Study Questions
1. Does the narrator have much choice other than to sit with the Vet and Crenshaw?

2. To whom does the narrator compare Crenshaw?

3. What changes does the Vet imagine when he thinks of the narrator’s life in Harlem?

4. How does the Vet feel about his transfer?

5. What does Crenshaw say to the Vet to make him stop “showing off”?

6. How does the narrator feel when Crenshaw and the Vet transfer to another bus?

7. What disturbing experience does the narrator have in the subway soon after arriving in New York City?

8. Along with the revelation that blacks in Harlem have jobs and economic power, what specific event completely shocks the narrator?

9. What does the narrator notice, and commment upon, regarding Ras?

10. What decision does the narrator come to about Harlem at the end of the chapter?

Answers
1. No, the narrator does not have much choice other than to sit with the Vet and Crenshaw. The back of the bus is the only section available to them.

2. The narrator compares Crenshaw to Supercargo, the attendant at the Golden Day.

3. The Vet imagines the narrator going to lectures at the Men’s House and meeting more white people—perhaps even a white girl.

4. The Vet is a little confused about his transfer. He says that he had been trying to get transferred for a long time, and then it happens soon after meeting Mr. Norton.

5. Crenshaw, impatient with the Vet, accuses him of showing off his education. Crenshaw reminds the Vet that he is still riding “in the Jim Crow,” the back of the bus, just as Crenshaw himself is.

6. When Crenshaw and the Vet transfer to another bus, the narrator heaves a sigh of relief, but then feels sad and alone.

7. The narrator is crammed into a crowded subway car, soon after his arrival in New York City, and pressed against a large, white woman.

8. Along with the revelation that blacks in Harlem have jobs and economic power, the narrator is completely shocked to see a public demonstration of political protest by Ras. What also stuns the narrator is the fact that two white police officers make no attempt to stop the protest.

9. The narrator notices and comments upon the West Indian accent in Ras.

10. At the end of the chapter, having registered in his room at the Men’s house, the narrator decides that he will have to get used to Harlem a little at a time.