The Colonel

The colonel is the central character in the longest story of the collection – “No One Writes to the Colonel.” He is also referred to, in passing, in another of the longer stories, “Big Mama’s Funeral.” There are several important points to note about the colonel: he is never actually named (which is one manifestation of the collection’s thematic interest in Namelessness – see “Themes / Motifs”); his life is in many ways dependent upon routine (i.e. his weekly expeditions to see if he has received his mail) and upon his plans for his late son’s rooster (both of which are among the collection’s key explorations of the central theme of hope); and he is the first of many characters in the collection whose existence is defined primarily by circumstance and situation (also a thematic element of the collection – in this case, Living within Oppression...