Moketubbe

In five texts Moketubbe is the son of Issetibbeha, and so, according to Faulkner's representation of Indian society, the heir to the title of 'The Man,' or chief of the tribe that lives in Yoknapatawpha when the white settlers begin arriving. The only one that shows him as the chief is "Red Leaves," Faulkner's first 'Indian story,' which begins after the death of his father. In that story he is an extremely unprepossessing young man, characterized by phrases like his "monstrous shape" (327) and "diseased with flesh" (321) and whose "complete and unfathomable lethargy" (320) seems to be a form of retardation. He is obsessed with the pair of "slippers with red heels" that his father brought back from Paris before he was born (318). Once he gains possession of these shoes, perhaps by killing his father, he shows no interest in fulfilling any of his responsibilities as chief. Although Go Down, Moses refers to him as "Doom's fat cousin" (158), the other four stories that mention him do not describe him as 'diseased,' just very prudent. In them his role is essentially defined by the speed with which he abdicates his position to avoid being killed by his cousin.