The Deciding Factor of Race in Pudd'nhead Wilson

Race and slavery where important topics in America during Mark Twain's time. In the south, white were considered superior to blacks. By the end of slavery, many mixed race children were born. But their place in society was uncertain. In Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson, race does not seem to be the main factor in a person's place in society, their clothes are. Little mention of physical characteristics is given in this novel. Instead, race and society position are based on the clothes the characters wear. These clothes are symbols of slavery or of freedom.

Pudd'nhead Wilson is set in a town in Missouri called Dawson's Creek in 1830's. America still held laws for slavery. The town was "sleepy, and comfortable, and contented" (4). Dawson's Creek was a slave-holding town. The slaves didn't mind much; it was much better than being sold down the river. Roxy was 1/16 black, which made her a slave. Her son Chambers (latter known as Tom), 1/32 black, was also a slave.

Roxy's complexion was fair; she had soft brown hair. To those who did not know better, "Roxy was as white as anybody" (9). But her clothes gave her away as a slave. Roxy wore "a checkered handkerchief", a symbol of her racial identity (9).

Roxy was in charge of not only her son but also her master's son, Tom. Roxy's child was also born looking white, just like Tom. He had "blue eyes and flaxen curls, like his white comrade" (9). Roxy's master could not tell the children apart but for their clothes. Roxy's son wore only "a coarse tow-linen shirt" that reached just above his knees, while the white child wore a "ruffled soft muslin and a coral necklace" (9).

After Roxy's master found money missing from his home, he lined up all of his slaves and threatened to sell them down the river if the guilty one did not confess. Eventually the guilty slaves confessed and they were sold to someone else in the town. Even though, Roxy was scared for her life and the life of her child. She did not want her child sold down the river. Roxy believed that death would be a better alternative than that.