The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

In February of Junior year, Robert goes to speak with the master of Pierson College. The meeting is short, with the master telling Robert that he’s destroying his potential by selling drugs. Robert doesn’t deny anything, and says, “I’m sorry.” Robert realizes that the Yale administration isn’t going to discipline him for selling drugs—as he tells Oswaldo, “It looks bad for the university if someone like me goes down like that.” Soon afterwards, Oswaldo has a nervous breakdown.

At the end of his junior year, Robert begins receiving mysterious emails that say things like, “We are watching you.” Robert has been tapped for Elihu, a Yale secret society. As part of the initiation process, Robert has to memorize chants and drink obscene amounts of alcohol. After being confirmed, Robert has to pay one hundred dollars in membership dues. When his check bounces, Laurel Bachner, the wealthy, white head of Elihu is on the verge of paying Robert’s dues instead of confronting him. But Robert gives her the check, explaining that the bank changed his account number. At the initiation party, Robert gets very drunk and loud. This displeases Oswaldo, who worries that minority students at Yale are just reinforcing the stereotypes about them—“that they get stoned all the time, dress like thugs,” get angry, etc.

In September 2001, senior year begins. Jeff vividly remembers sitting in his dorm room with Ty and Robert, watching the collapse of the Twin Towers. Robert spends the evening at Anwar Reed’s house. Anwar Reed lives in a dangerous part of New Haven, and he sells drugs. Following 9/11 and the heightened security on the Yale campus, Robert becomes more cautious with dealing drugs.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Jeff recalls, many Yale students dive deeper into hedonism. One night, Jeff and Robert drive north to go to a casino. Robert plays blackjack late into the night. In November of senior year, Robert convinces Jeff to smoke marijuana for the first time. He tells Jeff that the weed is “on the house”—but he says it in a way that makes it clear that “this would be the last freebie.”

As senior year goes on, science majors prepare to take the MCAT. Surprisingly, Robert says he won’t be taking the test. Unbeknownst to Jeff, Robert has netted over $100,000 selling marijuana. Meanwhile, Jeff develops an ambition to become a writer, and completes a (terrible) novel.

One night, Jeff and Robert talk about their futures. Jeff plucks up the courage to ask Robert about his father, and Robert claims that he doesn’t really think about his father at all.

As spring rolls around, Jeff and Ty realize that they’ve never seen Robert play water polo, even though he’s captain of his team. The two roommates attend one of Robert’s games, and they’re amazed with his energy and grace, and the way he yells at the opposing players to intimidate them.

Robert prepares for the defining ritual of the Elihu society—the “bio.” All senior members of the society are required to tell the story of their lives to their fellow members. To everyone’s surprise, Robert—usually pretty quiet in Elihu meetings—delivers a four-hour bio in which he talks about his father. He says Skeet was the victim of a system designed to persecute black men, and concludes, “the white establishment would always keep the common black man down in order to cover their own asses.” That night, Arthur Turpin, a wealthy white student in Elihu who gets along well with Robert, sees for the first time how much anger Robert is guarding.

Jeff isn’t sure what Robert plans to do following graduation. He visits Robert in East Orange in the spring. Jeff is nervous about being, quite literally, the only white person in the neighborhood, but everyone is very friendly. Jeff and Robert attend a cookout, and Jeff experiences a degree of warmth from Robert’s friends and family that he’s “never experienced in my own WASP upbringing.” Jeff also notices that the only person who doesn’t seem overjoyed with Robert’s accomplishments is Jackie.

Yale graduation is a two-day process, during which Robert smokes a lot of marijuana. After the speeches, Robert takes Jackie to a cocktail party at the Elihu house. The final event of the graduation season is the diploma ceremony. When Robert accepts his diploma, he makes a brief speech, as is the custom, in which he dedicates the moment to “my motivation and heart, my mother.”

The next morning, after a night of partying, Jeff wakes up and packs his things. Robert isn’t in his dorm, so Jeff leaves without saying goodbye. Jeff reasons that he and Robert will see each other again soon—“There would always be time.”