Balaam and His Master, and Other Sketches and Stories

In Short

Joel Chandler Harris’s 1891 collection gathers six narrative sketches set across rural Georgia during the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras. The stories trace the interconnected lives of former masters, freed enslaved people, unionists, and mountain folk as they navigate sweeping historical turns. Central plots follow an enslaved man’s unyielding attachment to a disgraced master, a mountain woman risking the wilderness to shield a deserter, and an impoverished planter trying to reclaim his ancestral home. The work endures as a vivid, emotionally complex portrait of human ties enduring amid deep societal fracture and racial hardship.

The Story

The collection opens with the title story, following Berrien Cozart, an unprincipled gambler raised in middle Georgia, and Balaam, the enslaved man bound to him from infancy. Despite Berrien’s reckless descent into debt, imprisonment, and crime, Balaam refuses to abandon him. Even when Berrien sells Balaam to clear a debt, the servant escapes and rejoins his master on the run, remaining steadfast through escape from jail until Berrien meets his ultimate fate.

In "A Conscript’s Christmas," the narrative shifts to the North Georgia mountains during the Civil War. Israel Spurlock hides from Confederate conscription officers to care for his family and marry his sweetheart, Polly. A jealous local politician, Wes Lovejoy, uses the militia to hunt Israel down, but Polly braves a harsh mountain storm to warn him. Through local trickery and the aid of sympathetic neighbors, the officers are outwitted, leaving the local tormentor exposed.

"Ananias" paints a stark portrait of post-war desolation along the path of Sherman’s March. Lawyer Terrell encounters Ananias, a deeply impoverished freedman with a sullen reputation. Despite public suspicion, Ananias dedicates himself to secretly feeding and sustaining his former master, the destitute Colonel, and the Colonel's daughter. Ananias turns to night foraging to keep the household from starvation, demonstrating an unshakeable, self-sacrificing devotion that eventually wins him public redemption.

The darker tone continues in "Where’s Duncan?", a brief, tragic tale of violence and memory told by an old bystander. A mysterious fire consumes a house as a Black woman engages in a deadly struggle with a white man, demanding to know the fate of Duncan before plunging a knife into him and perishing in the collapse of the building. In "Mom Bi," a Charleston household grieves the death of young Gabriel Waynecroft, killed in action. His devoted old nurse, Mom Bi, expresses her grief through fierce, despairing lamentations that shock visitors, mourning the senseless loss brought on by a war fought over slavery.

The book closes with "The Old Bascom Place," centered on Judge Briscoe Bascom, an elderly planter living in gentrified poverty while longing to reclaim his lost ancestral estate, now owned by a northern newcomer named Francis Underwood. As Judge Bascom’s health fails, Underwood extends quiet kindnesses to the Judge and his schoolteacher daughter, Mildred. On a crisp autumn morning, a confused Judge Bascom wanders back onto his old land, believing he has finally recovered it, and dies peacefully in the house. His legacy endures through Mildred, who marries Underwood and unites the past and present of the estate.

How It Unfolds

A reckless journey begins Berrien Cozart leaves the town of Billville alongside his loyal bondman Balaam, setting out on a life of high-stakes gambling that quickly leads to financial ruin and criminal flight.

The bonds of loyalty tested When Berrien attempts to sell Balaam to settle his debts, Balaam insists on escaping with his master, aiding him through multiple jailbreaks and shared hardships across the state.

Danger on the mountain In the Georgia hills, young Israel Spurlock evades draft enforcers while his fiancée Polly climbs a freezing mountain peak to warn him of an impending militia raid orchestrated by a jealous rival.

Outwitting the conscript officers Neighbor Billy Powers and his family harbor the fugitive, turning the militia’s hunt into a embarrassing misadventure that leaves the instigator humiliated.

Survival in a ruined landscape Following Sherman’s March, the freedman Ananias silently takes on the burden of foraging and stealthily stealing provisions in the night to keep his former master’s family from starving.

