"Go Down, Moses" Response

The title given to William Faulkner’s short story, “Go Down Moses” plays an important role in determining how the reader is supposed to interpret the story. There are obvious connections between the narrative and the idea of a slave spiritual. The slave spiritual had a variety of purposes. They could be used as a means to convey messages or protests that they did not want their owners to hear or as gathering songs before a church service began. Both of these uses are relevant to the story. The white characters obviously do not quite understand what the black characters are saying when they recite the lines to the song. They often tell them to be quiet or explain that Samuel was not sold in Egypt and that there was no Pharaoh involved. This is indicative of the secret nature of the meaning of slave spirituals and how they were successful in going undetected by whites. The use of spirituals as gathering songs is also pertinent. In a way, Mollie is trying to call her son back home. She would seem to accomplish this as Gavin Stevens arranges to have the body brought home for burial after Mollie says little more than lyrics from the spiritual
The title also has some significance other than also being the name of a slave spiritual. In terms of myths, the story of Moses and the enslavement of the Israelites by the Egyptians was very popular amongst African American slaves. It was especially popular to those who had recently been forced to convert to Christianity. Faced with compulsory assimilation, they identified with a part of their new culture that was relevant and useful to them. Focusing on the story of an oppressed people who are assisted by God in overcoming their master was a way for them to comply with their masters orders while at the same time resisting. In a way they altered the way that a traditional myth was interpreted or seen and used it to their own advantage. This comes into the story in the way that the black characters still seem to be living in a world where they are outsiders. They are obviously not considered equals and the consequences of this treatment are shown in Samuel’s descent into a life of crime. The story depicts a life where blacks appear to be assimilated fully on the surface, but underneath there is an underlying sense of division.