# Sam — Clotel character guide

> Sam in Clotel by William Wells Brown.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Sam, Marser Sam, Marser

**First appearance:** 0005-ii-going-to-the-south

## Snapshot

A talkative, quick-witted slave who mends boots, trades gossip, and nudges his mistress toward the marriage that will loosen the overseer's grip on the plantation.

## Who they are

Sam is the servant who lingers in Carlton's room with the boots in his hands, wishing aloud that Marser Carlton and Miss Georgy would marry so the household might have good times. His casual remark about love haunts Georgiana all night and pushes her to propose, and the servants' delight at the wedding shows how closely the enslaved watch their owners' hearts. Comic on the surface, Sam is also a strategist: his chatter is the small lever by which the plantation's whole regime begins to shift.

## Relationships

### [Georgiana Carlton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/georgiana_carlton)

_professional_

Sam is likely a slave or servant in the Carlton household, with Georgiana as his mistress.

### [William Wells Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/william_wells_brown)

_social_

Sam is likely a fellow slave or acquaintance of Brown, sharing a common experience of bondage.

### [Georgiana Carlton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/georgiana_carlton)

_professional_

Sam is likely a slave or servant in the Carlton household, with Georgiana as his mistress.

### [William Wells Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/william_wells_brown)

_social_

Sam is likely a fellow slave or acquaintance of Brown, sharing a common experience of bondage.

### [Georgiana Carlton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/georgiana_carlton)

_professional_

Sam is likely a slave or servant in the Carlton household, with Georgiana as his mistress.

## In the story

### [Death of the Parson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xvi-death-of-the-parson)

Leads the enslaved people in a celebratory song about Peck's death, then resumes a solemn demeanor when serving in the house.

### [XVIII: The Liberator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xviii-the-liberator)

A slave who expresses hope that Carlton and Georgiana will marry, believing it will lead to better times for the slaves.

### [XXI: The Christian’s Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xxi-the-christian-s-death)

One of the few slaves not freed immediately; entrusted with care of the family.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/sam
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters