Charles

At the end of the story, "Uncle Gavin" addresses the narrator as "Charles" (139). His last name is never given, but when this story was published in 1955, readers of either Intruder in the Dust (1948) or Knight's Gambit (1949) would have known that Gavin's nephew is Charles (Chick) Mallison. He's the youngest member of a family that is connected to some of Yoknapatawpha's oldest families, and although his age shifts around a lot in the various texts he appears in - we calculate his birth date here on the basis of his saying he was "about eight" when he first met Ratliff "twenty and more years ago" (88) - he represents a more contemporary generation of upper class, southern white males than any other Faulkner character. When he refers to the people "of my age and time," he means people who can see beyond the traditional assumptions of "the Yoknapatawpha Counties" (134). On the other hand, his narrative is deeply respectful of the previous generation: his own "Father" (139), Ratliff, and especially "Uncle Gavin." He regularly quotes what "Uncle Gavin said" about the events of the story (89, etc.). He says little about himself, often using the first person plural, "we," but does mention that he has served in "the Pacific" in World War II (88); and at the end of the story Ratliff addresses him as "Major," so he apparently served well (139).