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A Business Career

Author	Charles Chesnutt
Language	English
Publisher	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date	2005
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback])
Pages	216 (first edition, hardback)

A Business Career is a novel by African American author Charles Chesnutt that features the life of a new woman of the late 19th century who enters the world of business instead of embracing the tradition roles of women. It explores a failed romance between two successful upper class fixtures in society. A family’s vendetta against the man who allegedly destroyed the family’s fortune turns out to be a mistake as the lead character investigates the matter. The book was written in the 1890’s, but failed to get published because it was not acceptable for African American authors to write about white society at that time. It was finally published in 2005 with an introduction and edits by Matthew Wilson.

Plot summary

The story takes place in 1890’s in the Midwest City of Groveland. It opens at the office of The Truscott Refining Company with the firing of Mr. Peters, the stenographer. Stella Merwin fills in for the stenographer job temporarily that she is prepared for because of her studies of shorthand; she ends up staying much longer than she originally plans when an exciting opportunity presents itself. This is no ordinary company that Stella was working for, but on the contrary it is the company of the man who her family believes destroyed her family’s name.

Stella Merwin’s father, Henry, was a very successful man in the oil refining business giving the Merwin family a life of wealth and status. At the apex of Henry Merwin’s business success, he hit financial troubles that led to the loss of the family fortune as well as his death attributed to heart disease. Before his death Mr. Merwin assured his family that they would be taken care of financially by profitable investments, and to see his most trusted employee Wendell Truscott for assistance in the matter; however, when the Merwin’s consulted the clerk he said there was very little left in their estate. The Merwin family, consisting of the matriarch along with Stella and George, experience a drastic change in their lifestyle when their wealth disappears. They move from the city to a small town where they lived off a small annual income produced by the estate and additional money earned from Mrs. Merwin’s writing career. This was enough money to give Stella a strong education, but a far cry from what the family was use to during their good times. Mrs. Merwin blames the family’s financial difficulties on Wendell Truscott because she believes that he ruined her husband and, stole money from him, and took over his company.

Because of the complicated history between Wendell Truscott and her family, Stella Merwin assumes her job under the false name Miss Smith. One of her major motives in taking the job is to learn about the man who she has been taught to despise ever since she was young. Stella comes to swift judgments about her employer. She concludes that he is a cold-hearted boss who does not care about establishing relationships with his employees, but also that he is a very smart, savvy businessman that efficiently gets missions accomplished. Stella quickly takes a liking to her job, which starts out with her writing down letters that Mr. Truscott dictates to her. Truscott is impressed with her performance at her job so he increases her responsibilities; instead of copying what the proprietor says she gains his trust enough to write letters on her own, and gives her the charge of reviewing the financial books daily.

Mrs. Merwin is thrilled that Stella is working for The Truscott Refining Company. She does not care that Stella is getting great experience in the business world and her schooling in shorthand is being put to good use; instead, she wants Stella to use her position in the office to infiltrate Truscott’s files to find evidence that he committed fraud against Henry Merwin to restore the family to their previous position of wealth. Stella struggles slightly with the moral implications of betraying her boss, but she will do anything to help her family leading to her decision to find the incriminating documents. The mother visits her daughter and as they walk around the city she comments on how the rich residents made their money insisting that they did so in a dishonorable fashion. The only people that Mrs. Merwin believes amassed their fortune nobly are her husband and her friend Matilda Wedderburn.

Besides for being Mrs. Merwin’s old friend, Matilda Wedderburn is the love interest of Wendell Truscott. Matilda inherited great wealth from her father, and is a leader in literary and musical circles. She is a very independent woman who’s only reason to marry is for true love because she has everything else on her own. Miss Weddburn and Truscott have known each other forever, but their courtship intensifies as they engage in activities together suck as going to the theater. Matilda says Wendell is as close to her perfect man that she has ever met. She invites him to her home for dinner hoping that he will ask her to marry him there. Wendell has the same feelings for Miss Wedderburn so he writes a response to Matilda’s invitation that implies that he is planning on asking her to marry him that night; however, Truscott notices that his stenographer Miss Smith (Stella) is a beautiful young lady. He changes his mind when, “It occurred to him as he sat there, that perhaps a woman might be young in years, and yet not immature in mind, and that youth might possess a charm that maturity would lack.” Truscott tears up the letter and instead writes a less passionate response. When that night comes the two are in an intimate setting in which Matilda expects Wendell to ask her to marry her, but instead he abruptly leaves crushing her hopes of marriage. Later on Miss Wedderburn visits the office of The Truscott Refining Company where she recognizes Miss Smith as the Merwin’s daughter, and she suspects that the young stenographer is the reason Truscott has a change of heart.

