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
Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand by Henry Cadwallader Aams
A young man travels to South Africa to find his Mother and sister. He wants to be a clergyman and a farmer when he arrives there. This story includes...
The Forged Note: A Romance of the Darker Races by Oscar Micheaux
It tells a captivating story about the complex issues of race and class in early 20th-century America. Published in 1935, "The Forged Note" centers a...
Porgy by DuBose Heyward
The novel tells the story of Porgy, a crippled street beggar living in the black tenements of Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1920s. The character...
The Village in the Jungle by Leonard Woolf
The Village in the Jungle is a novel by Leonard Woolf, published in 1913, based on his experiences as a colonial civil servant in British-controlled C...
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...
Over the Hills and Far Away: A Story of New Zealand by Charlotte Evans
A young woman leaves her home in England to start a new life in New Zealand, but she soon finds that the journey is more than she bargained for. Syno...
The Junior Classics Volume 3: Tales from Greece and Rome by William Patten
The purpose of The Junior Classics is to provide, in ten volumes containing about five thousand pages, a classified collection of tales, stories, and...
Gleanings in Buddha Fields by Lafcadio Hearn
"A journey into the soul of Japan through the lens of Buddhism." In a land of ancient temples and sacred texts, a writer seeks to understand the esse...
Bob Bowen Comes To Town by H. Bedford-Jones
It follows the titular character, Bob Bowen, a daring adventurer who arrives in a small western town to investigate a string of mysterious crimes. Alo...
The Black Candle by Emily Murphy
This is a groundbreaking book that shines a light on the interconnected issues of drug addiction and prostitution, unearthing the societal perils that...
Reviews for The Marrow of Tradition
No reviews posted or approved, yet...