Chapter 7 and 8

"One of them she called Dr. Discipline; the other she called Professor Medicine."

"Even though these kids were unfortunate enough to be born on Yamacraw Island, it will take you and a team of varsity scholars to convince me they don't deserve the same quality of education received by children in Beaufort itself."

I am not sure how Mrs. Brown expected the children to respect her when she treated them so disrespectfully. The incident in the restroom when Prophet was hanging from the urinal shows that Mrs. Brown had no regard to how the children felt by embarrassment. Mrs. Brown seems to be a tough lady that is scared of not having the control with the children. My attention in this chapter is focused on how Mrs. Brown has responded to the children. "One of them she called Dr. Discipline; the other she called Professor Medicine," this was Mrs. Brown's way of dealing with any situation. She was not respected by the children, they fear her. Even the people on the island felt that Mrs. Brown was a mean and hateful lady. However, Mrs. Brown saw the island people as savages and filthy. Mr. Conroy is different than Mrs. Brown and the children respect him. In the eighth chapter, it is written that Conroy had grown closer to his students. The children would anxiously await Conroy's arrival every morning. When they saw him coming, Fred would put logs in the stove. Conroy would come in and get all warmed up by the stove. One day when Conroy arrived at the dock, he slipped and fell into the water. Even though some of the children felt it was funny, it was clear that they loved Conroy.  I feel that Mr. Conroy was a threat to Mrs. Brown. Mr. Conroy was so convinced that the children deserved more than what they were receiving. One thing that caught my eye in this chapter was the letter Conroy wrote to Mr. Piedmont. "Even though these kids were unfortunate enough to be born on Yamacraw Island, it will take you and a team of varsity scholars to convince me they don't deserve the same quality of education received by children in Beaufort itself." (p.211) The children had respect for Conroy because Conroy had respect for them unlike Mr. Discipline and Professor Medicine.