Joel Flint

Submitted by sfr on Wed, 2020-02-26 10:30
Character Key Number: 
2863
Display Name: 
Joel Flint
Sort Name: 
Flint, Joel
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?: 
Yes
Biography: 

Joel Flint, the protean villain in "An Error in Chemistry," used to work in carnivals. At one point he was known as Signor Canova, a master of illusion. After abandoning the Canova persona, Flint started working in other circuses, serving as "bandsman, ringman, Bornean wild man" (134). Eventually, his role in traveling carnivals was as a pitch man with a "roulette wheel wired against imitation watches and pistols which would not shoot" (134). His carnival came to Yoknapatawpha, and when the show packed up and left, Flint stayed on and married Ellie Pritchell, the "dim-witted spinster" daughter of misanthrope Wesley Prichell (113). Due to his circus experience, Flint is a master of disguise; he is also fearless, a killer, and vain enough to think he is smarter than everyone else.

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