“Fiction has said so much in regret of the old days when there were plantations and overseers and masters and slaves, that it was good to come upon such a household as Berry Hamilton's, if for no other reason than that it afforded a relief from the monotony of tiresome iteration.”
Dubar’s concession about the conventional subjects relating to the interrelationship between masters and slaves apprise the reader that the relationships which he explores in “The Hamiltons” is dissimilar to the conventional narratives regarding the adversarial relationships which are principal in fictional narratives.
“Fannie had never regretted her choice, nor had Berry ever had cause to curse his utilitarian ideas. The stream of years had flowed pleasantly and peacefully with them. Their little sorrows had come, but their joys had been many.”
The foremost ingredient of the accomplishment of Berry and Fannie’s matrimony is their contentment. Their matrimony is founded on reciprocated interests which permits them to co-exist peaceably regardless of the characteristic sorrows that they submit to.
“Berry had time for his lodge, and Fannie time to spare for her own house and garden. Flowers bloomed in the little plot in front and behind it; vegetables and greens testified to the housewife's industry.Over the door of the little house a fine Virginia creeper bent and fell in graceful curves, and a cluster of insistent morning-glories clung in summer about its stalwart stock. It was into this bower of peace and comfort that Joe and Kitty were born. They brought a new sunlight into the house and a new joy to the father's and mother's hearts. Their early lives were pleasant and carefully guarded. They got what schooling the town afforded, but both went to work early, Kitty helping her mother and Joe learning the trade of barber.”
Berry and Fannie contribute equally to the pleasure of their marriage by allocating sufficient time to their household. Their mutual efforts results in the creation of comfort which welcomes their children fittingly. The children’s birth underwrites supplementary happiness to the already gratified couple.
“Maurice Oakley was not a man of sudden or violent enthusiasms. Conservatism was the quality that had been the foundation of his fortunes at a time when the disruption of the country had involved most of the men of his region in ruin.Without giving any one ground to charge him with being lukewarm or renegade to his cause, he had yet so adroitly managed his affairs that when peace came he was able quickly to recover much of the ground lost during the war. With a rare genius for adapting himself to new conditions, he accepted the changed order of things with a passive resignation, but with a stern determination to make the most out of any good that might be in it.”
Dunbar’s characterization of Maurice Oakley underlines that the underpinning of his accomplishments is poise and willpower. He is dissimilar to other men because he weathers the ruin that could have effortlessly devastated all the fortune due to the war. Oakley is an expert of handling interpersonal relationships based on the flexible disposition that increases his adaptability to change. Moreover, his fortitude endows him to navigate change audaciously.
