The Middle Five · Chapter
The Secret of the Big Seven explained
The Middle Five are allowed to stay up late for the first time, joining the Big Seven around the fire.
What happens
The Middle Five are allowed to stay up late for the first time, joining the Big Seven around the fire. The leader of the Big Seven, Alexander, proposes that the two groups unite in a secret society. They perform a ritual called 'Obeying the Command' and send two boys to a village house to demand pemmican. The boys successfully return with the food, and the group holds a feast. Later, during another expedition, Graybeard catches them and interrogates Brush and Alexander, who refuse to reveal the secret. Graybeard beats them with switches, but they endure the punishment without betraying the society.
Themes in this chapter
Resistance and Rebellion
The boys form a secret society that defies school rules, and they refuse to reveal its secrets even under threat of punishment.
Friendship and Loyalty
The Middle Five and Big Seven unite in a fraternal bond, sharing secrets and feasts, and the boys protect each other by not betraying the society.
Tradition vs. Modernity
The boys maintain Omaha cultural rituals like the 'Word of Command' and the thank offering to Wakonda, while navigating the rules of the mission school.
Characters to notice
- Me
Narrator and member of the Middle Five, participates in the secret society and later cuts switches for Graybeard.
- Brush
Member of the Middle Five, speaks for the group in agreeing to join the Big Seven's secret, and later refuses to answer Graybeard's questions, enduring a beating.
- Edwin M. Stanton
Tells Indian tales by the fire, whispers explanations to the narrator during the ritual, and accompanies George on the pemmican expedition.
- Alexander
Leader of the Big Seven, proposes the union of the gangs, leads the ritual, divides the pemmican, and silently endures a beating without showing emotion.
- Graybeard
School authority who discovers the secret activities, interrogates the boys, and administers beatings with switches.
- George Washington
Sent with Edwin on the pemmican expedition, recites the ritual demand to the woman in the village.
Key passages
“We, the Middle Five, who, for the first time, were permitted to stay up until ten—a privilege hitherto enjoyed only by the Big Seven—sat around the fire listening to Indian tales told by Edwin in his animated way.”
The Middle Five were allowed to stay awake until ten o'clock for the first time, a privilege previously only for the Big Seven, and they gathered by the fire to hear Edwin tell lively Native American stories.
Highlights the new privilege and the storytelling tradition.
“Brush said that 'Aleck' (the boys addressed him by this name, for he was called after the Macedonian conqueror) was turned outside in, that all his laugh, anger, and sorrow were inside and couldn't be seen.”
Brush joked that Alexander was like a person turned inside out, with all his emotions hidden inside where no one could see them.
Describes Alexander's stoic and mysterious demeanor.
“Aleck looked up; we all became silent; then he took a tiny bit of the pemmican, and held it toward the sky for a moment as a thank offering to Wakonda, then placed it with great solemnity on the floor in the centre of the circle.”
Alexander raised a small piece of pemmican to the sky as an offering to the Great Spirit, then placed it solemnly on the floor in the middle of the circle.
Shows the boys' adherence to traditional Omaha spiritual practices.
“Graybeard brought down the stick heavily on Brush's shoulders, an inch of the sapling broke; then he struck faster and faster, and at each stroke a piece flew off. Brush stood with clenched fists, determined not to show any flinching; but we could see that he felt keenly the blows.”
Graybeard beat Brush with a switch, breaking pieces off with each blow, while Brush clenched his fists and tried not to show pain, though it was clear he was suffering.
Illustrates Brush's endurance and defiance under punishment.
