# The Servants — The Wealth of Nations character guide

> The Servants in The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the servants, theirs, themselves, The servants, their

**First appearance:** 0037-iii-of-the-accumulation-of-capital-or-of-productive-and-unproductive-labour

## Who they are

The dependents who look up to the great herdsman for protection, complaint, and judgment, bound to him by subsistence rather than contract.

## Relationships

### [The Chinese](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/characters/the_chinese)

_social_

The Chinese interact with the servants in a master-servant social hierarchy.

### [The Master](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/characters/the_master)

_professional_

The master and the servants have a hierarchical employer-servant relationship.

## In the story

### [II: Inequalities Occasioned by the Policy of Europe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/chapters/ii-inequalities-occasioned-by-the-policy-of-europe)

Servants and laborers in the countryside, whose work requires more skill but is less rewarded.

### [III: Of the Accumulation of Capital, or of Productive and Unproductive Labour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/chapters/iii-of-the-accumulation-of-capital-or-of-productive-and-unproductive-labour)

Mentioned as menial servants whose labour is unproductive, adding no value to any subject.

### [How the Commerce of the Towns Contributed to the Improvement of the Country](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/chapters/iv-how-the-commerce-of-the-towns-contributed-to-the-improvement-of-the-country)

Retainers and dependants maintained by the hospitality of great proprietors.

### [II: Of Restraints Upon the Importation from Foreign Countries of Such Goods as Can Be Produced at Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/chapters/ii-of-restraints-upon-the-importation-from-foreign-countries-of-such-goods-as-can-be-produced-at-home)

Implied as part of the household analogy; the prudent master does not attempt to make at home what can be bought cheaper.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/characters/the_servants
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/characters