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Summary Of Charles Chesnutt's Marrow Of Tradition

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Marrow of Tradition by Charles Chesnutt dates back to 1901 after the Civil War. One of the main themes within the book the readers are exposed to has to deal with postbellum and antebellum issues. Antebellum and postbellum issues within Marrow of Tradition are similar even though the 13th amendment was established after the Civil War, there were still people of color who were owned by whites. The book starts off introducing multiple main characters such as Olivia Carteret and Major Carteret who are married, Mr. Delamere and Tom Delamere who is his grandson. These characters are extremely relevant to the book, because of their individual perspectives on people of color after the civil war. Within the first few chapters, it becomes clear that …show more content…

Charles Chesnutt chooses to title the book Marrow of Tradition because he wanted to say tradition, which in the book is slavery is something that is permanent, like how a marrow is a permanent in our body. That is the reason why Chesnutt titles the book Marrow of Tradition. Rather than saying something like “Permanent Slavery”, Chesnutt chose to instill a deeper meaning into the title. Charles Chesnutt believed many people still had the same mentality before and after the Civil War. That exact mentality of viewing blacks as less and believing they should be obedient to whites is what Chesnutt wanted the readers to understand would never change. There are also more characters other than Carteret who are also against black people. In chapter 21, McBane makes a statement regarding making an example of Sandy, who was accused of killing Mrs. Ochiltree. “Burn the nigger," reiterated McBane. "We seem to have the right nigger, but whether we have or not, burn a nigger. It is an assault upon the white race, in the person of old Mrs. Ochiltree, committed by the black race, in the person of some nigger” (1901, P. 182). McBane does not care whether or not Sandy was the actual person who killed Mrs. Ochiltree he just wanted to set an example by saying blacks cannot mess with the lives of whites. This shows the postbellum of lynching still being an illegal act of punishment brought upon

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