The Root of Evil
# The Root of Evil

The Root of Evil is a 1911 novel by Thomas Dixon, Jr.

## Plot summary

James Stuart, a Southerner, becomes a successful attorney in New York City. Meanwhile, Nan Primrose, his childhood lover marries his college friend, John C. Calhoun Bivens, now a millionnaire lawyer. At the same time, Dr Henry Woodman takes care of the poor in New York, and opposes the takeover of a drug company by Bivens. Stuart eventually marries his daughter. When Woodman steals some jewelry from Bivens, he goes through a trial but is acquitted by the judges thanks to his good deeds.

## Main theme

Biographer Anthony Slide viewed the book as an 'attack on capitalism.'

## Critical reception

Slide called it 'a novel for today and for all ages.' It has also been called 'a novel with a purpose'

