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The Root of Evil

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The Root of Evil
Title page of the first edition.
AuthorsThomas Dixon, Jr.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherDoubleday, Page & company[1]
Publication date
1911[1]
Pages407[1]

The Root of Evil is a 1911 novel by Thomas Dixon, Jr.

Plot summary

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James Stuart, a Southerner, becomes a successful attorney in New York City.[2] Meanwhile, Nan Primrose, his childhood lover marries his college friend, John C. Calhoun Bivens, now a millionnaire lawyer.[2] At the same time, Dr Henry Woodman takes care of the poor in New York, and opposes the takeover of a drug company by Bivens.[2] Stuart eventually marries his daughter.[2] When Woodman steals some jewelry from Bivens, he goes through a trial but is acquitted by the judges thanks to his good deeds.[2]

Main theme

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Biographer Anthony Slide viewed the book as an 'attack on capitalism.'[2]

Critical reception

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Slide called it 'a novel for today and for all ages.'[2] It has also been called 'a novel with a purpose'[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c HathiTrust: The Root of Evil
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Anthony Slide, American Racist: The Life and Films of Thomas Dixon, Louisville, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2004, pp. 127-129 [1]
  3. ^ The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, Excelsior Publishing House, 1911, Volume 34, p. 138
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