Unnamed Slave at Sutpen's
Character Key Number:
2254
Display Name:
Unnamed Slave at Sutpen's
Sort Name:
Unnamed Slave at Sutpen's
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?:
Yes
Biography:
In "Wash" this "house servant" - also called a "Negress" - is "one of the few Negroes who remained" at Sutpen's after the Sherman and the "Federal troops" had passed through (537). She refuses to allow Wash Jones to enter the Sutpen mansion while Sutpen is away at the war - not even by way of "the kitchen steps" (537). (Her treatment of Wash anticipates the character of Clytemnestra in Absalom, Absalom!, but there is no hint in the story that she is related to the white family she serves.)