Analysis Of Charles Chesnutt's The Marrow Of Tradition

Charles Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition, is one of the first novels to discuss racial tension in the Post-Civil War South. Even after the abolition of slavery, white citizens like Major Carteret, General Belmont, and Captain McBane will stop at nothing to maintain the superiority of the white race. Through the novel, Chesnutt closely juxtaposes certain characters, especially of the white and black race to express that the two peoples may not be as different as one would think. For the white’s perspective, they are horrified with threat that the black race is rising in social and economic power. Characters like Janet and Olivia, McBane and Josh Green, and Polly Ochiltree and Julia are all paired together by Chesnutt to express that when one

Green is a typical African American laborer who made it his life mission to get revenge on the KKK member who killed his father. Despite his money, Captain McBane was a white citizen with no class. Charles Chesnutt described McBane as a seen with a “coat [that] had not been brushed for several days...” and it had a “accumulation of dandruff upon the collar” (20). Captain McBane was never treated with respect from other whites in the town because of his lack of class. McBane was a lowly citizen who brought a bad reputation to the white race. In a similar way, Josh Green was an African American without much class. He often got into encounters with the white men, and he did not have much education. There are many similarities between the two bad-tempered, but the most blaring of them is their hate for the opposite race. McBane never made an attempt to be diplomat and he needed to assert his superiority of the black race in any mean possible. After a black man is accused of a crime, McBane says “Burn the n*gger… We seem to have the right one but burn a n*gger” (119). McBane 's speech exemplifies his behavior towards blacks. He cares little about whether or not justice is served. All he cares about is the degradation of the black race. Josh’s quest to kill McBane— the man who killed his father— and McBane’s hate of the black race eventually clash in a dramatic ending where Josh Green kills McBane during the race riot. Josh Green’s vengeful quest blocked his vision to all of the similarities between him and McBane. Just like a person looking in a mirror, when Josh Green sees McBane he does not see all the