Dunbar, Paul Laurence. "The Faith Cure Man".

Summary

- Martha's little daughter Lucy lies on her death bed but Martha disbelieves the doctor's diagnosis

- she calls a faith-cure man who sells the desperate mother an expensive elixir

- Martha believes she sees improvements in Lucy each day

- she goes out to buy her daughter a pair of new shoes and a doll, when she comes back, she finds her daughter dead

- Lucy is buried but Martha cannot come to terms with her death because she knows that she had belief enough

Analysis

- black characters speak strong black English dialect in the dialogues

- the tragedy of belief in help both on the part of primitive rituals and elixirs (the faith-cure man) and on the part of God (Martha cannot accept the fact that her prayers did not help)

- the business of taking advantage of and earning on people's despair