Analysis of The Ingrate in Paul Laurence Dunbar Part II

CHAPTER II

Character of No Gratitude Person

The Ingrate tells about a slave who escapes and later becomes an officer in the Union army because his master, Mr. Lecker breaks the law and teaches him to read, write, and figure. Mr. Lecker is a man of high principle. It shows in the beginning of the paragraph with direct characterization of the author.

Mr.Lecker was a man of high principle. He had often said this to Mrs. Lecker. She was often called in to listen to him. Mr. Lecker was one of those people with an endless hunger for advice, though he never acted on ikt. Mrs. Lecker knew this, but like a good little wife, she always offered him her little gifts of advice. Today, her husband’s mind was troubled-as usual, troubled about a question of principle. (p.15)

In this opening paragraph, it looks that Mr. Lecker is unprincipled. He is not really convinced what he believed. Many times he asks advice to his wife to make sure that he is right, but he never pay attention to his wife’s advice. He never acted on hat his wife said.

Besides, Mr. Lecker is sly. He is dishonest to his wife that he lets Josh to keep part what he

Even, Mr. Lecker blames his wife’s advice if there is a bad things happen. In the last paragraph shows that Mr. Lecker is always blame other people, to the slave and also to his wife.

“Mrs. Lecker,” he said, “look what happened because I taught a black to read and write. I disobeyed the law of my state. I lost my slave. And I gave the Yankees a smart officer to help them fight the war. I was wrong–I was wrong. But I am right, too, Mrs. Lecker. This all happened because of my generous heart, and your bad advice. But oh, that ingrate, that ingrate. (p.23)