Character Analysis
In "Was," Hubert Beauchamp might like to chillax, to tell his guests to have a drink, stay for dinner, stay a day or two on his plantation, but this guy's number one concern is to get his sister Sophonsiba married off so he can have a little peace. Married off, in particular, to Theophilus McCaslin, aka "Uncle Buck" of the neighboring McCaslin plantation, another sworn bachelor who excels at avoiding women. When Theophilus comes over to Hubert's plantation to look for his escaped slave Tomey's Turl, Hubert locks onto target.
Alas, Theophilus takes a sure step in losing out to Hubert when he walks into Sophonsiba's bed "by mistake." Hubert's also really keen on betting money and gambling, so he tries to win Theophilus' hand for Sophonsiba in a card game. He wins at first, but loses when Theophilus' brother Amodeus comes to the rescue.
We find out later, in "The Bear," that Theophilus finally breaks down under Hubert's pressure and agrees to marry her. They even have a son, Isaac. Hubert and his persistence for the win!
In "The Bear," we learn that Hubert left his nephew Isaac 50 pieces of gold and a silver cup, to be opened on his 21st birthday. What a nice uncle, right? But somehow, those 50 gold pieces get replaced with copper coins and a fistful of IOUs packed inside a tin coffee-pot instead of a silver cup. Hubert should have called the gambling hotline long ago.
As an old man, Hubert begins a secret relationship with a black woman, whom his sister throws out of the house when she discovers her. Hubert protests that this woman is free, just like they are, but he caves in to Sophonsiba and turns the woman out. Hubert turns out to be both a comic and tragic figure in the novel, a former slave owner now impoverished in the new system. He's one example of how whites accommodated to the changing times.