The Marrow of Tradition

I was assigned to read this for my American Lit Survey class, and at first I was somewhat disheartened since I had read an excerpt from it in my Civil Rights Lit class last term. However, I finished it today, and wow. The ending actually brought tears to my eyes. It was both irrational and just. I can't help but assume that Chesnutt wrote Dr. Miller as a Christ-figure, despite his hesitation to help Carteret in the end. Because after all, Christ would have aided any one despite how they had hurt Him. Nevertheless, the novel was so much deeper than I had expected, and the fictional re-telling of an actual event turned into a much deeper analysis of human nature.