The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

by

Mark Twain

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Nancy Hewitt Character Analysis

A young woman who was engaged to marry Barclay Goodson. Just before their union, though, Nancy died. When the stranger privately writes to Edward Richards and tricks him into thinking Barclay Goodson would have wanted Edward to claim the sack of gold in his place, Edward tries to think of a scenario in which he helped Goodson. In doing so, he deludes himself into thinking that the reason Goodson didn’t marry Nancy was because Edward discovered Nancy was part African American, thus saving Goodson from a (racist) social disgrace. Of course, this is obviously not the case, since the only reason Goodson didn’t marry Nancy is because she died, but Edward chooses to ignore this logistical detail in order to believe wholeheartedly that he deserves to claim the money Goodson would have won if he were still alive.
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Nancy Hewitt Character Timeline in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

The timeline below shows where the character Nancy Hewitt appears in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Section 2
Vanity and Virtue Theme Icon
Finally, Edward remembers that Goodson—who died a bachelor—was once set to marry a woman named Nancy Hewitt . Unfortunately, Nancy died before their union. “Soon after the girl’s death the village found... (full context)