40 pages 1 hour read

Charles W. Chesnutt

The Marrow of Tradition

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1901

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Chapters 20-23

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 20 Summary: “A Shocking Crime”

The next morning, Mrs. Ochiltree’s cook Dinah finds her mistress murdered. Before the police arrive, Olivia arrives and goes through her belongings searching for the papers that would give Janet the Carteret home. As news gets out, “[s]uspicion was at once directed toward the negroes, as it always is when an unexplained crime is committed in a Southern community” (116). The black population goes into hiding, knowing that a lynching is likely to take place. 

Chapter 21 Summary: “The Necessity of an Example”

After Mrs. Ochiltree’s murder, McBane, Belmont, and Carteret meet to strategize. Jerry has identified Sandy as the murderer, and they know a lynch is already near-inevitable: the crime is “a fatal assault upon a woman of [their] race” (119). McBane believes Sandy should be burned alive. Belmont councils him not to intervene directly, and urges Carteret to put out a special edition of the paper detailing the crime and hinting that it is necessary for “drastic efforts to protect the white women” (121). 

Chapter 22 Summary: “How Not to Prevent a Lynching”

Josh tells Dr. Miller that he was with Sandy the night before—there was no way Sandy could have committed the crime. Together with Mr. Watson, the town’s black lawyer, they discuss the injustice of lynching. Miller is determined to act, but Dr.