52 pages • 1 hour read
Geraldine BrooksMarch
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 1, Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1
Chapter 1 Summary: “Virginia Is a Hard Road”
The story is told from the perspective of Mr. March, who is the father in Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, Little Women. In March, the story is told through his experiences as a battlefield chaplain during the Civil War.
In March’s opening scene, Mr. March composes a letter to his wife, Marmee. Despite the suffering around him, he attempts to assure Marmee that he is well. He notes the sky’s swirling colors that convey a “happy profusion” (3), and then makes known his “spousal longing” (4). As he writes the letter, he can see a burial party retrieving bodies. He finishes the letter and recalls a young soldier, Silas Stone, whose life he tried to save as they retreated from Confederate gunfire. To escape via the river, they dropped themselves from a tall rock formation.
They reached the river, but Stone couldn’t swim. Stone was hit by a bullet, and Mr. March tried to carry him through the river. However, Stone panicked and pulled Mr. March underwater. Stone’s mouth filled with water and the look on his face went blank. The current pushed him away from Mr. March, who watched the river carry him away. During the struggle, Mr. March had torn a piece of wool cloth from Stone’s uniform. He now has this patch, which he considers to be “perhaps the sum total of the mortal remains of Silas Stone” (7). He decides to send it to Stone’s mother.
Mr. March is very sore and wonders if his aunt was correct in criticizing his decision to join the ranks as a 39-year-old father. He further contemplates his situation and reaffirms his commitment to the war effort. Mr. March tries to locate the hospital tents but is told that Union medics are instead using an old “secesh house” (9), which is inhabited by an elderly man and his slave. He smells the house before seeing it. It has the odor of a butcher shop. This stench repulses Mr. March, who is a vegetarian. Suddenly, he realizes he has been to the house before.
Chapter 2 Summary: “A Wooden Nutmeg”
Mr. March recalls being at the property when he was 18 years old. He’d set out from Connecticut to work as a traveling salesman, hawking household wares to wealthy homeowners across the South. He arrived at the house and was met at the door by Grace, a tall slave woman who was stylish and beautiful, and about the same age as him. She spoke in a straightforward and eloquent manner, telling him that the last peddler to visit—also a young man from Connecticut—had scammed their cook into buying wooden nutmegs. She didn’t think the owner would be interested in Mr. March’s “notions” (13), but out of courtesy, she summoned him anyway.
Mr. March had set out on his journey with the hope of making enough money to help his father build a new house. However, somewhere along the way, he lost his passion for that goal. Grace escorted Mr. March to the master’s library, which was classically elegant. The master entered and introduced himself as Augustus Clement. Mr. March was mesmerized by the library. Rather than the household wares, Clement was interested in the books that Mr. March carried along in the bottom of his merchandise cart. Clement wanted to purchase one of the books, but Mr. March told him that he only trades the books for other reading material, which allowed him to “keep [himself] in something fresh to read along the journey” (17).
Clement appreciated Mr. March’s love of literature and offered to let him spend the day in his library, and to later join him for dinner. Mr. March gratefully accepted. At dinner, they engaged in in-depth conversation about literature and philosophy. Clement invited Mr. March to stay on the property for as long as he wanted. The following day, Mr. March met Mrs. Clement, who largely remained reclusive because of her fragile condition. At dinner, Mr. Clement made racist remarks regarding the slaves. Mr. March expressed his disagreement with Mr. Clement, who adamantly reasserted his own position. Mr. Clement claimed that he wanted the slaves to eventually be liberated, but that now was not the time.
In the days that followed, Mr. March remained at the plantation, enjoying the library and dining with Mr. Clement each night. Mr. March slept in the slave housing and developed a friendship with Annie, the cook, as well as her two children, Justice and Prudence. He started teaching Prudence how to spell. Grace stopped the lesson because she was fearful of the punishment that would occur if Mr. Clement found out that a slave was being taught literacy skills. When Annie learned of the spelling lesson, she lashed out at Mr. March, accusing him of putting her child in danger.
