Clotel

Carlton, the overseer Huckelby, and Snyder discuss slavery as they eat dinner in Huckelby’s house. Carlton asks Snyder whether he likes the South; Snyder replies that he prefers the North and that he has stayed in the South only for Mr. Peck’s sake. He says he speaks to “the poor whites during the week” (83) and to the slaves on Sundays.

Snyder describes the poor whites in the Sand Hill region, calling them “ignorant as horses” (83). He contrasts the Natchez area with New England, where school is free and nearly everyone is educated. He describes a family he visited in Sand Hill: the house, despite being “a low log-hut” (83), was “the best house in that locality” (83), and animals ran freely in the house among the nine children. The mother revealed that she and her family do not attend church. Snyder tells another story in which a woman was happy her son was bitten by a rattlesnake because, in his pain, he prayed to God. When Carlton asks why people live in this state of ignorance and squalor, Snyder names slavery as the cause, a statement Huckelby confirms.

When Carlton wonders why slaves don’t revolt, Snyder relates a story in which a slave stabbed his master and another white man, then attempted to escape, instigating a violent, chaotic altercation in which he ended up being shot and having his throat cut.