Chapter 35 Summary & Analysis: The Sawmill Scheme

⚠️ Spoiler Notice

This page contains unspoiled discussion of Chapter 35 of Percival Everett’s James. If you haven’t read through this chapter yet, proceed with care.

Summary

Jim and Norman, still on the run, approach a general store where an old woman churns butter and a towering white woman sells potatoes and biscuits for a penny apiece. Norman buys a potato; Jim stops him from taking a bite, knowing raw nightshade will sicken him. They move to the woods, roast the potato over a small fire, and share the meager meal. Jim thinks about Henderson, the sawmill operator, as a potential buyer. He instructs Norman to sell him under the name February, claiming he was born in June—a ruse to feed white stereotypes of Black foolishness. Jim hands his notebook to Norman for safekeeping and they agree to reunite at the same spot in two days.

At the mill, Norman introduces himself as Brown and presents Jim to Henderson. The white man inspects Jim’s hands, asks startlingly whether Jim minds being sold, and haggles the price down from five hundred dollars to three hundred and fifty. Accepting the deal, Henderson orders a boy named Luke to take February to the pit saw. Jim throws a final look at a visibly frightened Norman before walking into the yard.

Key Events

At the store porch, Norman buys a potato for a penny; Jim stops him from eating it raw and insists on cooking it because it is a nightshade.
While resting, Jim writes in his notebook; they discuss Emmett’s minstrel songs and the idea of burning the pages.
Jim conceives the plan for Norman to sell him to a sawmill owner named Henderson, using the alias “February … born in June.”
Jim gives the notebook to Norman for protection, and they set a two-day rendezvous in the woods.
At the sawmill, Jim performs as the submissive, simple-minded slave, enduring Henderson’s inspection and a strange question about his feelings toward being sold.
Norman bargains and sells Jim for $350; Jim is led away to work the pit saw, exchanging a final anxious look with Norman.

Character Development

Jim demonstrates his strategic mind by choosing an alias that weaponizes racist assumptions, protecting his true identity. He surrenders his notebook—his intellectual sanctuary—to Norman, showing deep trust and prioritizing their survival over his personal record. He models caution when he stops Norman from eating the raw potato, reinforcing his role as protector and teacher even under duress.

Norman steps into a high-risk performance of his own, calling himself Brown and haggling with Henderson. His nervousness is palpable, yet he holds the line on price and maintains the fiction. His fear after the sale reveals how much he relies on Jim’s steadiness.

Henderson embodies the casual dehumanization of the slave economy. His question, “How do you feel ’bout yo massa sellin’ ya?” suggests a flicker of curiosity that never translates into empathy; he values Jim only as labor, checking for all ten fingers and calluses before buying.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Performance and Double Consciousness: Jim’s embrace of “February” is a deliberate act of minstrelsy, playing the dim-witted Black man to manipulate white expectations. The briefest eye contact from the churning woman hints that not all white bystanders are blind to the performance, but the moment vanishes.
Knowledge and Preservation: The notebook reappears as a token of literacy and self-possession. Jim considers destroying Emmett’s songs but decides against it, concluding that erasing the paper won’t erase the reality—knowledge, even painful knowledge, needs to be known.
Scarcity and Survival: The single potato, the haggling over a human being, and the open-pit saw’s maimed workers underscore a world where bodies are commodities and sustenance must be wrenched from meager resources.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 35 crystallizes the pair’s escape strategy: Jim volunteers to be sold to generate cash and buy time, a dangerous gambit that moves them deeper into white-controlled spaces. The chapter tests Norman’s nerve and Jim’s ability to keep his mask in place while his freedom hangs by the thinnest thread. The handoff of the notebook signals that Jim’s inner life is being split from his physical self, a sacrifice that raises the stakes for everything that follows.

Study Questions and Answers

Why does Jim insist on cooking the potato before eating it?
He knows that raw potato is a nightshade and can cause severe illness. This moment shows Jim’s practical wisdom and his care for Norman even when both are starving. It also echoes a larger theme of patience: short-term hunger is better than a longer catastrophe.
What does Jim’s alias “February, born in June” reveal about his strategy?
The name is designed to sound foolish and illogical to white ears, playing into the stereotype that enslaved people are too simple to even know their birth months. It lets Jim disappear into a racist caricature, making Henderson less likely to question his identity or suspect he is the runaway Jim.
How does the notebook function in this chapter?
The notebook represents Jim’s autonomy of mind. By discussing whether to destroy Emmett’s lyrics and then handing the notebook to Norman, Jim shows he values preserving the record and trusts Norman with his most intimate possession. It separates his intellectual self from the body that is about to be sold.