Vengeance in the flames A horrific scene unfolds as a woman confronts a white man inside a burning structure, demanding answers about a lost boy named Duncan before killing him as the roof collapses over them both.

A house in mourning Following the combat death of a young soldier, his old nurse Mom Bi kneels by the casket, defying societal expectations with her raw, unfiltered lamentations over the war's tragic cost.

Desire for the lost home Aging Judge Bascom spends his final days gazing at his former plantation, dreaming of the day he can repurchase the property from its new owner, Francis Underwood.

A final return Driven by a sudden surge of clarity and joy, Judge Bascom walks onto the estate grounds, collapses into the arms of his host, and passes away just as his daughter secures her future on the land.

The People

• Balaam: An enslaved man whose unwavering devotion leads him to follow his deeply flawed master through crime, flight, and imprisonment, refusing every opportunity to separate his life from his master's.
• Berrien Cozart: A charismatic but morally bankrupt gambler who squanders his status, repeatedly turns to desperate schemes, yet relies entirely on Balaam’s steady loyalty.
• Israel Spurlock: A gentle, well-built mountain man hiding from Confederate conscription so he can tend his mother's farm and marry his sweetheart.
• Polly Powers: Israel’s resolute fiancée, who risks extreme weather and rugged terrain to protect the man she loves from a vengeful local official.
• Ananias: A sullen-looking freedman who endures public suspicion and breaks the law under cover of night solely to supply food to his impoverished former owner.
• Judge Briscoe Bascom: An aristocratic, gentle ex-planter whose lingering pride and longing for his lost family estate consume his declining years.
• Mildred Bascom: The Judge's devoted daughter, who works tirelessly as a teacher to support her father while winning the affection of the estate’s new owner.
• Francis Underwood: The compassionate northern newcomer who buys the Bascom estate, respects the old Judge's dignity, and ultimately marries Mildred.

In Its Own Voice

"As you are telling the town good-by," said the young man, "I'll help you to bow."

Berrien Cozart sarcastically taunts Balaam as they leave their home town following Berrien's latest misadventure.

"Look at me, honey; look at you' ole nigger mammy! Whut make dee lef' you fer go way down, dey wey one folks kill turrer folks?"

Mom Bi sits alone in the sitting room, weeping before the portrait of her deceased young master after he falls in battle.

"I done year 'im say p'intedly dat he ain't never gwine come yer les'n de Place b'long ter 'im."

The servant Jesse expresses his surprise when the frail Judge Bascom suddenly visits his former home unannounced.

What It's Really About

The collection explores the chaotic aftermath of societal upheaval, examining how personal bonds endure when institutions fail. It interrogates the deep, complex, and often painful ties forged between Black and white southerners before and after emancipation. Across every sketch, characters wrestle with lost causes, pride, vengeance, and duty. The stories contrast the harsh realities of war and poverty with quiet acts of mercy, showing how individuals salvage dignity from ruin. Harris poses hard questions about loyalty—whether born of affection, habit, or trauma—and highlights how shared grief bridges social divides in a shattered world.

Why Read It Today

This collection offers an authentic, unvarnished window into 19th-century Southern literature, free from modern romanticizations. Readers who appreciate historical depth, regional realism, and rich character studies will find much to admire in Harris’s sharp observational eye. His prose moves easily between delicate descriptions of the Georgia countryside and tense, atmospheric drama.

The book does present challenges for contemporary readers. Much of the dialogue is written in heavy, period-accurate phonetic dialects—both Gullah-influenced African American vernacular and Appalachian mountain speech—which requires slow, attentive reading. Furthermore, the stories reflect the complicated racial attitudes and paternalistic assumptions of the late 19th century. Yet for those willing to engage with its historical context, the volume provides a poignant, surprisingly nuanced look at human resilience, tragic grief, and the enduring search for home amidst sweeping historical change.