Unnamed Negro Companion

This young black was Hoake McCarron's sole companion growing up. Many of Faulkner's wealthier white men had Negro companions and personal servants as boys; the way this kind of relationship plays out in The Hamlet is atypical, to say the least. When the boys are 6-8 years old, Hoake "conquers the negro with his fists in a fair fight" (150). Later he "pays the negro" at a fixed rate "for the privilege of whipping [him] . . . with a miniature riding crop" (151). While the narrative takes note that the whippings are "not severely" administered (151), it's hard to understand how Faulkner wants us to evaluate Hoake - who as Eula Varner's first lover and the father of Linda Snopes plays a significant role in the trilogy - in view of this detail in his biography.