The Leavenworth Case · Chapter
XXI: A Prejudice explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. Raymond confronts Mr. Harwell about his dream and his knowledge of a letter from Henry Clavering. Harwell admits he opened the letter by mistake, which complained of treatment by one of Mr. Leavenworth's nieces. He also reveals Mr. Leavenworth's intense prejudice against the English, deepening suspicion around Clavering.
Themes in this chapter
Secrecy and Truth
Harwell's hidden knowledge of the letter and his dream, and the narrator's pursuit of the truth about Clavering.
Guilt and Innocence
Harwell's dream suggests Clavering's guilt, while Eleanore's potential involvement remains ambiguous.
Class and Morality
Leavenworth's prejudice against the English and the social implications of a cross-national marriage.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Interviews Mr. Harwell, pressing him about the letter and his dream, and learns of Leavenworth's anti-English prejudice.
- Mr. Harwell
Reveals his prophetic dream of the murder, admits to opening a letter from Henry Clavering, and describes Leavenworth's hatred of the English.
- Horatio Leavenworth
Mentioned as having a bitter prejudice against the English, which would have influenced his reaction to a potential marriage.
- Henry Clavering
Identified as the Englishman who wrote a letter of complaint to Mr. Leavenworth, now suspected in the murder.
- Eleanore Leavenworth
Implicitly connected to the letter and the possibility of a relationship with Clavering, causing the narrator concern.
Key passages
“if the murderer of Mr. Leavenworth is ever brought to confess his deed, mark my words, he will prove to be the man of my dream.”
Harwell insists that the killer will turn out to be the man from his dream.
Harwell expresses strong conviction about his prophetic dream.
“He had a hatred for the English race amounting to mania. If he had known the letter I have mentioned was from an Englishman, I doubt if he would have read it.”
Leavenworth's extreme prejudice against the English would have made him refuse to read a letter from an Englishman.
Harwell reveals Leavenworth's intense anti-English bias.
“I opened it by mistake. I was in the habit of reading Mr. Leavenworth’s business letters, and this, being from one unaccustomed to write to him, lacked the mark which usually distinguished those of a private nature.”
Harwell accidentally opened the letter from Clavering because it lacked the usual private marking.
Harwell explains how he came to read Clavering's letter.