Pantaloon in Black and the Tragic Nero (negro hero)

While our discussion on Wednesday was more than lively, there are still a lot of things to be said on this story, namely its protagonist. Rider was a man, a black man, but Faulkner showed us through this story that tragedy is not colorblind. Those feelings felt by Rider losing his wife are feelings felt by anyone going through such a tragic loss. But speaking of tragedy, did anyone else think of EVERY black character from any book they read while thinking of it? To me the one that Rider reminded me the most of was Tom Robinson from To Kill a Mockingbird. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Tom the "mockingbird" from the story? He was a character who was wrongfully accused and victimized by the societal stigma that those with dark skin should be treated like animals. The way I see it though, Tom's death was almost sidelined in that story, since it was from the point of view from a child, we didn't get to see a lot of his character until the trial, whereas PiB showed us Rider before anyone else. The writing from this time period usually characterizes blacks as slow talking, loud singing, hulking apes, but to Faulkner's credit he was able to describe a character and make readers identify with him, much like one could identify with Tom during the court scene in TKaM. Both characters are "strong" when we see them, but both deal with an inevitable account of weakness; both Faulkner and Lee show us that the sheriff's beliefs are dead wrong: blacks are not some human-walking beasts, rather they are humans themselves.