While reviewing the daily reports Stella notices that something is inconsistent in the books, so she decides to look into the matter on a Sunday when nobody will be in the office. After reviewing the books she concludes that the bookkeeper Mr. Ross has stolen $20,000 from the company. While Stella is still there Ross comes in and finds the ledger on his desk along with a piece of paper that Stella had written on. Mr. Ross finds Stella hiding in the closet and knocks her out. Stella wakes up locks in a wardrobe; luckily she is able to escape by climbing through the roof of the wardrobe so she can go alert Mr. Truscott about Mr. Ross’s transgression. Truscott is very pleased that she discovers this crime, but by the time they inform the authorities Ross leaves town and makes it all the way to a South American country where there is no extradition.

The next Sunday Stella once again visits the office because this time in search of the documents that will restore her family’s wealth. Stella believes the necessary papers are in the safe in Truscott’s private office that she access to because of his special trust in her. She looks through the safe without success, but she knows there is a special compartment with an additional lock. She gets the key from Truscott’s desk and successful finds the papers in the locked compartment. At the same time Stella is in the office, Truscott goes to a dinner at the Country Club hosted by General Farwell. At the dinner the wealthy guests receive news from Wall Street that a bank in London collapsed and a financial crisis is imminent. Truscott is hit hard by the crisis and as a result cannot get banks to lend him money for the big project he has been working on thereby putting it on the verge of failure. Stella reviews the papers in her boarding house that night. The papers show the scheme that her father was planning that is very similar to Truscott’s current endeavor revolutionizing the oil refining industry. The papers show $2 million in stock that her father has investment in his new company Universal Subterranean Development Company. She believes that this is the evidence that will prove their wealth; however, Stella then sees through the documents how her father’s plan failed because of an economic collapse and the failures of his unscrupulous business partners. This proves that Wendell Truscott never stole from her father; it was Henry Merwin’s own fault that the family lost its fortune. Stella’s findings cement the family’s place outside the upper class of society and prevent Mrs. Merwin’s dream of returning to their previous life impossible. She also learns that the income the family has been receiving was not generated by the Merwin estate but actually is Truscott’s charity for the family. Stella returns the stolen papers to Mr. Truscott accompanied by a letter explaining her true identity as well as giving him her reason for resignation of the position. She thanks him for his generosity to the family and apologizes for taking advantage of the trust he showed her.

Characters

Stella Merwin (Miss Smith): The protagonist of the novel is a new woman of the late 19th century who pursues a life outside the traditional role of womanhood. She is a junior in college when she learns shorthand allowing her to secure a job as a stenographer. She works for The Truscott Refining Company with the objective of trying to find documents to prove her family’s wealth. She is a very good stenographer and is a woman of high integrity.

Wendell Truscott: The wealthy proprietor of the Truscott Refining Company who the Merwin family blames for their financial ruined. He is a crafty businessman, but he is reluctant to establish personal relationships with his employees or show them any kindness. It is revealed that he never betrayed his mentor, Henry Merwin, instead showing loyalty to him by financially providing for his family.

Mrs. Paxton: Stella’s mentor and headhunter who gets her the job at The Truscott Refining Company. She provides Stella with guidance in the business world while also serving as one of the only friends that Stella has in the city. The two women go to the theater together where they see Mr. Truscott with Miss Wedderburn.

Mr. Peters: The stenographer in Mr. Truscott’s office who precedes Stella. He was fired because of tardiness stemming from the abuse of alcohol. He is only mentioned briefly, but his character is used to depict Mr. Truscott’s lofty expectations he holds for his employees as well as his reluctance to build personal relationships with his workers.

Mr. Ross: The bookkeeper of The Truscott Refining Company who steals $20,000 from the company, but is able to escape to South America. Mr. Ross is judged to be a deceitful person by Stella Merwin from the very beginning, and her assessment proves to be true.

Matilda Wedderburn: A beautiful, wealthy woman who is engaged in a courtship with Wendell Truscott. Her hopes of marrying Truscott are crushed when he falls for Stella Merwin. Despite their failed courtship, she still is a great friend to Truscott when she gives him money to save his business. She is the only person Mrs. Merwin wishes to become friends with again once the family regains its wealth.

Mrs. Merwin: The mother of Stella and George and wife of Henry Merwin. The widow has trouble dealing with her decline in status. She is jealous of the wealthy families of Groveland, so she criticizes them for making their money unethically contrary to her husband’s method of amassing wealth in a scrupulous manner. She yearns to return to her high place in society

George Merwin: Stella’s brother who also lives and works for a business in Groveland, and a person Stella hopes to rely on him as someone she can count on to be there for her in the city. Unfortunately, he runs into trouble shortly after his sister’s arrival to the city. George has a gambling problem that creates a large debt leading to his arrest. He is saved by a stranger, who ironically is Wendell Truscott the sworn enemy of the family, and receives a place to stay on a ranch out West where he is out of harm’s way.

