Res Grier
Text:
Character Key:
Display Name:
Res Grier
Sort Name:
Grier, Res
AKA:
Eck Grier
Race:
White
Gender:
Male
Class:
Poor White
Rank:
Major
Vitality:
Alive
Occupation:
Farming
First Mentioned:
Real?:
No
Biography:
Res Grier, the narrator's "Pap," is not ordinarily ambitious or successful. He claims that "I don't own anything that even I would borrow" (34), though in the earlier story, "Two Soldiers," it is clear that he does own the land he farms. More aggressive here than in either of other stories in which he appears, Res shows himself as a trickster, and over-reacher, and a cock-eyed optimist.
Note:
I don't think it would be appropriate to connect "Shingles" chronology with that of either "Two Soldiers" or "Shall Not Perish" because none of the characters, including the narrator, refer to any of the events of either of those stories. There is no allusion to WWII, and the events could have taken place before the war, after "the WPA first come to Yoknapatawpha County" (29). Similarly, the narrative voice of the Grier boy seems to me to be more mature than that of the "Two Soldiers" narrator, who makes a number of childish mistakes in his interpretation of the world outside Yoknapatawpha. Here he's more like the mature Ratliff telling the story of "Fool About a Horse."
A couple of other ideas: (1) Do we want "Pronunciation" to be part of a family name, if known, or if less than obvious? (2) What about animals in the narratives? I suppose "this way lies madness," but that dog in "Shingles" is a lot more important "charzcter" tha the barely-named pairs whoshw up to look at what's left of the church.
Property Status:
owns land
owns house
Individual or Group:
Individual
Character changes class in this text:
digyok:node/character/2461