McCaslinsInM

In this third volume in the Snopes trilogy, "Uncle Ike" is the only McCaslin mentioned. He is an "octogenarian," still associated with "hunting and fishing (407), but he is introduced into the novel's cast as the owner of what the narrative now calls "the McCaslin Hardware Company," where Jason Compson starts clerking (355). Faulkner makes a gesture toward straightening out the ownership of the town's hardware store when he says that the store is "run by a man named Earl Triplett that Uncle Ike got from somewhere" (355); in The Sound and the Fury Earl is the owner of the store for whom Jason works. On the other hand, the discrepancy between Ike's career as a carpenter (symbolically important in Go Down, Moses) and his career as a merchant remains unresolved. Among the over 400 characters in this novel, Ike is a very minor figure.