Please explain Buck's role!

I saw Buck as a symbol of the Old South bound by the traditions and prejudices of his priviledged society. He's a family friend, but there are seveal times where he let it be known that he does not want to be confined by one woman at this time. He may have been once a suitor for Julie's favor, as in the beginning where there is talk of his losing out to Press, but I think he is primarily a tool for Julie's foolishness. However, he stands as a example for Press's brother (as in the opening scene when the brother wants to second Buck in a duel).

Primarily, I think, he exists to contrast with Press who is going to marry Julie and take her North which no Southern gentleman could understand. It was like taking her to live with the savages in his estimation. Press, on the other hand, is much more open-minded (as when he talks about the growth and development in the North with the railroads and the need for the South to change with the times. He is still bound by the code of the South, but transgreses when he returns home with a wife from the North.

Buck gets caught up in a duel after he makes statements about Press and his betrayal of the South. The duel, I see, is an affirmation of the lack of flexibility in the code and of the backwardness of Southern life in a changing world. Although he tries to extricate himself by not shooting the brother, the brother, also bound strongly by the code and Press not there to advise him, ends up killing Buck. The killing of Buck provides Julie with the realization that her world has been selfish and frivolous, there are consequences for her bahavior, and begins her journey back towards redemption.