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Clothel
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Plot Summary of Clothel
"Clothel is a beautiful mulatto slave. She was raised by her mother who was also a mulatto. But Clothel and her sister Althea are so white that people often mistaken them for being white. Because they were black, they had a slave owner, who was also their father. he was kind to them and Clothel, Althea, and her mother lived in a separate apartment. But the man soon passed away and the day of their auctioning was soon approaching.
Horatio Green is the son of a rich white man. He soon fell in love with Clothel and promised to buy her on the day of their auction. On the day of the auction, Clothel is bought by Horatio Green for twelve hundred dollars, which is considered as a very large sum of money. But they could not be married legally because black people were not allowed to get married, to black or white. So Clothel lived with Horatio and they were happy. Soon, Clothel had a child named Mary. She was even whiter than Clothel.
Horatio wasn't at home for very long periods of the day and they grew even longer as time passed. Soon, word reached Clothel that Horatio had a fiancé. His wedding day was soon approaching and Clothel knew that, but Horatio had not spoken a word of it to her. Then, she finally cannot take it any longer and asks him if his wedding day was tomorrow. He fumbles with his words but it is useless and Clothel tells him that she is leaving. And she does, and never comes back.
Clothel is sold to a slave trader. He was going to go down South where Clothel was sold to a cotton plantation. Clothel had never actually worked before and the work of picking cotton was very hard, even for the slaves who had worked all their lives. Soon, Clothel hears about independence and freedom. So she makes a run for it. She makes it up to Ohio, and all she needs to do is cross a bridge over to Canada. But she is being pursued and just as she is halfway across the bridge, two men appear from the other side and knowing that she is going to be caught, she jumps to the white, rushing rivers below. Thus, Clothel dies.
"

alisa, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Clothel
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 18th century
Political/social activism Yes
Plotlet: - slavery
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - slave
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality - Black
How sensitive is this character? - soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - society

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Deep South

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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