Character Frequency Table

On this table are the Characters who appear in at least 5 different Yoknapatawpha fictions. Over three-quarters of them are male, and the largest single demographic category is white, male and upper class. All of the 7 Negro characters on the list are associated with Yoknapatawpha's upper class white families as slaves or servants, but this group includes Loosh, one of the very few slaves in the fictions who resists his enslavement. All 6 of the table's historical figures (Lee, Grant, Lincoln, Sherman, Jackson and Forrest) are from the Civil War era, and only one of them - Forrest - actually appears in a text. Of the 67 Snopeses who are mentioned or appear in the fictions, only 6 make the cut, and 2 of them - Eula and Linda - are not biologically Snopeses at all. It's interesting to note how many of Faulkner's most memorable characters don't qualify for the list, and it should be acknowledged that the designation "Major Character" reflects the scholarly judgment of the teams of collaborators who analyzed each text. - Stephen Railton