Deacon

Deacon is a fixture among the students at Harvard in 1910, especially the ones who come from the south. Black and, according to Quentin, a "natural psychologist" (97), he meets these southerners when they first arrive in Cambridge, "in a sort of Uncle Tom's cabin outfit, patches and all" (97) and proceeds to manipulate their prejudices to his own benefit. He tells Quentin that "you and me's the same folks, come long and short," and that Southerners are "fine folks. But you can't live with them" (99). He seems very much at home in the urban world of Boston. Quentin remembers seeing him marching in two parades, and Deacon tells him, now that he has "turned Democrat," the future looks even brighter: "Wait till next year. . . . Then see where I'm marching" (99). As part of his preparation for killing himself, Quentin gives Deacon a letter bequeathing him his second best suit of clothes.