Clotel · Chapter
The Mystery explained
George Green, now free in Canada, labors to earn money to rescue Mary from slavery.
What happens
George Green, now free in Canada, labors to earn money to rescue Mary from slavery. He hires an English missionary to purchase her, but learns she was sold to a New Orleans slave trader for aiding his escape. Losing hope, George emigrates to England, works as a porter, studies at night, becomes a clerk and then a partner in a firm. Ten years later, while visiting a graveyard in Dunkirk, he encounters a mysterious lady who faints at the sight of him, accompanied by an elderly gentleman who dismisses him. Returning for a forgotten book, he finds only her bouquet. The next morning, he receives a dinner invitation from J. Devenant, deepening the mystery.
Themes in this chapter
Heroism and Resistance
George's persistent efforts to rescue Mary and his self-improvement through education exemplify resistance against the constraints of slavery.
Tragedy of the Tragic Mulatta
Mary's fate—sold away for aiding George—reflects the tragic dispossession faced by mixed-race enslaved women.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Green
George Green, now free and living in Canada, works to rescue Mary, then emigrates to England, becomes a successful clerk and partner, and later has a mysterious encounter in a French graveyard.
- Mr. Devenant
Mysterious elderly gentleman who invites George Green to dinner after the graveyard incident.
Key passages
“George, however, did not forget his promise to use all the means in his power to get Mary out of slavery. He therefore laboured with all his might to obtain money with which to employ someone to go back to Virginia for Mary.”
George remained committed to freeing Mary, working tirelessly to save money to hire someone to travel to Virginia and negotiate her purchase.
Highlights George's dedication and the practical challenges of rescuing an enslaved person.
“The missionary went accordingly, but returned with the sad intelligence that, on account of Mary’s aiding George to escape, the court had compelled Mr. Green to sell her out of the state, and she had been sold to a negro trader and taken to the New Orleans market.”
The missionary discovered that Mary had been forced to be sold out of Virginia as punishment for helping George escape, and she was now on her way to the New Orleans slave market.
Illustrates the legal retaliation against enslaved people who aided runaways.
“George was so white as easily to pass for a white man, and being somewhat ashamed of his African descent, he never once mentioned the fact of his having been a slave.”
Because George's skin was light enough to be taken for white, he concealed his enslaved past out of shame about his African heritage.
Reveals the theme of racial passing and internalized shame.
“Who this person was, and how his name and the hotel where he was stopping had been found out, was indeed a mystery.”
George was puzzled about the identity of his host and how the man had learned his name and location.
Sets up the central mystery of the chapter.