Themes

The new women

The major theme of this novel is the emergence of the new woman. Mrs. Merwin exemplifies the traditional female role as a mother and wife, but Stella Merwin rejects the classic portrayal of a woman by pursuing a higher education. Her schooling allows her to get a job in the business world that pays a substantial salary. Stella has the financial independence to thrive without relying on a husband to support her. The amount of women in the workplace was on the rise during this period, and Stella displays an example of a new female dominant job.

Status

Another theme featured in the book is financial inequality in the structure of society. This era was known for the vast disparity in wealth between the classes as the upper class lived in luxurious mansions with many servants and enjoyed the theater as entertainment, but the lower class struggled through life by working long hours in a factory or office with little opportunity for recreation. The Merwin’s drastic collapse in financial standing mirrors the fall of the title character in the literary classic of the time The Rise of Silas Lapham; a main focus of the plot is the difficulty Mrs. Merwin has with dealing with her new life style removed from the upper class.

Realism

Like most writers in the late 19th century Charles Chesnutt writes a Realism novel that attempts to paint a picture of society through a life like story. Chesnutt’s writing is not filled with ostentatious language or mythical characters that were popular in an earlier generation. It effectively captures the business world by describing The Truscott Refining Company’s inner working. He is able to craft an exciting story around an ordinary plot by making the reader want to see what is going to happen next.

Romance

The novel follows the form of a romance as Matilda Wedderburn and Wendell Truscott engage in a courtship that eventually fails when Truscott falls for his young stenographer. The courtship is highlighted by nights out at the theater and dinner parties with the family, while clearly neglecting the sexual component that is prevalent in modern courtship.

Critical Reception

At the time A Business Career was written in the 1890’s, it was not what publishing companies believed would sell as a successful novel so it was not initially published. Charles Chesnutt wrote a realism novel depicting white society in an effort to appeal to white readers who made up much of the market for literature. This attempt at publication made Chesnutt, along with Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first African American writers to enter the white life genre of writing. Dunbar’s novel, The Uncalled, did get published, but failed to sell successfully. When talking about the aspect of whiteness in African American authors’ work Matthew Wilson says, “Very little expressed interest in representations of whiteness in the black imagination. Black cultural and social critics allude to such representations in their writing, yet only a few have dared to make explicit those perceptions of whiteness that they think will discomfort or antagonize readers.” Chesnutt and Dunbar are two daring souls who trying to push the prescribed limits of race.

A House Behind the Cedars and The Marrow of Tradition became two of Chesnutt’s most successful novels as they followed the classic formula of literature addressing racial inequality. This displays the principle that there was segregation in the literature just like in many other fields. In the introduction to this novel Mathew Wilson says, “African American writers have had no right to represent white-life exclusively because to grant that right would be to acknowledge the permeability of the color line”

Charles Chesnutt viewed his work differently than most others in terms of racial implications. After receiving an award from the NAACP Chesnutt said, “Not a Negro writing about Negroes, but a human being writing about other human beings.” He did not see color in his writing; unfortunately, critics saw African Americans as inferior authors who had to stay in their own “league”.

A Business Career was clearly well written because even though Houghton Mifflin rejected its publication the Houghton Mifflin editor Walter Hines Page advised Chesnutt that, "You will doubtless be able to find a publisher, and my advice to you is decidedly to keep trying till you do find one." Whether or not Chesnutt kept trying to find a publisher is unknown, but at the time of his death in 1932 A Business Career remained a manuscript in his estate. When it was finally published in 2005 over a century after it was written, A Business Career received very little attention from critics or readers. Chesnutt has still not received the recognition for attempting to break the color line that he deserves. His novel which was one of the very first of its kind has faded into the periphery of American Literature failing to become a home on most bookshelves.

Bibliography and References

1. Chesnutt, Charles W., and Matthew Wilson. A Business Career. Jackson: University of Mississippi, 2005. Print.

2. Wilson, Matthew. Whiteness in the Novels of Charles W. Chesnutt. Jackson: University of Mississippi, 2004.

3. "A Business Career [Hardcover]." A Business Career: Charles W. Chesnutt, Matthew Wilson, Marjan Van Schaik: 9781578067619: Amazon.com: Books. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/Business-Career-Charles-W-Chesnutt/dp/1578067618>.