Keywords

To mark passages where white slave owners make some attempt to improve the condition of the slaves they own; the clearest example is way Buck and Buddy McCaslin treat their slaves. SR

For passages that include specific numbers about the people or places involved, as when Bayard says that before the War on Sundays, there would be 10 slaves at the service for every 1 white person. SR

To indicate when slaves began their lives (in either freedom or slavery) outside the U.S. The most obvious example are the slaves Sutpen brings with him from the Caribbean. SR

Refers to when a text alludes to the legacy of slavery years (or decades) after the end of slavery. It was created to tag the references to "sold my Benjamin" in "Go Down, Moses" - a story whose very title alludes to slavery. JBP

To note passages in which enslaved people are described - or describe themselves - as loyal to the family that owns them, as when Simon describes how happy all the Sartoris slaves were at the birth of their master's son. SR

For moments in the texts where owning slaves is evoked as a marker of status or wealth, as when Jason Compson connects his family pride to the fact that his ancestors owned slaves. SR

Used to note passages where enslaved blacks are described as members of an inferior species. The Indians in "Red Leaves," for example, say that their slaves "are like horses and dogs." SR

The clearest example of this occurs in "Raid," when Granny tells the slaves she has recovered from the Union Army to go "home," to their former masters, and they seem to obey her. SR

To index passages in which slaves are described taking a stand of some kind, usually verbal, against their enslavement. The clearest instances of this involve Loosh and Granny on the Sartoris plantation. (More direct physical forms of resistance are indexed under "Fugitive" and "Revolt.") SR

For instances of the patterns that became a recurring aspect of the social interactions between slaves and masters, as in the description of the young slaves approaching Sutpen's big house on Christmas morning in expectation of a gift. SR

This term describes moments when a character is isolated or ostracized from the wider social community. BR
Also used this term when a person intentionally isolates him/herself from the larger community. JJ