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Chapter 1: In Childhood
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Bondwoman’s Narrative, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Cruelties of Slavery
The Virtuous Woman’s Life
Religion and Hypocrisy
Race as a Social Construct
Enslavement as Gothic Horror
Summary
Analysis
In the week before the new mistress’s arrival, the weather turns tempestuous, which makes everyone—particularly Mrs. Bry—increasingly anxious. It’s not just because they want things to be perfect for the new bride—it’s also because storms creaking in the branches of the linden tree for which the estate is named reminds them of a terrible episode in the De Vincent family’s history. Sir Clifford, Hannah explains, planted the tree when he built the house, and within his lifetime it grew large and strong enough to serve as the site of especially cruel punishments of Sir Clifford’s enslaved workers. He enjoyed watching them suffer as they were tied to its trunk and whipped or hanged from its branches as if from a gallows.
The storms, which always foreshadow tragedy for someone (usually, although not exclusively, one of the novel’s Black characters) are yet another element of the gothic deployed to great effect here to build up a mood of suspense. The storm creaking in the linden tree also gives Hannah an excuse to tell the story of the De Vincent family curse—which is yet another gothic horror element and also one of the book’s least subtle explorations of the evils which enslavers can perpetrate on their victims. Sir Clifford’s actions are cruel, sadistic, and unworthy of human dignity.
Active
Themes
Sir Clifford’s most depraved act of violence—the one that weighs heavily on everyone’s minds—was the execution of Rose, his son and heir’s beloved nursemaid. She had a little white dog she doted on—in part because it had belonged to her own daughter before Sir Clifford sold her as a field slave to a plantation owner in Alabama—and in part because it was a particularly sweet and innocent animal. Sir Clifford became angry about the dog and ordered Rose to drown it, but she refused. He had both Rose and the dog suspended from the linden tree’s branches, just out of reach of each other, where he left them to hang without food or water.
There’s a lot going on in this backstory. Readers should note the disconnect between the important and intimate position Rose held in the family and the callous way Sir Clifford treats her and her family; neither she nor her daughter are human beings in his opinion. In contrast, Rose treats the dog better than Sir Clifford treats the people he enslaves. He clearly either doesn’t believe or doesn’t care that Rose and her daughter have feelings.
Active
Themes
On the night of the fifth day, a terrible storm rose up, but still Sir Clifford would not relent. The dog died in the night and in the morning, just before her own death, Rose cursed the house and the tree, promising to haunt both and to creak the tree’s branches as a warning when accident and misfortune are about to come to the family.
Active
Themes
The winds have luckily died down when the bridal party finally arrives long after sundown on the appointed day. Mrs. Bry greets the mistress and assigns Hannah to serve as her maid. Hannah, an intuitive and acute observer of people, notes the mistress’s “brown” complexion, “too large” lips, and her haunted look. At supper, Hannah catches a “rusty seedy […] gentleman” (later identified as Mr. Trappe) paying special attention to the mistress.
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After supper, amidst the sounds of a rising storm, the guests go to the drawing room to dance under the watchful eyes of the family portraits. Eventually, one guest comments on the creaking of the linden tree’s branches, prompting a nervous-looking Master to swear he is going to have the tree cut down in the morning. At that moment, Sir Clifford’s portrait crashes down from the wall. The nail on which it hung has rusted away.
Active
Themes
