Thinking about the names in The Human Stain… Coleman suggests “black” while Silk suggests “smooth” but I’m not satisfied by that obvious meaning of “silk”… I am satisfied by the obvious meaning of Delphine but Roux I think suggests “rue”… the surname Farley is a bit more involved though the name Les suggests “less” of whatever you construe Farley to mean. Faunia clearly indicates the half human half goatish creatures of Greek myth but it could in a more sophisticated way relate to Afternoon of a Fawn, with which I’m not familiar enough to say.
Anyway, sense is Roth is one of those authors who use character names to give us an idea of how we’re to think of them. (Thwackum and Square.) Pynchon a little different — more humor and misdirection. Mucho Maas.
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