De Spain Mansion in The Hamlet (Location)

Although the De Spain's, father and son, appear often in Faulkner's fictions, this novel provides few details about them or their plantation. Since Ratliff's account of Ab Snopes' experience with De Spain is essentially a summary of the story Faulkner told in "Barn Burning," we have set the de Spain property in the same place as the editors of that story did. Our speculation is also based on the fact that Jody Varner has not previously heard what Ratliff tells him, which suggests the events occurred on the opposite side of the county. But it has to be acknowledged that no text provides a clear indication of where De Spain's property lies in Yoknapatawpha.