Summary
William learned that his test grades were not high enough to enter the secondary school that he wanted, and instead he had to attend Kachokolo. This news was of great disappointment to him, as he hoped to go to one of the top boarding schools; he made plans in his head to transfer whenever he could. However, one upside to his attendance at Kachokolo was that Gilbert was also enrolled there.
Outside of this news, the famine continued to worsen, even as the rains continued to foster the growth of the crops. The desperation of the people grew, and people began stealing from Agnes' sweet cake stand. The price of maize continued to rise, reducing the number of cakes that William's mother could sell, and thereby reducing the amount of food that the family could themselves eat. This brought about strife between Rose and Doris, two of William's sisters. Rose, the younger of the two, consistently took more than her fair share of food, which angered Doris. The two got into a fight, but no one had the energy to discipline them.
When William started going to school, he expected the academic rigor to take his mind off of his hunger, and eagerly looked forward to walking with Gilbert every day. However, once at Kachokolo, he was reprimanded by the principal for his "improper uniform," and asked to go home and change. William, not even owning the proper uniform, nor the proper shoes, lied and said that the trek to the school would ruin his nice shoes, allowing him to continue attending school. The conditions at this school were not much better than his old school, and William struggled with the material greatly.
In the next few weeks, the principal for Kachokolo demanded that the students pay the school fees, which William couldn't afford. Most of the students could not afford the fees as well, and William was forced to drop out with them. This made him extremely upset, and he and Geoffrey conversed about their situation.
However, the famine continued to ravage the country, with even the gaga running out. The starved were not only incredibly thin, but some were also swollen with a condition called kwashiorkor, where all the limbs swell with fluid when there aren't enough proteins in the blood. People were now stealing from one another, desperate for the smallest bite of food to eat, and the president continued to deny the existence of the famine.
Analysis
Throughout the first part of this chapter, William discusses how he expects to either be admitted into Chayamba or Kasungu, two of the most elite science boarding schools in Malawi. He describes his hopes and seemingly unwavering confidence in detail, however, when he finds out that he is not on either of those schools' lists, we see his interior thoughts with italics. When he says "how could this be?," the reader gets a full understanding of the scope of William's confidence (122). He had believed that his scores were excellent, even though, as the report card shows, they were average at best. The reader experiences the full childish confidence that William has crash to the ground with the reality of the marks.
At home, as the realities of the famine worsen, the dialogue of the family and the people at market become similar, with the use of punctuation emphasizing their desperation. For example, when Rose takes more food than is her share, Doris protests by saying, "Mama, she's taking bigger pieces!" (126). The exclamation here was previously used in Agnes' experiences at market, where people would yell "I'll take two!" or "Give me three!" at her (125). Punctuation is also used in later paragraphs when the people are forsaken by the government. For example, the quote "what are they trying to hide from us?!" uses an interrobang to demonstrate the confused, panicked, and desperate emotions of the people, who have received no governmental assistance during the famine (127). In all of these examples, the weaker parties use punctuation and shouting to try and communicate their point, but the people in positions of power, from the government to William's mother as a market vendor, use periods to convey their intentions. This disparity in punctuation shows how the powerful are able to remain quiet and calm (and in the government's case, silent) when the less powerful have only their voices to raise.
When Kachokolo demands school fees, William's disappointment at not being able to afford them ties his stomach into knots. When compared to his optimism in previous chapters, William's tone in this chapter is one of sadness and hopelessness. He loses much of his childish hope in this chapter, when he curses himself "for being so optimistic, for allowing myself to become so excited" (132). This quote demonstrates that William is undergoing a change and becoming more of an adult—in other words, jaded and not allowing himself to hope as much as he had before.
