46 pages • 1 hour read
Charles W. ChesnuttThe Marrow of Tradition
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1901A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 12-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 12 Summary: “Another Southern Product”
Dr. Miller receives a visit from Josh Green, the same man he saw on the train. Josh was in a fight and has a broken arm. He tells Dr. Miller that he “expect’s ter die a vi’lent death in a quarrel wid a w’ite man” (72). Dr. Miller contemplates that he is willing to give up his life for a cause (i.e., to devote his life to serving his community) but asks himself if he would also die for it. Knowing Josh means McBane (McBane killed Josh’s father in front of Josh’s mother), he counsels forgiveness, but Josh reminds him that forgiveness between Black and white Americans is “one-sided.”
Chapter 13 Summary: “The Cakewalk”
A group of Northerners comes to Wellington to learn about the “problem” of the town’s Black population. The hotel holds a cakewalk for their entertainment. Tom hears of the plan and is “struck with a brilliant idea” (77). Ellis attends the cakewalk and finds that one of the participants’ “grotesque contortions” seem overdone and even unreal—and he recognizes that participant as Sandy Campbell. It is implied that this cakewalker is Tom in Blackface as his grandfather’s servant. Nevertheless, there are serious results for Sandy: His church charges him with unchristian conduct, and although he denies it vehemently, he is suspended from fellowship until he repents and confesses. He refuses to confess but falls into bad habits: In particular, Tom encourages him to drink away his troubles.
Chapter 14 Summary: “The Maunderings of Old Mrs. Ochiltree”
In old age, Mrs. Ochiltree is experiencing cognitive changes. After recovering from Dodie’s accident, Olivia visits her. Together, they take a carriage ride, where Mrs. Ochiltree mistakes Dr. Miller’s new hospital for Mr. Poindexter’s house. Learning that Mr. Poindexter sold his house, Mrs. Ochiltree proclaims that she must find a suitable heir—hopefully Dodie—as Tom cannot be trusted. They also pass Janet. Mrs. Ochiltree tells Olivia that she “saved the property for [Olivia] and her son” (84), implying that it otherwise would have gone to Janet. Finally, passing old Mr. Delamere and Sandy, she proclaims that she will outlive her former beau.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Mrs. Carteret Seeks an Explanation”
Olivia asks Mrs. Ochiltree to explain her earlier comments. Mrs. Ochiltree reveals that she went to Mr. Merkell’s bedroom just before his death: There, she heard him proclaim his love for Julia and urged her to get the papers from his study directly after his death. Mrs. Ochiltree hid and retrieved the papers herself. From them, she learned that he had married Julia. When Julia searched for the papers a few moments later, Mrs. Ochiltree revealed herself and mocked her, telling her that “not one person in Wellington would believe it” (89), especially without proof. She accused Julia of stealing a watch and money and cast her out of the estate. After hearing the tale, Olivia asks if she still has the papers, but Mrs. Ochiltree is no longer responsive.
Chapters 12-15 Analysis
These chapters include several examples of white Southerners seeking their own ends with disregard for the Black lives they ruin in the process. Tom Delamere borrows Sandy’s clothes and participates as “Sandy” in the cakewalk (foreshadowing how he will later frame Sandy for murder). He completely lacks remorse when Sandy is chastised by his church. In fact, when Sandy laments his punishment, Tom gives him alcohol, thus causing him to slip further away from his Methodist ideals. Olivia learns that her aunt, Mrs. Ochiltree, hid evidence that would have given legitimacy to her father’s relationship with Julia as well as provided for Janet’s upkeep. Because Mrs. Ochiltree is experiencing age-related cognitive changes, Olivia half doubts these revelations. McBane has committed similar, albeit more violent, acts. Previous chapters explain that he lost his eye when trying to whip a Black man. He was also the head of a Ku Klux Klan chapter. He killed Josh’s father in front of Josh’s mother, causing her to experience a break from reality. His actions have had long-lasting effects well beyond the death of a single man.
The juxtaposition of these various actions underscores the theme of The “Poetry” of Racism Versus the Reality of Racism. Where McBane wields violence to enforce white supremacy, other characters deploy subtler methods, including Tom’s weaponization of racist stereotypes and Mrs. Ochiltree’s manipulation of inheritance law. In each case, however, the effect is to ensure Black Americans remain in a subordinate position, whether by cowing them with terroristic violence or by limiting their access to generational wealth.
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By Charles W. Chesnutt
