Chapter 16
At the breakfast table the next morning, Miss Ophelia learns of Marie's selfishness when Marie rants about how selfish her servant Mammy is for not staying up with her all night, each night, to help her deal with her "sick headaches." The selfless Eva asks Marie if she could stay up with her one night to relieve Mammy, an idea Marie instantly rejects. After breakfast, Marie confides to Miss Ophelia that Eva is nothing like she was as a girl, because Eva regrettably seems to regard the servants as equal beings, while she was raised to make sure servants "know their place." She also confesses that she disagrees with St. Clare's insistence that their servants never be struck. Though Miss Ophelia disagrees with Marie that servants are not equal beings, she reveals her own prejudice when she reveals to St. Clare that she does not understand how Eva can bring herself to hug and kiss Tom and the other servants.
Topic Tracking: Morality 4
Meanwhile, Eva reveals her generous nature when she gives Mammy her gold vinagrette, explaining that she knows Mammy hasn't been feeling well and that Marie tells her that the vinagrette helps with her headaches. Marie demands that Eva take it back, but St. Clare tells him to leave her alone. When Marie asks how the child will ever get along in the world, St. Clare replies, "The Lord knows, but she'll get along better in heaven than you or I."
Topic Tracking: Religion 4
With that, the whole family--except St. Clare, who is not religious--heads to church. When they return, Marie tells St. Clare how she thought the sermon was splendid, as the pastor endorsed slavery as God's design, that some should naturally occupy a higher station in life. The sermon sparks a discussion, in which Miss Ophelia asks St. Clare if he supports slavery. He refuses to answer her question, teasingly ridiculing her "horrid New England directness," but he does dismiss the preacher's sermon as trash, saying it is a shame to use religion to support an institution that exists solely for some men's convenience.
Topic Tracking: Morality 5
He asks Eva whether she thinks it is better to live with or without slaves, and she says with, because it means "more people around to love." Eva tells St. Clare that she has been listening to Tom sing hymns and that he is planning to teach them to her. St. Clare declares that Tom has a natural genius for religion, and that he overheard him praying quite movingly and energetically for St. Clare's redemption.
Topic Tracking: Redemption 2
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