Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
I was quietly distressed. The man was armed and Southern and I couldn't understand a
word he was saying to me. “I'm sorry,” I said, “I'm kind of slow, and I don't understand
what you're saying.”
“I say”and he repeated it more carefully“how doo yew lack Mississippi?”
It dawned on me. “Oh! I like it fine! I like it heaps! I think it's wonderful. The people are
so friendly and helpful.” I wanted to add that I had been there for an hour and hadn't been
shotatonce,butthelightchangedandhewasgone,andIsighedandthought,“Thankyou,
Jesus.”
IdroveontoOxford,homeoftheUniversityofMississippi,orOleMissasit'sknown.The
people named the town after Oxford in England in the hope that this would persuade the
statetobuildtheuniversitythere,andthestatedid.Thistellsyoumostofwhatyouneedto
know about the workings of the Southern mind. Oxford appeared to be an agreeable town.
Itwasbuiltaroundasquare,inthemiddleofwhichstoodtheLafayetteCountyCourthouse,
withatallclocktowerandDoriccolumns,baskinggrandlyintheIndian-summersunshine.
Around the perimeter of the square were attractive stores and a tourist information office. I
wentintothetouristinformationofficetogetdirectionstoRowanOak,WilliamFaulkner's
home. Faulkner lived in Oxford for the whole of his life, and his home is now a museum,
preserved as it was on the day he died in 1962. It must be unnerving to be so famous that
youknowtheyaregoingtocomeinthemomentyoucroakandhangvelvetcordsacrossall
the doorwaysandtreat everything with reverence. Think ofthe embarrassment ifyouleft a
copy of Reader's Digest Condensed topics on the bedside table.
Behind the desk sat a large, exceptionally well dressed black woman. This surprised me a
little,thisbeingMississippi.Sheworeadarktwo-piecesuit,whichmusthavebeenawfully
warm in the Mississippi heat. I asked her the way to Rowan Oak.
“You parked on the square?” she said. Actually she said, “You pocked on the skwaya?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, honey, you git in yo' car and you makes the skwaya. You goes out the other end,
twoads the university, goes three blocks, turns rat at the traffic lats, goes down the hill and
you there, un stan'?”
“No.”
She sighed and started again. “You git in yo' car and you makes the skwaya-”
