Pudd’nhead Wilson · Chapter
III: Roxy Plays a Shrewd Trick explained
Roxy, terrified that her child might be sold down the river, decides to switch her baby with the master's child, Thomas à Becket.
What happens
Roxy, terrified that her child might be sold down the river, decides to switch her baby with the master's child, Thomas à Becket. After dressing her own son in the fine clothes of the heir and putting the heir in her child's humble cradle, she rationalizes the act by recalling a preacher's story of a queen's child being switched by a servant. She practices calling her own child 'Marse Tom' and the true heir 'Chambers,' and later visits Pudd'nhead Wilson to have the babies' fingerprints taken, hoping to avoid detection.
Themes in this chapter
Motherhood and Sacrifice
Roxy's desperate act to save her child from slavery, even contemplating infanticide and suicide, highlights the extreme lengths a mother will go to protect her offspring.
Race and Slavery
The switch exploits the arbitrary nature of racial identity and the brutal reality of slavery, where a child's fate is determined by the color of their skin.
Deception and Appearance
Roxy's successful deception relies on clothing and superficial appearance, fooling even the father and the supposedly clever Pudd'nhead Wilson.
Characters to notice
- Roxana
Driven by maternal terror, she switches the babies to save her child from being sold down the river.
- Tom Driscoll
The true heir, who is stripped of his fine clothes and placed in the humble cradle, now to be raised as a slave.
- Chambers
Roxy's biological son, who is dressed in the heir's clothing and placed in the elegant cradle, now to be raised as a white master.
- Pudd'nhead Wilson
Takes the fingerprints of the babies, but fails to notice the switch, much to Roxy's relief.
- Judge Driscoll
Mentioned as one of the smartest men in town, alongside Pudd'nhead Wilson and Pembroke Howard.
- Pembroke Howard
Mentioned as one of the smartest men in town.
Key passages
“Dey shan't, oh, dey shan't! —yo' po' mammy will kill you fust!”
They won't, oh, they won't! Your poor mama will kill you first!
Roxy's frantic declaration that she would rather kill her child than see him sold down the river.
“Now who would b'lieve clo'es could do de like o' dat? Dog my cats if it ain't all I kin do to tell t'other fum which, let alone his pappy.”
Now who would believe clothes could make such a difference? I swear it's all I can do to tell one from the other, let alone his father.
Roxy's realization that the babies are indistinguishable once their clothes are swapped.
“'Tain't no sin— white folks has done it! It ain't no sin, glory to goodness it ain't no sin! Dey's done it—yes, en dey was de biggest quality in de whole bilin', too— kings!”
It's not a sin—white folks have done it! It's not a sin, thank goodness it's not a sin! They've done it—yes, and they were the highest quality in the whole bunch, too—kings!
Roxy rationalizes her deception by recalling a story of a queen's child being switched, convincing herself that the act is not sinful.