The chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the novel, when the protagonist is a young boy who has been orphaned by his father's death. The protagonist, who is now an adult, is shocked to find that his father has died, and that his mother has been murdered. He is also shocked to learn that his grandfather has been executed for his role in the deaths of his father and his grandfather's wife. He also learns that the protagonist's father was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, a racist organization, which is a hate-filled organization that seeks to destroy all white people in the U.S.