Sumatra (Location Key)

In his description of Three Basket and Louis Berry on the first page of the story, the narrator of "Red Leaves" compares their faces to the appearance of "carved heads on a ruined wall in Siam or Sumatra, looming out of a mist" (313). Sumatra is a large island that is part of the Asian nation of Indonesia. It's not clear that this analogy would help many of Faulkner's readers see the two Indians more clearly, but it certainly locates them in an exotic context.