The Unvanquished
First edition
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| Author | William Faulkner |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Random House |
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Publication date
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1938 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| OCLC | 23652115 |
| 813/.52 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3511.A86 U5 1991 |
The Unvanquished is a a 1938 novel by the American author William Faulkner, set in Yoknapatawpha County. It tells the story of the Sartoris family, who first appeared in the novel Sartoris (or Flags in the Dust). The Unvanquished takes place before that story, and is set during the American Civil War. Principal characters are Bayard Sartoris, John Sartoris (Marse John, Father), Granny, Ringo (Morengo), Ab Snopes, Cousin Drusilla, Aunt Jenny, Louvinia, and the lieutenant (a Yankee soldier).
Although The Unvanquished was first published as a whole in 1938, it consists of seven short stories which were originally published separately in The Saturday Evening Post, except where noted:
The Unvanquished is told in seven episodes—sometimes immediately following one another, other times separated by months or years—spanning the years 1862 to 1873. The book begins with Bayard Sartoris and his slave friend Ringo playing in the dirt on the Sartoris plantation. A slave named Loosh smugly interrupts their game, hinting that Union armies have entered northeastern Mississippi, near their town of Jefferson. The boys do not fully understand, but when Bayard's father, Colonel John Sartoris, returns home from the front that day, they overhear him telling Granny Millard that Vicksburg has fallen. Loosh obviously knows about the defeat, and Bayard decides he and Ringo will keep watch over Loosh. Several days into the watch, the boys spot a Yankee soldier on horseback riding up the road. The boys grab a musket off the wall and shoot at the soldier, then run into the house as a fist pounds on the front door. Granny hides them under her billowing skirts and insists to the angry Union sergeant that there are no children present. Colonel Dick, a Yankee officer, calls off the search but makes it clear that he does so out of pity, not because he believes Granny. Afterward, the boys learn they only hit the horse, not the rider.
The next year, following Colonel Sartoris's instructions, Granny carries a heavy trunk of silver to Memphis for safekeeping. After digging the buried chest out of the ground, she insists that the slaves carry it up to her bedroom so she can watch it during the night. The journey to Memphis carries them through Union-occupied areas. One afternoon, men with guns waylay the travelers, stealing their mules despite Granny's attempts to fend them off. Bayard and Ringo take a horse from a nearby barn and try to pursue the attackers, leaving Granny to fend for herself. They are discovered asleep the next day by Colonel Sartoris's troop. Furious and anxious for Granny's well-being, the colonel sees them back to Jefferson personally; on the way, they accidentally overcome the thieves, a group of Northern soldiers, and capture their supplies, though the colonel allows the men to escape. Fortunately, Granny has arrived home safely, but the next day a Union brigade rides to the house looking for Colonel Sartoris. He escapes, but the Yankees burn the house and take the chest of silver.
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