pay his way back in the fall if all goes well. The narrator must leave within two days and after thinking over all day, he decides to leave as early as possible. Humiliated and ashamed, the narrator is outside of Bledsoe's office in the morning to retrieve his letters and then catches the first bus out of town.