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[Daniel]

William Faulkner’s The Unvanquished relates uncannily to the perception that one’s value is based on his/her character, a maxim I find to be true. In the book, Faulkner places two children side-by-side, one white and one black. The white kid’s parents “own” the family of the black child and the black child. But as the Civil War progresses, racial barriers – which were already lax because of the close, brother-like relationship the two children share – begin to teeter and crack. And it becomes apparent that the black child is smarter than the white child, something that was never acknowledged under typical circumstances in the era; because of the trying times, the black child becomes consequently more useful to the families’ survival from the Yankee invasion. However, due to the established mores, this fact cannot be publically acknowledged.

The Unvanquished addresses relevant points in other works that share similar social themes, most notably Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence. Just as the black child cannot be credited with his knowledge, women in the stifling society cannot flaunt their knowledge like a flag for others to see. Rather, they must remain passive, like the black child in The Unvanquished, and “play stupid.”