Fever 1793: Chapter 22 Summary & Analysis

In Eliza’s embrace, Mattie is overcome with grief about Mother, Grandfather, and all her suffering. Eliza tells Mattie it’s getting dark, and they’ll talk about everything later. She gives Nell a roll and offers to carry the child, but Nell clings to Mattie’s neck. Soon they reach the home of her brother, Joseph, a cooper. Before they go upstairs, Mattie has to know her mother’s fate. Eliza assures her that Lucille survived the fever and intended to follow Mattie to the Ludingtons’ farm. Mattie wants to find her at once, but Eliza tells Mattie, “you can only climb one mountain at a time.” They should eat supper first.

Eliza leads Mattie and Nell into Joseph’s small, tidy rooms above the cooperage. She explains that Joseph’s wife died last week, and Joseph is still in bed, weak and grieving. His twin boys, Robert and William, haven’t taken ill. She hugs the boys and introduces Mattie and Nell. Then a tiny, aged woman enters the room, leaning on a cane, and pokes Mattie’s arm, demanding to know who she is. When Eliza explains Mattie’s and Nell’s appearance, the woman snorts, “So you’ve got to feed them, too?” Mattie says she doesn’t intend to take anything from Eliza, but the woman says she can’t leave without food, then promises to return tomorrow. Eliza explains that the woman is Mother Smith, of the Free African Society, who’s watching Joseph’s boys while Eliza volunteers.

Eliza ladles stew for Mattie, but Mattie pours half of her serving back, saying that the boys need it more than she does. Mattie watches the three children eat and starts to form a plan, but she puts it aside, knowing she needs to “deal with each hour as it came, one step at a time.” Once the children are in bed, Eliza settles Mattie in a chair with a mug of lemonade and demands the full story. Mattie fills in all the details of her adventure with Grandfather, her own illness, and Grandfather’s death. She cries, believing she did everything wrong and that Grandfather’s death is somehow her fault. Eliza reassures her.

Eliza watches Nell sleeping and tells Mattie that both she and Nell should probably go to the orphan house. Mattie begs Eliza to believe that she’s not a little girl anymore and can take care of herself. Eliza says they’ll discuss it in the morning. Mattie helps her mend Robert’s and William’s clothes while Eliza fills her in on her work with the Free African Society.

Dr. Benjamin Rush had written to the Free African Society a few weeks ago, asking for help. The doctor believed that Africans could not get yellow fever. Although this turned out to be untrue, Reverend Allen believed that this was an opportunity “for black people to show we are every bit as good and important and useful as white people.” The Society began organizing to visit and care for the sick. Proudly, Eliza acknowledges that the Society “has done a remarkable job […caring] for thousands of people without taking notice of color.” However, black people have gotten sick, too.

After a silence, Mattie asks Eliza, “Are we going to die?” Eliza retorts that she can’t die; she has too much work to do. She counsels Mattie not to despair. All they have to do is find a way to survive until the frost comes.