49 pages • 1 hour read
Graeme Macrae BurnetA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Preface-Statements
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 15-37
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 37-59
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 59-83
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 83-96
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 96-112
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 112-126
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 126-133 and Medical Reports
Extract from Travels in the Border-Lands of Lunacy by J. Bruce Thomson
The Trial, First and Second Day
The Trial, Third Day-Epilogue
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Roderick describes his cell in Inverness, which measures “five paces long and two wide” (37). He describes the gaoler (jailer), a silent figure who treats Roderick “with neither kindness nor contempt” (38). After the first days of his incarceration, during which he was visited by various officers of the law, he is mostly left to himself aside from visits from Sinclair. A notable exception from this routine is a visit from Dr. Munro, who asks him several questions about his state of mind and appears surprised at Roderick’s willingness to confess his crimes without seeking forgiveness.
Returning to the events leading up to his murders, Roderick recalls the evening Schoolmaster Gillies visited his house to persuade his father to allow Roderick to continue his studies. Although John is steadfast in his refusal, citing his need for Roderick’s assistance tending the croft, Roderick is grateful for Gillies’s visit. Soon after, Roderick finds work on Lord Middleton’s estate assisting the ghillie—a kind of hunt-master for the nobility. On his first day he meets Archibald Ross, a boy of roughly his age who is also employed assisting the ghillie, and Roderick immediately regards him as “the cleverest person [he] ever met” (45). Roderick is charged with carrying a large chest containing provisions for a picnic.