March

At Oak Landing, Mr. March comes down with saddleback fever. This ailment has no cure and will intermittently overtake him for the rest of his life. This illness is symbolic of the guilt that consumes—and will continue to consume—Mr. March. When Mr. March first comes down with saddleback fever, the workers care for him, and he recovers quite quickly. After the battle with the Confederate guerillas, his next bout with the illness decimates his health, nearly resulting in his death. This draws a parallel to the guilt that he carries. While teaching at Oak Landing, he already had a guilty conscience, in large part because of Grace’s long-ago beating and Silas Stone’s death in the river. After the Confederate raid and slaughter of several Oak Landing workers, Mr. March’s guilt becomes all-consuming. In the novel’s last scene, it is made clear that—like saddleback fever—he is destined to battle his guilt for the rest of his life. 

As a young salesman, after Mr. March was evicted from Clement’s plantation, he arrived at a church in the outskirts of Petersburg, where he briefly felt “as if a Power revealed itself to [him]” (42). Inside, a Bible study was taking place, and he decided to join it. Adjacent to the church was a square where slaves were auctioned. Inside the church, he listened to the faithful celebrating God’s love. From outside, he could hear the auctioneers selling the slaves. He called out the churchgoers for not protesting the auction, and for claiming to be Christian when they did not act Christ-like. They responded by telling him to leave, which he does, “speedily and without regret” (43). As he walked out from the church, his exit symbolized a life-long shift in his religious identity. He permanently left behind organized religion, instead opting for his own brand of humanitarian-based Christianity.