# II explained — The Uncalled

> Chapter companion for The Uncalled by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

## What happens

Margaret Brent's funeral is held in a cold, fireless room. The community gathers, mostly women, and engages in gossip and judgment about her life and backsliding. The Rev. Mr. Simpson preaches a noisy, inconsequential sermon, and Brother Hodges offers a tender prayer. After the service, the coffin is borne to the graveyard, and Mrs. Warren stays behind to search for valuables, taking the crape and covering from the mirror.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Religion

The congregation gossips about Margaret's backsliding and the propriety of her funeral, while the preacher delivers a noisy, inconsequential sermon that manipulates emotions.

### Community and Gossip

The women engage in a hive-like drone of conversation, speculating about the preacher, Margaret's life, and her salvation, revealing the community's judgmental nature.

### Social Class and Judgment

Margaret's poverty is evident in the cheap pine coffin and the county's rushed burial; Mrs. Warren's scavenging after the funeral underscores the harsh realities of class.

## Character check-ins

### Fred Brent

The motherless boy, referred to as 'little Freddie,' is led forward by Mrs. Davis to view his mother's face and follows the funeral procession.

### Miss Hester Prime

Moves about the death chamber with solemn face and quiet tread, arranging things with maidenly neatness; attends the funeral in the procession.

### Eliphalet Hodges

Brother Hodges enters with the minister, offers a tender and childlike prayer, and rides in front of the funeral procession.

### Mr. Simpson

The Rev. Mr. Simpson, a tall, gaunt former carpenter, preaches the funeral sermon in a harsh, unmusical voice, and leads the procession.

### Mrs. Davis

Leads the weeping child Freddie forward to view his mother's face, and rides in the funeral procession behind the hearse.

### Mrs. Warren

Remains behind after the funeral to search the house for valuables, taking the crape and covering from the mirror, claiming entitlement to Margaret's belongings.

## Key lines

> I wonder who’s a-goin’ to preach the funeral

Someone asks who will officiate the funeral service.

_Reflects the community's curiosity and gossip about the proceedings._

> It’s a-puttin’ yore hand to the ploughshare an’ then turnin’ back.

It's like starting a task and then abandoning it.

_A biblical allusion used to criticize Margaret's backsliding from faith._

> Well, I don’t think he kin preach her into hell, neither. After a woman has gone through all that pore Margar’t has, it seems to me that the Lord ought to give her some consideration, even if men don’t.

I don't believe the preacher can condemn her to hell either; given her suffering, God should show her mercy, even if people don't.

_Seely Matthews expresses a dissenting, compassionate view against the harsh judgment of others._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_uncalled_se/chapters/ii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_uncalled_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_uncalled_se/chapters