StevenssInBP

Set in the 1950s, this story brings the Stevens family biography forward in several respects. "Uncle Gavin" has married, though his wife makes the briefest of appearances in the text. Charles (as Chick is called here) has fought in World War II, becoming the first member of the family to serve in the military. There is some generational disagreement between uncle and nephew about the prospects for America's democratic experiment. Together, however, the two men serve in the text as an audience rather than as actors. Charles again narrates, but the focus of the tale within his tale is on Snopesism, and its protagonist is another of Faulkner's favorite characters, V.K. Ratliff.