XIV: Roxana Insists Upon Reform explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Race and Slavery

  Roxy attributes Tom's cowardice to his 'one part nigger' soul, reflecting the racial determinism and the one-drop rule of the era.

• Deception and Appearance

  Tom secretly reads the will and hides his knowledge, while Judge Driscoll conceals the rewritten will from Tom.

• Justice and Injustice

  Judge Driscoll's decision to restore Tom's inheritance despite Tom's unworthiness raises questions about justice and familial obligation.

Characters to notice

• Judge Driscoll

  Prepares for a duel with Count Luigi, rewrites his will to restore Tom's inheritance, and expresses regret for his indulgence of Tom.

• Tom Driscoll

  Secretly reads the rewritten will, resolves to reform, but despairs over his inability to sell the Indian knife; later visits Roxy and is berated for his cowardice.

• Roxana

  Reveals she was grazed by a bullet from the duel, berates Tom for refusing to fight, and attributes his cowardice to his 'one part nigger' soul.

• Pudd'nhead Wilson

  Serves as Count Luigi's second in the duel.

• Count Luigi

  Participates in the duel with Judge Driscoll.

• Pembroke Howard

  Arranges the duel and witnesses Judge Driscoll's will.

• Chambers

  Mistakenly called 'Chambers' by Roxy; Tom is present during her tirade.

Key passages

• “Thirty-one parts o’ you is white, en on’y one part nigger, en dat po’ little one part is yo’ soul.”

  Roxy tells Tom that he is 31/32 white and only 1/32 black, but that small fraction is his soul.

  Roxy uses racial arithmetic to condemn Tom's character.

• “I’m reformed, and this time I’ll stay so, sure!”

  Tom declares to himself that he will change his ways permanently.

  Tom's resolution is short-lived as he soon despairs over the Indian knife.