Previous
Chapter 3
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Pudd’nhead Wilson, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science, Race, and Identity
Slavery
Motherhood
Foreignness and Xenophobia
Disguise, Deception, and Masculinity
Summary
Analysis
Tom, Roxy’s biological child but seemingly Percy Driscoll’s heir, is a troublesome baby. He regularly throws tantrums and attacks anyone who tries to comfort him. Once he’s old enough to walk, he gets into mischief. But he’s indulged by Percy, who believes Tom is his boy, and by Roxy, too, because he is her actual son. Meanwhile, Chambers, Percy’s biological son, is neglected. He’s fed boiled cornmeal and soured milk while Tom gets delectable treats. But Chambers, perhaps because of his rough diet, grows strong while Tom remains weak. As the boys get older, Roxy becomes so convinced by her own lie that she forgets that Tom is her boy and instead considers him her master.
As Tom and Chambers grow older, their personalities take shape, and they couldn’t be more different. Tom is spoiled and difficult, and Chambers is docile and sweet. The novel strongly implies that their traits are shaped by environment. Tom has an easy life and Chambers faces deprivation, causing them to be, respectively, entitled and resourceful. As such, the scene weighs in on the nature versus nurture debate, suggesting that environment (or “nurture”) is the more important factor of the two. The scene also highlights that while Roxy’s deception is successful, it results in increasing alienation from her son.
Active
Themes
Tom regularly abuses Chambers physically, but Chambers learns, at a young age, that he can’t fight back; the few times he does so, he is beaten by Percy Driscoll, who, not realizing that Chambers is actually his son, reminds him that he is enslaved. Outside of the home, Chambers becomes Tom’s unofficial bodyguard, always fighting on his behalf when other boys in Dawson’s Landing pick on him. But Tom doesn’t appreciate Chambers—he plays tricks on him, some of them cruel, dangerous, and violent.
Tom’s personality traits as a child seem to set him up to become a selfish, cruel, and violent adult. Percy’s treatment of Chambers is also significant. He believes he’s a “benevolent” slaveowner, but he actually mistreats the people he owns. The fact that he beats Chambers is also ironic—he is unknowingly abusing his own son.
Active
Themes
One day when the boys are both 15 years old, Tom nearly drowns in the river and gets saved by Chambers. Tom, embarrassed, claims he was only pretending to be drowning. The other boys in Dawson’s Landing tease Tom about having to be rescued by an enslaved boy. Humiliated and enraged, Tom orders Chambers to fight the boys, even though Chambers is severely outnumbered. When Chambers protests, Tom stabs him several times with a pocketknife. The other boys intervene, and Chambers is able to get away without Tom causing too much damage.
Active
Themes
Meanwhile, Tom grows increasingly cruel toward Roxy, whom he doesn’t realize is his mother. At first, Roxy is devasted by this ironic turn of fate. But later, she consoles herself with thoughts of revenge, reasoning that she could always expose Tom for who he is. Percy Driscoll passes away when Tom is 15, and he sets Roxy free. With no home and no relationship with her biological son, Roxy decides to become a chambermaid on a steamboat. On her way out of town, Wilson offers to copy the series of the boys’ fingerprints for her to take as a memento, but Roxy adamantly refuses. Wilson assumes she is superstitious.
Get the entire Pudd’nhead Wilson LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