Grace wanted Prudence to learn to read and write. Without Annie’s knowledge, she approached Mr. March about arranging secret lessons. Mr. March was under the impression that Mr. Clement was a literacy advocate and thought they should discuss the idea with him. However, Grace was sure that Mr. Clement would not want a slave to be literate. Mr. March began to secretly tutor Prudence, who was a fast learner. They arranged to have a one-hour lesson every night. To Mr. March’s great satisfaction, the lessons continued for two weeks. One evening, Mr. March had too much to drink at dinner with Mr. Clement. That night, after the lesson, he kissed Grace. She kissed him back, but then stopped him.
In the morning, Mr. Clement’s manager, Harris, returned from a trip and entered Mr. March’s room. He discovered evidence that Mr. March was teaching Prudence how to read and write. Harris shared this information with Mr. Clement. Grace approached Mr. Clement and took full blame for the lessons. Mr. Clement told Mr. March that it was time for him to leave the property. As Mr. March exited, Mr. Clement told him that there was one more thing he wanted him to see. They walked to the tobacco barn, where Harris severely whipped Grace, compelling Mr. March to cry.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Scars”
It is November 1, 1861. Mr. March writes to his wife, Marmee. In the letter, it becomes clear that he is at Mr. Clement’s property. Mr. March stops writing his letter and looks at locks of his children’s hair. He thinks about how, as a youth, he had “let [himself] be seduced by Clement’s wealth and deceived by his false nobility” (42). Mr. March thinks back to the time he spent traveling after being evicted from Clement’s property. He continued selling wares in the South, but “ceased averting [his] eyes” (42). He saw a slave auction and was disgusted that a nearby Christian group did not protest it. He pressed onward through the South, finding financial success in his endeavors. After his second year, he sold his interests and became quite rich. He bought his parents a house and made further lucrative investments. No longer in need of money, he became “a preacher of no fixed pulpit” (45).
The narrative returns to its current moment, and he hears the cries of wounded soldiers coming from inside the makeshift hospital. He goes inside and finds a grizzly scene, with amputated limbs on the floor. Dr. McKillop demands that Mr. March holds down a soldier while he tries to operate. Mr. March complies; soon, the soldier dies on the table. Mr. March offers prayers to another dying soldier. Afterward, he goes outside in search of water to wash off the blood. Though he hasn’t seen Grace in 20 years, he recognizes her right away. She, however, doesn’t immediately recognize him. He jogs her memory and she tells him that life has changed greatly since they last saw each other. They agree to talk later.
The next day, Mr. March crosses paths with Mr. Clement, who is being helped along by Grace. Mr. Clement’s body is frail and he doesn’t seem mentally present. He cannot lift his head and there is “a blankness to his expression” and his face is “palsied” (52). Together, Mr. March and Grace assist him to bed. Mr. March and Grace start to catch up. She informs him that Mrs. Clement died the same year that Mr. March visited. Later, Mr. Clement’s son died in an apparent hunting accident. For many years, she has been the person closest to Mr. Clement. When Mr. Clement’s finances turned downward, he sold Annie’s children. Annie then “went to the river,” in an apparent suicide (55).
Now that Grace is free to leave, Mr. March doesn’t understand why she doesn’t go. He suggests that Mr. Clement has a daughter who should be taking care of him. Grace looks directly at him and says, “He has two daughters, Mr. March” (55). Mr. March then sees the resemblance. Grace shows Mr. March her scars from the whipping that he witnessed, explaining that the scarring is why she was never sold. They are overcome with emotion, and then passionately embrace.
Part 1, Chapters 1-3 Analysis
In the opening sequence, Mr. March’s letter to Marmee is meant to reassure her, rather than to convey a more accurate portrait of the surrounding carnage. Because of this whitewashing, Mr. March seems both caring and deceptive. By trying to prevent his wife from worrying, he deprives her of knowledge that she might have used to encourage his return home. Louisa May Alcott was criticized for how Little Women glossed over the tragedy of war and the injustice of slavery. In effect, she was accused of whitewashing. Here, a character from Little Women, Mr. March, is perpetuating that same issue. However, in the narrative that follows, there is much detail that does portray the destruction of lives through war and chattel slavery.
