The Wealth of Nations · Character
A Master
The unnamed employer whose household and workshop Smith keeps returning to, the quiet test case for every claim about wages, labor, and the invisible hand.
supporting
Also known as a master
First appearance: viii of the wages of labour
As a supporting figure in The Wealth of Nations, A Master is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.
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He never speaks, never appears, yet his decisions ripple through Smith's examples of how labor is hired, divided, and paid. The tension is structural: he wants profit, his workers want subsistence, and the bargain…
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See A Master in viii of the wages of labourNarrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This passage marks the story's dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of Smi…
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