Washington D.C. in "By the People" (Location)

After referring to the capital of Mississippi as a "minor hog trough," the narrator goes on to call the capital of the country "that vast and limitless" hog trough (271). For Clarence Snopes, "his aim, his ambition, was and had been all the time: Washington, Congress" (271) - but thanks to Ratliff, he never gets a chance to go there (271). "Washington" is also where Colonel Devries is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his genuine heroism, which may be the story's way of recuperating somewhat the image of the seat of U.S. government.