The Longest Memory: Chapter 3: Sanders Senior Summary & Analysis

The novel jumps back in time. In a series of diary entries, starting in January 1796, Sanders Senior relates his life on the plantation. Ever since the death of his wife, Caroline, five years ago, he has felt bored, lonely, and convinced that no one will ever be able to replace her. He refuses to tell his son, Sanders Junior, how his mother died, although Sanders Senior does tell his son that she is in heaven. Sanders Senior admires the slave Whitechapel’s skill, knowledge, and hardworking attitude, but this does not keep him from treating his slaves severely, which Mr. Whitechapel often criticizes.

Sanders Senior believes that slaves are cattle and should not be given more food, despite Mr. Whitechapel’s new orders. After a few female slaves die on the plantation, he needs to find new slaves and decides to look for a fifteen-year-old girl at the market. He ultimately chooses a woman (later called Cook) who looks about twenty-two, despite her claim to be fifteen, and is satisfied with her work on the plantation. He notes that Whitechapel also likes her very much.

Sanders Senior tells Sanders Junior that slaves are intellectually inferior. When his son replies that Whitechapel can tie a knot that his father cannot replicate, Sanders Senior considers this a joke but concludes that Whitechapel’s knot-tying ability is not a sign of intelligence. His son then wonders about the reasons for the difference in people’s skin colors: specifically, why slaves are “dark” while his father and he are “bright”—a word choice that amuses Sanders Senior.

When Sanders Senior’s normal cook gets sick, he decides to use the new girl (Cook) in the kitchen, who turns out to be a wonderful cook. He decides to give her a permanent position as cook and caretaker of his child, and she seems relieved to escape the hard work in the fields. Despite Sanders’s frequent dreams about his dead wife, Caroline, he realizes that he feels attracted to Cook but that, at the same time, Whitechapel has become a good friend of hers, which seems to indicate romantic interest. He jokes to himself about Whitechapel’s twelve daughters, which he believes are the cause of his wife’s death, and concludes that the slave should contain his sexual ardor.

When Sanders Senior is caught beating a slave, Mr. Whitechapel reprimands him, which irritates the overseer. On Sanders Junior’s birthday, which is also the anniversary of Caroline’s death, Sanders Senior can smell what Cook has baked in the kitchen and realizes that it reminds him of his wife. Later, when Whitechapel asks Mr. Whitechapel if he can marry Cook, Sanders feels resentful, as he believes she will soon be pregnant and thus less useful to him. He says that Whitechapel should simply use one of his daughters for sexual comfort instead.

A few days later, Sanders Senior scolds Cook for answering one of Sanders Junior’s questions about death, while Whitechapel teaches him to click his heels, which annoys his father greatly. Meanwhile, Sanders Senior continues to dream about Caroline and, at the same time, feels increasingly attracted to Cook. He decides to postpone Whitechapel’s marriage because he still has not found a replacement cook—a decision to which Whitechapel reacts with his usual smile, which impresses Sanders in its capacity to disguise any potential feeling of impatience or anger.

When Sanders Senior and Mr. Whitechapel go to the market to look for a new slave, they discuss Abolitionists’ increasing protests. Sanders makes a joke about the fact that they do not need Abolitionists on Mr. Whitechapel’s plantation, since slaves are treated well there. This makes Mr. Whitechapel laugh so hard that Sanders thinks he is overreacting, as the joke was not that funny.

After the visit to the market fails to bring a new slave on the plantation, Sanders Senior finds excuses to invite Cook to his room. On one occasion, he scolds her for once again talking to Sanders Junior about issues unrelated to her position and, as a punishment, slaps her, which makes her cry. To apologize, he holds her against him, thinking she might actually be fifteen after all. However, he soon begins to feel sexual desire and tells her to leave. The thought of her keeps him awake at night. Whitechapel later asks Sanders if he has succeeded in finding a new cook, and the overseer sarcastically replies by asking him if he thinks he might be better at finding a slave himself, to which Whitechapel replies with his usual smile, once again impressing Sanders with his impassivity.

On Christmas Eve, a time that reminds Sanders Senior of Caroline, the overseer grabs Cook, draws her to his bed, and rapes her, seeking to get out of his system what he feels as an uncontrollable sexual urge. To keep her from telling anyone about what has happened, he agrees to let her marry Whitechapel immediately. Despite his fear that Whitechapel might find out about the rape and kill him, Sanders Senior feels reassured by Christmas dinner at Mr. Whitechapel’s house, where he laughs with the master’s family about finding a wife and feels protected.

On the first of January, Whitechapel and Cook get married. Sanders Senior reflects that most slaves on the plantation belong to Whitechapel’s family, and worries about the possibility of mass rebellion. When Cook asks to return to the fields, Sanders refuses but learns that she still has told no one about being raped, which makes him feel relieved. A few days later, though, despite Cook’s fierce efforts to fight him back, Sanders Senior rapes her once again, noting that he only feels relief, not pleasure. He promises her it will not happen again.

The next day, Sanders Senior is summoned to a meeting with Mr. Whitechapel, Whitechapel, and Cook. He knows the meeting will be about the rape and does not attempt to lie, despite his trust that, as a white man, his word would be infinitely more powerful than that of a slave. As retribution for the rape, Mr. Whitechapel forces Sanders to apologize to both Whitechapel and Cook, fines him, and urges him to find a male cook. Sanders wants to hit Cook out of anger but is forced to remain calm.

One day, Sanders Senior is once again convened to Mr. Whitechapel’s house, as Cook has revealed that she lost her virginity to him when he raped her the first time. Whitechapel is furious and no longer smiling. Whitechapel, it seems, now wants to abandon Cook, but Mr. Whitechapel has convinced him to stay with her. A month later, Cook discovers that she is pregnant. While Sanders hopes that it might be Whitechapel’s child, Whitechapel believes it probably belongs to Sanders. Whitechapel ultimately decides to stay with Cook because he loves her and does not want to leave her.

Over the next few months, Sanders Senior keeps on refusing to tell Sanders Junior about Caroline’s death, and Sanders Senior also makes fun of his son’s aspirations to become a scientist or a philosopher. In the meantime, Whitechapel seems genuinely happy about Cook’s pregnancy.

Disaster strikes when a slave runs away, and Mr. Whitechapel removes some of the slaves’ privileges. Famished and desperate, the runaway finally returns to the plantation after hiding for days. He receives two hundred lashes, faints twice during the punishment, and Mr. Whitechapel uses this occasion to make his slaves promise their loyalty to him. In the evening, the master and his family celebrate the slave’s return, although the slave dies a few days later of a fever. Mr. Whitechapel seems worried that the slave’s wounds might have caused his death, but Sanders Senior finds this idea ridiculous.

Sanders Senior finally tells Sanders Junior that his mother, Caroline, died in childbirth, which upsets the boy terribly. In September, Cook gives birth to a son (Chapel) whose skin is dark but whom Sanders finds looks exactly like his own son. Sanders tells Whitechapel to give his son the same name, since Whitechapel will raise him as his own son. Whitechapel is overjoyed, which makes Sanders reflect that his emotions are very similar to white people’s.

Meanwhile, after rumors begin to spread about Sanders Senior’s role in Cook’s pregnancy, Mr. Whitechapel furiously orders the overseer to find a wife to quell the rumors. Sanders obeys the master and gets married. When Whitechapel slyly asks him about his new wife, Sanders finds himself unable to imitate the slave’s typical smile and wonders if Whitechapel is secretly laughing at him.