Unnamed Negro Cousin of Roth's Mistress

Character Key Number: 
1355
Display Name: 
Unnamed Negro Cousin of Roth's Mistress
Sort Name: 
Unnamed Negro Cousin of Roth's Mistress
Parent Character Key: 
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?: 
No
Biography: 

In the revised version of "Delta Autumn" that Faulkner published in Go Down, Moses, Ike McCaslin sees this "Negro man" "sitting in the stern" of the boat that brought the young woman to the camp (277). The boat is his, and he is the woman's "cousin," though unlike hers, his race is immediately apparent (278). When Ike learns that the young woman is descended from James Beauchamp, he might have realized that this cousin of hers is also a relative of his - part of the extended McCaslin-Beauchamp-Edmonds family - but that is not made explicit in the chapter. (The same "Negro man" appears in the magazine version of "Delta Autumn" - described and discussed identically, except for the capitalization of the "N" in "Negro" - but we have a separate entry for him, because he is not part of the McCaslin-Beauchamp-Edmonds family.)