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1-Page Summary of Mudbound

Overall Summary

Mudbound is a novel written by Hillary Jordan in 2008. It takes place in the southern United States, specifically Mississippi after World War II. Two families are connected and their fates become intertwined because of racism. The story explores themes like love, family, loyalty, duty and the uneasy relationship African Americans have had with the South since emancipation.

The story begins with a woman named Laura who is 30 years old and has never been married. She’s resigned to being single forever since she’s passed the marriageable age. However, one day she meets Henry McAllan and they fall in love. They get married and have two daughters together. At first, they live in Memphis but later move to help Eboline after her husband commits suicide. When they arrive at their new house on the farm, it turns out that they were scammed by the realtor who rented them a nice home without telling them it was actually an old shack on his property with no electricity or plumbing! They also bring along Pappy, Henry’s racist father who loves to bully Laura as well as Hap and Florence Jackson (the black tenants).

Florence begins working for Laura and they become friends. Henry’s younger brother Jamie comes back from the war and visits his family. He is vivacious, charming, and soon falls in love with Laura. They have sex but hide their affair from Henry. Florence’s son Ronsel returns home after the war as well and becomes friends with Jamie. They are often seen together drinking in town which angers local racists including members of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan).

During the war, Ronsel became a tank commander. Later on, he will learn that before returning home from the war, he impregnated a white German woman whom he called Resl. While riding in the front seat with Jamie (a friend), Ronsel drops his letter to Resl on the floor; Pappy finds it and passes it along to several of his friends who arrive wearing robes like those of Ku Klux Klan members. They beat up both Jamie and Ronsel and then force Jamie to choose what punishment they should give Ronsel: castration or eye removal or hand amputation or tongue removal? Jamie chooses for them to cut out Ronsel’s tongue.

After Jamie finds Pappy asleep in the house, he smothers him with a pillow and kills him. Florence can’t do it because she loves her father too much. They bury Pappy and leave the land for good with Ronsel, who is now mute due to his injuries. In this novel, we see how racism, inequality and racist attitudes are still prevalent in the south even after slavery ended.

Part 1: “Jamie”

The story begins with a description of the burial of Henry’s father. It is revealed that Henry and his brother, Jamie, had to dig up their father because he was buried in a slave grave. The reason for this was that their father did not want to be buried in such an unhonorable place. They were worried about the storm clouds and hurried so they could finish before it started raining again.

A woman named Laura brings the boys food and water. She tells them to move the bones so that they won’t see them. When it starts raining, Jamie is afraid because he thinks mud will fall in on him. He says during the war he avoided the ocean whenever possible.

Jamie lowers a ladder for Henry, who climbs out. They go to the house and put their father’s body in a coffin. Jamie begins to pound nails into it. He hears Laura tell Bella that her grandfather can’t get mad no matter what they do because he’s dead now: “He can’t get mad at anyone ever again.”

Part 1: “Laura”

Laura says that the farm is dirty, and she has to work all day. She thinks about her children, who are scared of their grandfather.