The Marrow of Tradition

Dr. Miller receives a visit from Josh Green, the same man he saw on the train. Josh was in a fight and has a broken arm. He tells Dr. Miller that he “expect’s ter die a vi’lent death in a quarrel wid a w’ite man” (72). Dr. Miller contemplates that he is willing to give up his life for a cause (i.e., to devote his life to serving his community) but asks himself if he would also die for it. Knowing Josh means McBane (McBane killed Josh’s father in front of Josh’s mother), he counsels forgiveness, but Josh reminds him that forgiveness between Black and white Americans is “one-sided.”

A group of Northerners comes to Wellington to learn about the “problem” of the town’s Black population. The hotel holds a cakewalk for their entertainment. Tom hears of the plan and is “struck with a brilliant idea” (77). Ellis attends the cakewalk and finds that one of the participants’ “grotesque contortions” seem overdone and even unreal—and he recognizes that participant as Sandy Campbell. It is implied that this cakewalker is Tom in Blackface as his grandfather’s servant. Nevertheless, there are serious results for Sandy: His church charges him with unchristian conduct, and although he denies it vehemently, he is suspended from fellowship until he repents and confesses.