Ratliff tries to hide his role in Clarence Snopes' political demise by inventing the character of the "low-minded rascal" who makes him ridiculous (138). Ratliff also refers to this figure as an "underhanded son of a gun" and a "low-minded scoundrel" (138), but does not fool either Gavin Stevens - or the reader.
Submitted by ben.robbins@fu-... on Tue, 2017-10-31 09:09
An Argentinian "steeple-chasing cavalry officer" whom the Backus family meet when World War II shifts their travel itinerary from Europe to South America (282). The Mansion briefly rehearses the story that Faulkner tells at length in "Knight's Gambit," about a brother's plot against this man's life and its happy ending in a marriage between the South American and a sister (282).
Submitted by ben.robbins@fu-... on Tue, 2017-10-31 08:57
The female clientele at the "joint" where Linda takes Gavin would be more surprised by an ear trumpet than a "G string" (275). They are presumably, like Linda, women who work in the shipyard because the male population has gone to fight in the war; the reference to the "G string" as well as the noise in the "joint" is the narrative's way of implying how untraditional, by the standards of southern gentility, is their behavior and appearance.
Submitted by ben.robbins@fu-... on Tue, 2017-10-31 08:48
In his speculations in The Mansion about the source of the anonymous letter accusing Linda of being a Communist, Gavin imagines and then dismisses this "mail clerk" at Parchman as a possible source of information, assuming anyone in that position would probably not be very competent at keeping track of the mail (269).
Submitted by ben.robbins@fu-... on Tue, 2017-10-31 08:46
A founder and the first Director of the FBI; he ran the agency from its founding in 1924 until his death in 1972. Someone - Gavin is sure it is Flem - calling himself "Patriotic Citizen" sends Hoover a letter warning him about Linda as a "commonist" (269).
