Melungeons (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Chris Offutt
- First Published: 1993
- Type of Plot: Regional
- Time of Work: The 1990's
- Setting: Rocksalt, Kentucky, a small Appalachian town
- Principal Characters: Ephraim Goins, Haze Gipson, Beulah Mullins
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: Discrimination, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Biracial people, Murder or homicide, South or Southerners, Twentieth century, Poverty or poor people, Mountain life, 1990’s, Old age or elderly people, Appalachia, Kentucky, Feuds
- Locales: Kentucky
The Story
Making use of the folklore tradition of mountain feuds, “Melungeons” focuses on Deputy Ephraim Goins, who, like the other two characters in the story, is a member of the mixed-race group that gives the story its title. The story begins when an elderly man comes into the town jail and asks Goins what he needs to do to get incarcerated. When Goins suggests, “defacing public property,” the man urinates on the jailhouse steps and is put behind bars.
The man identifies himself as Haze Gipson, who Goins recognizes is a Melungeon, a member of a mixed-race...
[The entire page is 1362 words long]
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