McCaslin changes with the Seasons

            William Faulkner’s short story, “Delta Autumn,” is a story about adapting to cultural changes throughout one’s life. The protagonist, McCaslin, is one of the oldest people he knows, and as such must spend time with those in younger generations. His ideas about the preservation of nature cast him in a fair light, while his antiquated social views make him come across as a racist and bigot. Faulkner interchangeably uses nature as a metaphor for racial relations to achieve positive change in McCaslin by the end of the story.

            Faulkner uses animals to represent race relations and the changes in them brought about throughout McCaslin’s life. When McCaslin is reminiscing about the way things used to be, he remembers a time when men used to shoot does and fawns as often as bucks – but this seems to be changing. Later in the story, Legate insinuates that the government might try to intervene in doe hunting. Boyd sees such government intervention as certain and impending, but McCaslin has no fear that people would rise up to stop such an atrocity. The story isn’t about the does though. McCaslin’s memory is a metaphor for how white people used to treat other races. They treated them poorly and they treated themselves poorly, even killing each other as is alluded to by the inclusion of the Civil War in the story. Now, it is becoming inappropriate or politically incorrect to look down on other races. Boyd and Legate see this as impending and essentially accept it. McCaslin however, stuck in his old ways, refuses to see this change as necessary and continues to treat other races as poorly as he pleases.

            Another technique Faulkner uses is the parallel description of Legate talking about Boyd hunting and Boyd’s affair with a black woman. Legate describes Boyd finding a doe that stands on two legs, and has a light color. In reality, the woman Boyd has “in here” (the woods) is a lighter-skinned black woman that Boyd found then disappeared with for several weeks. It’s ironic that all of the characters except McCaslin know that Legate is talking about Boyd’s brief love interest rather than an animal he is hunting, but McCaslin eventually figures this out when she comes to get the money Boyd has left her.

            When she arrives, McCaslin is visibly frustrated and tells her that there is nothing that he can do for her. This is an interesting comment indeed because it presupposes that if he could do something for her, then he would. Given McCaslin’s previous characterization, offering help to someone of a different race would be surprising indeed. However, this is not the greatest change in McCaslin in the course of the story. After everyone is gone and Legate told him that they killed a deer, McCaslin says to himself “It was a doe.” He isn’t talking about an animal though; he’s talking about the black woman. He finally sees her as a doe, and worthy of respect and protection – as indicated by the earlier conversation about the change in hunting laws. Even if no one else was in the room to hear it, McCaaslin admitting that to himself is a big first step away from racism and a sign that he may finally change, like the colors of Autumn, after all.