The Human Stain

Coleman goes to visit his lawyer, Nelson Primus, to see if there is any possible legal action he can take against Lester. Nelson urges Coleman to end the affair with Faunia, insisting “something much worse” (80) than Farley’s trespassing will come of it. Coleman leaves Nelson, telling him, “I never again want to hear that self-admiring voice of yours or see your smug fucking lily-white face” (81).

Next, Coleman visits Athena College and reminisces about his African American childhood in East Orange, New Jersey. Coleman recalls starting to take boxing classes and keeping it a secret from his family. When they find out, at first his father refuses to let Coleman “Silky Silk” continue boxing. But then Coleman’s father changes his mind and insists he learn from Doc Chizner, a former dentist who teaches Jewish boys from upper-class families how to fight. Traveling with Doc Chizner to a fight at West Point, Doc tells Coleman not to mention that he is Black: “If nothing comes up, you don’t bring it up” (98).

At his father’s insistence, Coleman attends Howard University in Washington, D.C. It is his first experience in the segregated South, and he struggles.