The elder McCallums talk of not taking anything from anyone but giving freely and of their refusal to accept crop subsidies. Their circumvention of being rewarded for no service lies in direct opposition to the opinion expressed earlier by Pearson.
Pearson muses about the local situation and his contempt for those living on public welfare. Pearson also encounters the McCallum's uncle and father, agricultural laborers and, in the case of the father, a World War I veteran.