The Marrow of Tradition (Penguin Classics)
by Charles W. Chesnutt

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Book Reviews of The Marrow of Tradition (Penguin Classics)

Book Review: An Astounding American Novel
Summary: 5 Stars

"The Marrow of Tradition" begins with multiple anxities - Major Carteret, a former Southern Civil War officer, whose family was nearly ruined as a result of the war, is in the process of rebuilding his family and his fortunes. Having founded a newspaper, 'The Morning Chronicle,' his fortunes seem to be on the rise. However, he envisions threats on every side - personally, the precarious life of his new born son constantly threatens to end his family line; politically, since the passage of the 15th Amendment, the black population of his hometown, Wellington, is increasingly subjecting his pride to the 'insult' of an 'inferior' race in positions of authority and influence. For the black population of Wellington, threats to their growing power are just as palpable - Carteret and his cronies (particularly General Belmont and 'Captain' McBane) are building up a 'white supremacy' movement; social relations between blacks and whites have the veneer of restraint, with explosive rage always bristling beneath the surface on both sides of the 'color line.' For black people like Sandy Campbell and Jane Letlow, in service to white families since before the war, investment in 'status quo antebellum' is a way of life. Others like Jerry Letlow and Josh Green represent absolute differences in opinion in their relations with the whites. For mixed-race individuals like Dr. William Miller and his wife Janet, social acceptance, respectability, and mobility seem possible. Miller's decision to build a hospital in Wellington is predicated on the hope that he might be a cornerstone for the up-and-coming black community.

With a complex set of relations like this in place, the novel quickly draws us in. Carteret's determination in setting up a 'white supremacy' movement meets with various successes and failures, as he uses his newspaper to sow seeds of discontent among the white population, which is actually outnumbered in Wellington, two to one. An editorial from a black newspaper, against the extra-judicial practices of lynch mobs enrages Carteret and his group. A key relationship in the novel, between an old Southern aristocrat, John Delamere, his profligate grandson, Tom, and their longtime family servant, Sandy Campbell, sets the stage for heightened racial tensions, when Sandy is accused of murdering an elderly white woman, Polly Ochiltree, who is related to the Carterets.

Chesnutt does a phenomenal job of juxtaposing the systems by which each individual and each group and sub-group in the novel deals with the realities of life in a post-Reconstruction southern town. From simple subsisting to aggressive attempts at change, from local traditions of hexcraft to public manipulation through the press, from defensive postures to mob mentality, from legislation to extra-legal action, from duties to the community to the duties owed to one's own family, Chesnutt presents his readers with a wide variety of strategies open to his characters. With a narrative voice which believes decisively in "Fate," the novel tries to illustrate the legacy of slavery, and the almost inevitable mess that comes about when stationary, progressive, and regressive mindsets clash on a public level.

One of Chesnutt's major achievements is in never wholly giving way to group mentalities or broad generalizations with regard to the actors in this drama. Stereotypes are as soon dismissed as acknowledged. He clearly allows for and presents differences in opinion on the level of the individual - Josh Green's self-proclaimed mission of vengeance against white people is as deeply felt as Jerry Letlow's wishes to become white. Even within the 'white supremacy' Big Three, Careteret, Belmont, and McBane express radically different approaches to gaining what they imagine to be a common goal. White characters like Philadelphia surgeon, Dr. Burns, and Wellington newspaper man, Lee Ellis, are as inclusionary and accepting of black citizens and their aspirations as their respective social positions will allow them to be. There is a lot more going on in "The Marrow of Tradition" than I have pointed to here. Professor Eric Sundquist's introduction does an excellent job of setting up the historical, political, and biographical contexts involved in the novel. Overall, this is an extremely rich novel and very much worth reading.

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