Unlike other characters in Go Down Moses, Tomey’s Turl is not content with remaining in a state of social stasis and it is for this reason that he is the central character of the book. The plot moves forward with his  sudden but not unexpected departure from the McCaslin plantation to Herbert Beauchamp’s plantation in yearning of his love, Tennie. At first reading, Buck and Buddy seem content with the stasis kind of life they lead; neither is married, they live together, and apparently, want to continue living in an all-male world, yet as the reader notes, Buck makes it a point to “put on his necktie while they were running toward the lot to catch the horses” [GDM, 7] because he would see Miss Sophonisba, who is looking for a husband. One must wonder, if Tomey’s Turl was not the catalyst of movement, would Uncle Buck have acted upon his secret desire to marry? It seems unlikely that he would ever have acted on marriage if not seemingly coerced into to, thanks to the stakes of the card game played with Beauchamp.

Both Uncle Buck and Herbert Beauchamp love to play cards and make wages, perhaps over anything, but it is unlikely that if Tomey’s Turl had not made the bi-annual journey to Tennie, neither man would have such a big wager – ownership of either Tomey’s Turl or Tennie and Miss Sophonisba’s marriage [to Buck].

In line with Tomey’s Turl being the catalyst of the plot, Tomey’s Turl is an allegory for the fox that is hunted by the dogs of people who find entertainment in this. The fox may run and think it is running toward freedom, but it is always forced back to its box under the bed, to be let out on a whim. It is not master of its own domain; it has to deal with the savagery imposed on it by people who deem this game/social hierarchy necessary.