Hoake|Hoke McCarron

Whether as Hoake (as his name is spelled in The Hamlet) or Hoke (as it's spelled in The Town and The Mansion), McCarron plays a biologically crucial role in the Snopes trilogy as the father of Linda Snopes, daughter of Eula and, ostensibly, Flem. His character is not attractive - except to Eula - in the first novel. He is an outsider to Yoknapatawpha, the son of substantial property owners, "a little swaggering and definitely spoiled though not vain so much as intolerant" (150). He is also aggressive and cruel, having grown up with a "negro lad for his sole companion," whom he pays "for the privilege of whipping the negro, not severely, with a miniature riding crop" (150-51). After beating out the local rivals for Eula - the 'beating' becomes literal in a climactic fight with a handful of them - he abandons her when he learns that she is pregnant. He is only mentioned in The Town, but is briefly united with his daughter in The Mansion, when as a successful businessman he travels to New York City to be at Linda's marriage. There is more to like about his character in that second and last appearance.