Summary Of The Doll By Charles Chesnutt

In the short story “The Doll” by Charles Chesnutt, Chesnutt makes the barber human by having him act on his feelings of compassion for others instead of succumbing to his long desire to kill the colonel who killed his father. The majority of the story takes place in a hotel barber shop where African American barbers work. One of these barbers, named Tom Taylor, ends up giving a shave to Colonel Forsyth. Throughout the story, it is slowly revealed that Colonel Forsyth is in fact the man who killed Tom’s father. This knowledge awakens in Tom his hatred for this man and his urge to kill or maim him with the straight razor. At the end of the story, Tom decides not to injure or kill the colonel out of the compassion he feels for others and how his action would impact their lives. Tom’s compassion for his

His own father had died in defense of his daughter; he must live to protect his own.” This quote clearly shows that Tom cares for his daughter and puts her best interest over what he wants. It also highlights that Tom lost his own father when he choose to defend his daughter and thus fully understands the pain his daughter would feel if he was taken from her. But it was more than just his compassion for his daughter that prevented him from killing the colonel. It is also clear that Tom is concerned about the impact of his actions on his fellow African American barbers in the quote, “Of the ten barbers in the shop all but one were married, with families dependent upon them for support. One was sending a son to college; another was buying a home. The unmarried one was in his spare hours studying a profession, with the hope of returning to practice it among his people in a Southern State. Their fates were all, in a measure, dependent upon the proprietor of the shop.” This quote shows that Tom begins to think about the other barbers as well and how his action could ruin their hopes and