In this chapter, we learn that the father of Little Em'ly is a moron, and that he has intentionally injured his daughter's spine by holding her too long. The father is furious, and he tells his daughter that he feels like he is "about to pass away" and that his neck is almost completely broken. He says that if it weren't for his soul being "traversed to this world," his daughter would have already been turned mentally "afflicted child" because of the way he handled her earlier.