Caste

by

Isabel Wilkerson

The plumber visits Isabel Wilkerson’s old house to investigate a leak in the basement. He’s initially unhelpful and standoffish, which Wilkerson intuits is due to the underlying effects of casteism that impact all Americans. But Wilkerson manages to get through to the plumber after connecting with him about their shared losses of their mothers.
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The Plumber Character Timeline in Caste

The timeline below shows where the character The Plumber appears in Caste. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Thirty-One: The Heart is the Last Frontier
Caste, Race, and Social Division in the U.S.  Theme Icon
How Caste Sustains Itself Theme Icon
...plumbing company because she’d discovered flooding in the basement of her old home. A dominant-caste plumber in a red cap came to her door, and she led him to the basement,... (full context)
Caste, Race, and Social Division in the U.S.  Theme Icon
How Caste Sustains Itself Theme Icon
As the white plumber surveyed the basement, Wilkerson hustled to move boxes and old furniture around and to offer... (full context)
Caste, Race, and Social Division in the U.S.  Theme Icon
How Caste Sustains Itself Theme Icon
Soon, the plumber was helping Wilkerson navigate the basement and looking for things that might be wrong. He... (full context)