Unnamed Boy Narrator

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Display Name: 
Unnamed Boy Narrator
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Unnamed Boy Narrator
Parent: 
Race: 
White
Gender: 
Male
Class: 
Poor White
Rank: 
Major
Vitality: 
Alive
Narrator: 
First Person
Biography: 

One of many of Faulkner's "boy" narrators, this twelve-year-old son of tenant farmers is probably an adult when he tells this story about how Pat Stamper bested both his "Pap" and "Mammy." Although he is a sympathetic companion to his father, he is also a careful reporter and analyst of Pap's behavior. At least from his older perspective, he can see Pap's weaknesses for horse- and mule-trading, and for alcohol as well. He tells this story in a vernacular dialect that is often eloquent, though also characterized by the racist language and biases he has learned from his surroundings.

Note: 
An earlier version of "Fool About a Horse" has the boy "Quentin" re-telling V. K. Surratt's story to his Grandfather and Doc Peabody. (Uncollected Stories, 684-85). Faulkner further revised the story when he had V. K. Ratliff retell it in <em>The Hamlet<em>, to explain how Ab Snopes has become "plumb curdled" after his disastrous journery to and from Jefferson.
Individual or Group: 
Individual
Character changes class in this text: 

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