Illinois in "Go Down, Moses" (Location)

The opening scene of "Go Down, Moses" takes place in a cell in the Illinois state penitentiary in Joliet. The cell is is described as a "steel crucible," with a "steel cot," a "steel stool," and a "steel door" (256, 257). An armed guard stands outside of it. Later in the story, Gavin Stevens calls the warden of this penitentiary. While there is a famous prison in Joliet, Faulkner probably was thinking of the nearby Stateville Penitentiary, which was the site of executions by electric chair from 1928 onward.