Flem Snopes

Flem Snopes is one of the central figures in the Yoknapatawpha fictions. His rise from share cropper's son to bank president, from cabin to mansion, provides the three novels of the Snopes trilogy with their central story, and Faulkner with a symbol of the worst aspects of the new South. The events of "Lizards in Jamshyd's Courtyard" form a pivotal moment in that story: Flem's ability to con Suratt provides him with a point of entry to Jefferson, the deed to half of a restaurant in town. He is described as "a squat man who might have been any age between twenty-five and fifty, with a round full face and dull eyes" (139). Here he is twice identified by his clothes - the "white shirt" and "blue denim trousers" held up by braces (141, 148); his thoughts remain unarticulated, but the evidence suggests Suratt is right to assume they are always focused on ways to exploit other people.