Unnamed Father of Fonsiba's Husband

Display Name: 
Unnamed Father of Fonsiba's Husband
Sort Name: 
Unnamed Father of Fonsiba's Husband
Race: 
Black
Gender: 
Male
Class: 
Enslaved Black
Rank: 
Minor
Vitality: 
Dead
Occupation: 
Armed Forces
Specific Job: 
Union Soldier
Biography: 

The father of the unnamed Negro who marries Fonsiba is only mentioned in passing, but occupies a significant place in the Yoknapatawpha fiction as an African American who served in the Union army. There were in historical fact almost 180,000 'Colored troops' during the Civil War, serving in both non-combat and combat roles, but until recently these men were largely invisible in American representations of that war. This man is the only black "Yankee" soldier in Faulkner's work (261). He was enslaved before the war; after it he received a "grant" for his "military service" that is his legacy to his son (261).

Individual or Group: 
Individual
Character changes class in this text: 

digyok:node/character/11554