ABSTRACT
The Hamlet describes an enclave – spatially distant from Jefferson – in which several citizens are searching for racial purity, economic equality, or psychological wholeness. In Go Down, Moses the search for ideal states takes both spatial and temporal forms: the hunters seek not only a distant resort but a primeval one as well, a pure and intact preserve of pastness. The a- sequential narration of Go Down, Moses tends to confuse and reassemble chronology because of the prior repression of events that break racial and sexual taboos. To take the most blatant example, the ledger in Go Down, Moses attempts to use the authority of writing to cover up the McCaslins' successive crimes and frauds. Writing, which aims to be permanent, is exactly for this reason vulnerable to acts of interpretation, reinterpretation, and verification.
