The Marrow of Tradition
' The Marrow of Tradition' Summary
Set in the fictional town of Wellington, The Marrow of Tradition features several interweaving plots that encompass the poles of the racially segregated society of the American South at the turn of the century. One plot follows Major Carteret, the white owner of the major Wellington newspaper, as he colludes with several other powerful white men to take political control of the town. They are outraged about a provocative editorial published in a black paper that questioned white justifications for lynchings. As the town’s unrest intensifies, Carteret faces domestic pressures; his only child Dodie and wife Olivia are both unwell. Carteret’s niece Clara, recently introduced to society, is courted by the young Tom Delamere, a handsome and conniving aristocrat who spends most evenings nurturing his penchant for drink and cards. His habits are contrasted with those of Lee Ellis, a rival for Clara, and William Miller, a young black physician who with his wife has returned to his hometown of Wellington to practice medicine. He gained his medical education in Paris and Vienna. Though jarred by segregation and Jim Crow racism, Miller sets up his practice and starts his life. Miller's wife, Janet, is the biracial half-sister of Mrs. Olivia Carteret; Janet spends her entire life hoping to be acknowledged by her white sister, who is too proud to accept her father's miscegenation after her mother died. Josh Green as a boy witnessed the murder of his father at the hands of a white man—a character named Captain McBane—and is intent on exacting revenge.
All these subplots are forced to a crisis through two events: the murder of a white woman, Polly Ochiltree, for which a black servant, Sandy Campbell, is accused, and county elections. Campbell would have been lynched and burned without a trial if it weren't for Miller alerting his boss, the grandfather of the actual murderer, Tom Delamere. Old Mr. Delamere and Lee Ellis discover the truth and save Sandy's life, but Tom is never apprehended for his crime. A few months later, on the eve of the elections Major Carteret, Captain McBain, and one General Belmont conspired to incite a "revolution," overthrowing the Republican party from power and keeping blacks from participating in the elections. They published inflammatory statements in the Morning Chronicle and the revolution quickly became a riot which engulfed the town.
The novel culminates with justice for some—the faithful servant Campbell is saved by his patron, Delamere falls from grace, Josh Green avenges his father's death albeit at the cost of his own life, and Janet Miller gains recognition from her sister, who, along with Major Carteret, was humbled to respect the black Miller family in order to save an ailing Dodie.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1901Author
Charles Chesnutt
United States
Charles Waddell Chesnutt was an African-American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in...
More on Charles ChesnuttDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
Alice in Wonderland (Dramatization) by Lewis Carroll
A young girl named Alice falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as an example of the literary nons...
Last Days of Pompeii by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
The Last Days of Pompeii, a novel by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton tells the love story of the Greeks Glaucus and Ione who were living in Pompeii when M...
Adam Bede by George Eliot
Adam Bede was the first novel by Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), and was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a we...
Kipps by H. G. Wells
Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul is a novel by H. G. Wells, first published in 1905. Humorous yet sympathetic, the perceptive social novel is general...
The Turnpike House by Fergus Hume
This is a captivating mystery novel that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. A renowned author known for his detective stories, this book is a m...
William, An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton
The novel explores the effect of the First World War on a married couple during the rise of Socialism and the Suffragette movement. It was originally...
The Valley of the Squinting Windows by Brinsley MacNamara
The Valley of the Squinting Shadows was the author's first novel and proved controversial. In it, he tells a realistic tale of life in a small Irish t...
Mary: A Fiction by Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary: A Fiction is the only complete novel by 18th-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. It tells the tragic story of a female's successive "r...
Kopal-Kundala by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
The novel is set in rural Bengal and explores themes of love, desire, and social class. It also touches on issues such as gender roles and the caste s...
The Junior Classics Volume 7: Stories of Courage and Heroism by William Patten
The stories in this volume are true stories, and have been arranged in chronological order, an arrangement that will aid the reader to remember the ti...
Reviews for The Marrow of Tradition
No reviews posted or approved, yet...