Submitted by lorie.watkins@g... on Mon, 2016-08-08 16:29
Pearson is a "state draft investigator" (45). A man of "better than average intelligence," he has developed an arrogant, stereotypical way of thinking about country people (48). His previous relief agency work has taught him to expect the worst from such folks, but his encounter with Mr. Gombault and the McCallum family shows him "something a little different here from what he had expected" (48). Over the course of the story, he learns how wrong his assumptions can be.
Submitted by lorie.watkins@g... on Mon, 2016-08-08 13:41
One of Faulkner's most palatable lawmen, Mr. Gombault is repeatedly described as old, yet he moves "quickly, easily" (61). He displays a deep understanding of human behavior as he deals shrewdly with both Mr. Pearson and the McCallum family, and is perhaps one of the "Tall Men" of the story's title as the final line identifies him as a "tall, lean old man" (61).
Buddy McCallum serves in the American Expeditionary Force that fought alongside the allies in France during World War I. He is wounded when hit by machine gun bullets while charging "through a wheat field" (51).
Virginia was the scene of many of the great battles of the Civil War. Because his mother was from the state, in 1861 Anse walks "all the way" there from Mississippi, and as part of "Stonewall Jackson's army" fights in at least two of those battles: "the Valley" (a reference to Jackson's 1862 campaign in the Shenandoah Valley), and "Chancellorsville," the 1863 battle in which Jackson was killed (54).
