Leanna Jackson March 1, 2012 The Marrow of Tradition

In the novel, The Marrow Of Tradition, Charles W. Chestnutt describes the south after reconstruction. The novel is structured around the Wilmington North Carolina race riot of 1898. Chestnutt felt the need to make the public aware of the racial violence and lynchings. The south had become brutal and unrestrained at the end of reconstruction and a public delirium that supported brutality against the African American population. On the contrary, this hysteria was more than a southern problem. Northern press outlets lied and exaggerated about the African Americans. They described the blacks as barbaric and unruly. Throughout The Marrow Of Tradition, Charles reveals the conditions and point of views during the late 1800s. Chestnutt wanted his novel to show readers how forms of racial violence was vindicated and glamorized publicly. Chestnutt discusses lynching, the relationships between the servants and their masters, and the mixed race. Lynching was used amongst the whites to execute racial morality. White supremacist saw lynching as a form of compensation if a crime was committed. The editorial article that General Belmont read stated,The article...denied that most lynchings were for the offense most generally charged as their justification, and declared that, even as those seemingly traced to this cause, many were not for crimes at all, but for voluntary acts which might naturally be expected to follow from the miscegenation laws by which it was sought...and, for the purpose of maintaining a fanciful purity of race....(85) This quote tells the readers that a definite crime did not have to be committed but an accusation made by the white society. For example, Sandy was arrested for a false rape and a death that was perceived as murder. Sandy was almost lynched because of these accusations against him. Chestnutt reasons that lynching is reinforce suppression and enslavement of the

Leanna Jackson March 1, 2012 African American race, however, slavery ended during the civil war. Therefore, authorizing lynching the people impaired their own regulations and self-governing process of equity. The author stated, The Southern tendency to charge the negroes with all the crime and immorality of that region, unjust and exaggerated as the claim may be, was therefore not without a logical basis to the extent above indicated. It must not be imagined that any logic was needed, or any reasoning consciously worked out. The mere suggestion that the crime had been committed by a negro was equivalent to proof against any negro that might be suspected and could not prove his innocence.(179) According to the quote above all in order for a negro to be charged with a crime, regardless if he committed the crime or not was an imputation. If the negro could not prove his innocence he was guilty as charged, in that time, it was hard for a negro to defend his integrity. The norms of the white society were to blame the negroes if a deviant act occurred that disrupted the norms of society. Chestnutts novel illustrates the relationship between the servants and their masters as somewhat equal but restrained. Black servants were allowed in the house to fulfill their duties and take care of the home. The servants even played major roles in the children they looked after. The link between the family and the servant often became sturdy and long lasting. For both the servant and the family an ancestral bond formed yet, the bond remained limited because of racial ethnicity. For instance, Mammy Jane was a faithful and loyal servant of the Carteret family. She had nursed Olivia, Olivias mother, and Olivias child after the child was conceived. Mammy Jane states An hyuh I is, anhyuh Im gwine ter stay. Fer MisLivy is my ole mistesss daughter, an my ole mistess wuz good ter me, andey ain none er her folks gwine ter suffer ef ole Jane kin hep it.(34) This shows the dedication and loyalty Mammy Jane had for the family she had cared for so long.Mammy Jane considers the Cateret family and is willing to go to her wits end for the family,

Leanna Jackson March 1, 2012 despite the racial difference between them. On the other hand, the reader might find this a bit inconsistent with the segregation laws. The reader might feel as though the laws of segregation were magnanimous as long as the servant followed the rules of the white ruling class. Chestnut statesLooking at these two men with the American eye, the differences would perhaps be the more striking, or at least the more immediately apparent, for the first was white and the second black, or, more correctly speaking, brown...but both his swarthy complexion and his curly hair revealed what has been described in the laws of some of our states as a visible admixture of African blood.(49) Chestnutt examines the difficulties of the mixed race in the south. According, to Chestnutt being of mixed race had the same consequences as being colored, the character Janet Miller proves this point in the novel The Marrow Of Tradition. Janet was amongst the mixed race but had to comply with the rules of segregation. Janet is also the sister of Olivia, who is white. Olivia knows Janet is her sister but does not see her as an equal. Although they should be treated the same society makes it impossible. Forcing the two sisters to live in two different worlds, which leads one to face unfair criticism by the society they both live in. Janet is not welcomed by the society she lives in because she is considered impure, even though, she shares the same blood as her sister Olivia. The Marrow of Tradition, is a novel that tells of the hardship and unfair treatment of the African American race. As a result, the blacks were limited to obtaining the same goals and resources provided by society because of their ethnicity. Regardless of how committed and loyal the blacks remained to the white families it did not save them from horrible deaths and numerous incriminations by the white society. This novel proved that even if African Americans had whit blood running through their veins, they were not omitted from the chastisement of the white supremacy.

Leanna Jackson March 1, 2012