On the resolution of the unease in Was at the end of Go down, Moses. By Duong Trinh

The question concerning the unease in Was struck me tremendously when we first approached Faulkner’s literary works. The worry doesn’t come from racism. From my perspective, the entire book is touched on race, not racial discrimination, at least considered from the McCaslins’ attitude towards black people. They are entirely not racists since no racists would feel so chill like them, continually and patiently playing hide and seek with their slaves. Uncle Buck puts on a necktie every year at the exact time when Tomey's Turl runs away.

Meanwhile, Uncle Buddy seems very calm after asking Ike about Tomey’s whereabouts, knowing that he is waiting in the stable when Ike gets the pony. In other words, while Uncle Buck deems Tomey’s runaway as a chance for him to get on a stage to show his chasing ability, no matter how black, white, or yellow Tomey is, Uncle Buddy is simply interested in settling the unfinished gamble. Emphasizing that Uncle Buddy never wears a necktie, Faulkner even implies that his arrival is not to catch but to free Tomey, as indicated by his indifference to Tomey’s arrogance. 

However, what raises the unease in Was? The story appears to be a plan of the underprivileged who attempt to trick egoistic people, namely Uncle Buck, Buddy, and Hubert Beauchamp, into deciding who will buy the other’s slave. Tommey refers to collaborating with Sophonsiba while giving Issac this advice, “anytime you wants to git something done, from hoeing a crop to getting married, just get the womenfolks to working at it.” Corresponding to that statement, Sophonsiba peculiarly hands a toddy to Uncle Buck and Hubert, both of who do not want to get drunk at all in the middle of catching a witty slave. Besides directly getting involved in their failure that eventually leads to the settling gamble, she, on purpose, screams so many times to seek others’ attention, not in the fear that such an accident would spoil her purity. Incredibly, Uncle Buck can advocate himself by having not touched her at all (with her sitting up from the other side of the bed) and even bringing Issac in with him, for example. Moreover, without Sophonsiba, Tomey, having been kept busy in the McCaslins’ plantation throughout the years, would never manage to escape the harsh chasing and access the stable unnoticed by the slaves in the Warwick. 

Therefore, the gambling illustrates the confrontation between Uncle Buck and Hubert Beauchamp, which is already suggested by that neither of them agreed to buy the other’s slave. Notably, money is not a problem to them, as shown by how they put it on the table to gamble over. This incident might not  difficult for us to decide for the sake of Tomey and Tennie’s marriage happiness. Nonetheless, it makes sense that neither Uncle Buck nor Hubert understands why one of them has to make a compromise with the other. It is because of manhood and the notion of honorability. To elucidate, incapable of catching Tomey, they come up with the game to see which one of them is luckier or more God-favored to win the other, while both lose to Tomey’s intelligence. 

Furthermore, Hubert actively loses to finish the game by turning his cards face-down after recognizing Tomey’s Turl as a card shuffler. There are a plethora of ways to interpret this scene. It could be that Hubert, knowing Tomey as the one monitoring the game, wants to end the shame of being pranked by a slave. Since Tomey gets the most out of the gambling, it doesn’t matter whether Hubert or Uncle Buck wins. The competition is then meaningless. Or else, it could be that Hubert, seeing Tomey’s skin color, can guess that Tomey is McCaslin-related. Knowing Uncle Buck and Buddy’s secret is sufficient for him to think that he deserves to win over them both. Hence, he quits.

To conclude, no matter how one takes Hubert’s loss to be, it regards how the character endeavors to be a man. So is the unease mentioned from the beginning. Concerned with their “face” and masculinity, neither Hubert nor the McCaslins would like to step back and help carry out the underprivileged’s desires. Why does Sophonsiba trick Uncle Buck into this plan if she is really into him? In no way would he react to her flirtation, given that he is opposed to her brother. Only the gambling results are likely to make him willing to accept her even without her inheritance. It matters above all that he wins. Thus, the unease is silence, a lack of communication and the multi-layered planning to get one’s needs due to manhood. 

Fortunately, at the end of Go down, Moses, Gavin Stevens’ runaway points out his sympathy and overwhelming emotion before Molly’s grief over her black grandson's death. Simply put, the silence is gone because Stevens reaches out to Molly and her family with all his support to bring the grandson’s body home while reducing their grief by asking them to forgive him, no matter what the reason is. Remarkably, Go down, Moses’ ending with Stevens getting back to work, as usual, is parallel to but different from Was’ ending, which entails Uncle Buck and Buddy’s return to their home as if nothing happened. If Was gives me a feeling of indifference and the unease’s continuity, Go down, Moses guarantees that Stevens’ kindness is still ongoing. Not too obsessed with manhood to get offended by Molly’s blame on the white people like him, he continues his great work to advocate for those in need and the sake of equality.