How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[Percy Driscoll] was a fairly humane man toward slaves and other animals; he was an exceedingly humane man toward the erring of his own race. Theft he could not abide, and plainly there was a thief in his house. Necessarily the thief must be one of his negroes. (2.27)
Wacky as his logic is, Percy is hardly alone in assuming that one of his slaves is the thief in his house. In the nineteenth century, pro-slavery advocates in the U.S. clung to the belief that blacks were inherently deceitful and threatening to the social order—a myth which conveniently helped to justify their enslavement.
Quote #2
[Roxy] undressed Thomas Becket, stripping him of everything, and put the tow-linen shirt on him. She put his coral necklace on her own child's neck. Then she placed the children side by side, and after earnest inspection she muttered:
'Now who would b'lieve clo'es could do de like o' dat? Dog my cats if it ain't all I kin do to tell t'other fum which, let alone his pappy.' (3.12-13)
It's pretty mind-blowing to think how quickly a person's identity can change thanks to a little wardrobe change. Roxy's disguise of her son shows that identity can be a lot more superficial than we'd like to think.
Quote #3
[Pudd'nhead] complimented [the children's] improvement to her contentment; and as they were without any disguise of jam or other stain, she trembled all the while and was miserably frightened lest at any moment he—
But he didn't. He discovered nothing; and she went home jubilant, and dropped all concern about the matter permanently out of her mind. (3.29)
So Roxy manages to pull off her scheme and deceive everyone about the kids' true identities without giving it a second thought. Are you surprised by her casual attitude?