Warriors Don’t Cry: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Early on Tuesday evening, the 101st Airborne Division arrives. The Pattillo family has dinner in front of the television so that they can hear President Eisenhower’s explanation of why he has sent the troops. President Eisenhower condemns the mob rule in Little Rock, asserting that it threatens “the very safety of the United States and the free world.” Governor Faubus delivers “a pleading speech” in which he declares that Little Rock has been occupied. Later that night, the doorbell rings. Grandma India announces that it is “white men wearing black hats.” She grabs her shotgun and urges them to state their business. They are from the Office of the United States. They urge Lois to allow Melba to go back to school, assuring her that Melba will be protected.

On Wednesday morning, they turn the corner near Daisy Bates’s home and see about fifty soldiers from the 101st Division, nicknamed the “Screaming Eagle” Division. People stand around watching. Melba recognizes some ministers from the community’s churches and several of them smile and nod at her. She worries that people see her differently. Thelma and Minnijean also inspect the soldiers. Other students mill about and Melba wonders what they are waiting for. She then remembers that there will be an assembly at school with a military briefing. Reporters and photographers are also present, some of them hanging from trees or standing on cars. Mother Lois whispers “good-bye” and says a prayer along with one of the ministers. The students ride away to Central in a station wagon that is part of a convoy. Their driver, Sarge, is friendly and pleasant, but the reactions from onlookers are mixed. Some wave, while others raise their fists.

When the Little Rock Nine arrives at school, groups of soldiers are lined up, just a few feet apart. Others are running up and down the street in front of Central with their bayonets pointed. Sarge explains that it is “crowd control”—keeping the mob away. The soldiers surround the Little Rock Nine. Melba looks at her friends; they, too, are impressed by the display of military power. Melba feels sad that such great lengths must be taken, but proud to live in a country that is willing to take such measures for her.

Once the Screaming Eagles deliver the children inside, no one seems to know what to do. Principal Jess Matthews breaks the awkwardness with a forced smile, then directs the students to their classrooms. A soldier follows each member of the Little Rock Nine in their respective directions. Melba passes several groups of students who whisper obscenities at her and at the soldier. The soldier, whose name is Danny, ignores them. He tells her that he will wait for her in the hall, for the soldiers are not allowed to enter classrooms. If she needs him, she is to “holler.”

In the English class, the teacher tells Melba to sit near the door where Danny can see her. A “tall, dark-haired boy” begins to harass her and the teacher says nothing. The boy harasses her throughout class and when Melba asks after class if she “could do something to calm people down,” the instructor says that she is not “gonna browbeat their students to please you’all.” Melba is relieved to go to Mrs. Pickwick’s class next where she is left alone.

On the way to Mrs. Pickwick’s classroom, Melba stops to use the restroom. Danny leans against a wall, “across from the bathroom door.” Melba encounters a girl who tells her that there is no sign marked “Colored” on the door. When Melba emerges from the stall, she sees that someone has scrawled “Nigger, go home” on the mirror.

Danny takes Melba to Mrs. Huckaby’s office. Carlotta and Thelma are already there. Mrs. Huckaby says that, from now on, she will escort the girls to the restroom and the cafeteria. They thank her and the four of them walk to the cafeteria. Melba describes a room that “seemed to be half the size of a football field.” Many students turn and look at them, but Melba feels less awkward due to the cafeteria workers being black. This time, she does not feel “the same twinge of embarrassment” at seeing black people in service positions, instead she is “thrilled to see them smiling back at [her].”

Over lunch, a couple of friendly white girls sit with Melba, Thelma, and Carlotta. They say that many of their friends stay away because they fear the segregationists who warned against showing the Little Rock Nine kindness. After lunch, Melba goes to gym class. The bandage on her knee is a reminder of the assault that she fears, but she quickly changes into her gym uniform, moves past someone who tries to block her way, and ignores the “stares and name-calling.” She finds that she is better able to cope and goes out to meet Danny who directs her to the first-level playing field. Several soldiers are posted in the area where gym class will be held, which makes Melba feel much safer.

Danny greets Melba at the end of class and leads her through an isolated passage where they are confronted by “sideburners”—boys who copy their hairstyles from Elvis and James Dean. They heckle Danny, then one of them slams Melba’s books out of her hand. The thugs then surround them. Though Melba feels an urge to run, Danny tells her to remain still. More soldiers emerge, holding onto their nightsticks. The hooligans disperse and the soldiers withdraw.

Melba goes to French class next. There is no heckling; some students even smile. Melba is excited about French class because Mother Lois speaks French fluently, so Melba understands the language. The students talk about suntanning and one student talks about not wanting to get too dark out of fear of “being taken for a nigger.” Things do not get better in study hall where the teacher does not allow Melba to sit where Danny can see her and the students harass her. Suddenly, a helicopter lands and Melba knows that it is time to go home. Protected by the Screaming Eagles helicopter, Melba walks to the army staff car waiting at the curb.

When Sarge asks the Little Rock Nine about their day, it is the beginning of “a funny round-robin” to see who can give the most colorful description of their day. Usually the stories bring joyful relief, but all laughter halts when someone’s eyes fill with tears. Sarge takes them to Daisy Bates’s home where reporters await. The reporters bombard the students with questions about what it is like inside of the school and how they are treated. One reporter asks Melba if she would like to be white. Without missing a beat, Melba asks if the reporter would like to be “Negro” and goes on to say that she is proud of what she is. Though her color is currently inconvenient, that will not always be the case.

Stan Opotowiski of the New York Post asks Melba if she can write as well as she speaks and offers her an opportunity to write what she is thinking for the paper. Melba thinks she should do it because if not for the “nosy persistence” of Northern reporters, the story of the Little Rock Nine and their demise would have been no more than “a three-line notation buried on the back page of a white newspaper.”

The Little Rock Nine are then whisked off to Dunbar Community Center where they answer more questions in a more formal setting. When Melba arrives home, there are still more reporters on her front porch. Some of them talk to her neighbors. She thinks that she cannot face them, but she does and conducts more interviews. By 9:00 PM, she is exhausted. She wakes up to an alarm radio playing Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue.” That morning, Melba writes in her diary that she knows that Danny is not exactly a bodyguard for her but is there to protect federal power. Still, if not for him, she would hear more of those voices calling her a “nigger” and telling her that she has no right to live. So, she is grateful.