When Silas Stone dies, Mr. March does not blame the Confederacy or, more generally, the war. Rather, he blames himself. Though he acted courageously to save Stone, he doesn’t see himself as brave. Instead, he focuses on what he could have done differently to change the outcome. It is through reflection that Mr. March is guided by his moral truths; but by often turning inward, he also makes himself vulnerable to overwhelming self-criticism.
In Chapter 2, Mr. March arrives at the Clement property, which triggers an extended flashback. Through this recounting, Mr. March’s youthful innocence is portrayed. Though he believed slavery was wrong, he still indulged in Mr. Clement’s company and flattery. When he met Grace, he saw her as a person who was elegant and refined, leading him to believe that she was treated with great respect. Later, when he observed the whipping, this naivete was shattered. When Mr. March taught Prudence to read and write, he engaged in an arguably revolutionary act. However, his naivete prevented him from fully understanding the potential dangers that these lessons posed to the slaves. He was a Northerner with a progressive background and his ethnocentrism prevented him from fully grasping the brutality of Southern antebellum culture.
As he got to know Mr. Clement, he became more familiar with his explicit racism. Mr. Clement had presented himself as a respectful gentleman, and Mr. March bought into the persona. Even as Mr. March tutored Prudence, he seemed to still genuinely enjoy Mr. Clement’s company. However, this established a foundation from which, later in life, Mr. March strives to align his moral beliefs with moral actions. Twenty years later, when he returns to the property during the war, he acknowledges that he’d been “seduced by Clement’s wealth and deceived by his false nobility” (42).
After Harris discovered evidence of the teaching lessons, a chain of events was set in motion that solidified Mr. March’s lifelong commitment to abolishing slavery. When Grace approached Mr. Clement and accepted full responsibility for Prudence’s lessons, he calmly thanked her, again displaying a gentlemanly veneer that belied his violent racism. This scene also illustrates Grace’s complicated loyalty to Mr. Clement, made more convoluted by her genetic relation to him.
At the tobacco barn, Mr. March watched the whipping, which had a lasting impact on his worldview. Not long ago, he’d kissed Grace, naively believing that they could pursue a romantic relationship. Then, as he watched Mr. Harris torture her, he “could not have felt more crushed” (39). This experience compelled Mr. March to become more proactive in his abolitionism. It also foreshadows the guilt that plagues him through the rest of the book.
At the outset of Chapter 3, Mr. March pens another letter to Marmee, in which he references Grace but does not disclose his past involvement with her. Again, he glosses over important information. This time, however, it seems that the omission is not only meant to protect Marmee, but also himself.
He recalls the period in his life following his banishment from Mr. Clement’s property. He became more convicted in his abolitionism and—as he continued his travels across the South—he “ceased averting (his) eyes” from slavery (42). Because he felt guilty about Grace’s punishment, he sought relief at a church. Next to the church there was a slave auction and he became incensed that Christians would not oppose such an injustice. After expressing his disgust with the churchgoers, he leaves the building. His exit from the church symbolizes his decision to no longer affiliate himself with organized religion.
After the story returns to its present moment, Mr. March assists Grace with bringing the “palsied” Mr. Clement to bed (52). Mr. Clement’s deteriorated condition represents the South’s state of disrepair and the looming eradication of slave masters. Grace’s enduring allegiance to Mr. Clement is better understood when she reveals that she is his daughter. This revelation further unravels any façade of decency in Mr. Clement’s character. It is unlikely that Grace was conceived through a consensual relationship; moreover, Mr. Clement has kept his own child as a slave.
When Mr. March and Grace passionately embrace, it becomes clear that—despite his status as a contemplative chaplain— he is a fallible man who is prone to impulsive action. Along with his whitewashed letters, this transgression further suggests that he is not committed to an honest and transparent marriage.
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