Motionless as an Idol - Columbus State University
Motionless as an Idol - Columbus State University Motionless as an Idol - Columbus State University
Bullock 20The men envision Miss Emily fulfilling the expectations they create for her by casting heras an idol, and in doing so, they validate the roles they have assigned to themselves ofprotector and provider. Also, by placing Miss Emily on such a pedestal, they do not haveto accept the implications of acknowledging her humanity and subsequent sexuality.^ Themen relegate Miss Emily to the realm of a relic and, thereby, justify and validatethemselves and their societal constructions. The ideas of Miss Emily as belle, spinster, oridol all rely upon the societal willingness to accept such strictures without exceptions ormore flexible definitions. Faulkner is accusing his own society of being guilty of makingsuch unexamined judgments. Caroline Matheny Dillman illuminates this generalizedSouthern condition:Southern women are tied to men for validation. If male dominance is threatenedwhen women move into the public world because of changes in the social order,these men try to reinforce their wives' traditional gender-role beliefs in an effortto reassert dominance over them. (16)While Miss Emily is not dealing with the domination of a husband, she instead grappleswith the domination of an entire community, making Dillman' s words all the morerelevant. While Faulkner is not gentle with his criticisms, he also suggests the path tochange after the revelation of the error.2 Late in my research I came across a reference to Gordon, a character from Mosquitoes who also happensto be a sculptor. Many critics suggest that Faulkner is representing himself as an artist through Gordon,thereby making Gordon's sculpture of an "armless, legless, and headless torso" that he treasures as "[his]feminine ideal, [. .] a virgin with no legs to leave me, no arms to hold me, no head to talk to me" (as qtd. in.Singal 89-90) all the more indicative of Faulkner's reflections and critique. This scene, even if notcorrelated with Faulkner himself, positions my argument within a wider context in Faulkner's work and 1plan to add an analysis of its relevance and implications as I continue to develop this project in the future.
Bullock 21The art metaphor of Miss Emily as an angel in a church window deepens thetownspeople's commitments to their strictures and tightens the reins around Miss Emily'sfemininity even more. Faulkner writes: "She was sick for a long time. When we saw heragain, he hair was cut short, making her look like a girl, with a vague resemblance tothose angels in colored church windows - sort of tragic and serene" (Faulkner 77). Thiscomparison relates back to the "care" and "tradition" description of Miss Emily from thebeginning of the story. The townspeople picture her as a stained-glass window, a fixturein a part of their history and traditions. As a "tragic and serene" angel, the townspeoplecast her as a representative of the possibility of overcoming hardship, through the facadeof belle and spinster that she presents. In the mind of her society. Miss Emily is an angelshe is representative of angelic qualities such as purity, strength, and joy. In order for it tobe true that Miss Emily is the embodiment of those qualities, she must have overcome thetrials her life presents. Often, those trials are lived out in a very public manner, such asthe dominance and strictness of Miss Emily's father resulting in her spinsterhood andreserved manner. The metaphor of the angel relates back to the deification of women Idiscussed through the idolization of Miss Emily. Itis reassuring for the men to place MissEmily, and all other women, especially the unmarried ones, into figures that lacksexuality and authority. The angel also possesses the all-important element of purity:"[like] a blank page, the Confederate Woman is an unfilled space, 'pure' so that theideology of the plantation South may be inscribed on her [...]" (Roberts 2). The menalready demonstrated the high value they place on purity by the covert mission toeradicate the smell Miss Emily's house exuded and by their portrayal of her through thetraditional and acceptable illustration of the tableau.
- Page 2 and 3: Digitized by the Internet Archivein
- Page 4 and 5: Bullock 2TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCT
- Page 6 and 7: Bullock 4Iseek to establish my argu
- Page 8 and 9: "Bullock 6wrote about the artists w
- Page 10 and 11: Bullock 8As I Lay Dying and The Sou
- Page 12 and 13: Bullock 10Another art metaphor Faul
- Page 15 and 16: Bullock 13essence, both necessary s
- Page 17 and 18: Bullock 15We had long thought of th
- Page 19 and 20: Bullock 17but no longer considered
- Page 21: Bullock 19Miss Emily as idol, thus
- Page 25 and 26: Bullock 23Community and Religion in
- Page 27 and 28: Bullock 25Faulkner's response allow
- Page 29 and 30: Bullock 27setting. It is this preoc
- Page 31 and 32: Bullock 29male-dominated system whi
- Page 33 and 34: Bullock 31for Faulkner to communica
- Page 35 and 36: Bullock 33skewed sexuality and misp
- Page 37 and 38: Bullock 35from all walks of life, "
- Page 39 and 40: Bullock 37townspeople, readers can
- Page 41 and 42: Bullock 39one in which male dominan
- Page 43 and 44: The Eternal Feminine, Paul CezanneB
- Page 45 and 46: Bullock 43—. AsI Lav Dying . 1930
Bullock 20The men envision Miss Emily fulfilling the expectations they create for her by c<strong>as</strong>ting her<strong>as</strong> <strong>an</strong> idol, <strong>an</strong>d in doing so, they validate the roles they have <strong>as</strong>signed to themselves ofprotector <strong>an</strong>d provider. Also, by placing Miss Emily on such a pedestal, they do not haveto accept the implications of acknowledging her hum<strong>an</strong>ity <strong>an</strong>d subsequent sexuality.^ Themen relegate Miss Emily to the realm of a relic <strong>an</strong>d, thereby, justify <strong>an</strong>d validatethemselves <strong>an</strong>d their societal constructions. The ide<strong>as</strong> of Miss Emily <strong>as</strong> belle, spinster, oridol all rely upon the societal willingness to accept such strictures without exceptions ormore flexible definitions. Faulkner is accusing his own society of being guilty of makingsuch unexamined judgments. Caroline Matheny Dillm<strong>an</strong> illuminates this generalizedSouthern condition:Southern women are tied to men for validation. If male domin<strong>an</strong>ce is threatenedwhen women move into the public world because of ch<strong>an</strong>ges in the social order,these men try to reinforce their wives' traditional gender-role beliefs in <strong>an</strong> effortto re<strong>as</strong>sert domin<strong>an</strong>ce over them. (16)While Miss Emily is not dealing with the domination of a husb<strong>an</strong>d, she instead grappleswith the domination of <strong>an</strong> entire community, making Dillm<strong>an</strong>' s words all the morerelev<strong>an</strong>t. While Faulkner is not gentle with his criticisms, he also suggests the path toch<strong>an</strong>ge after the revelation of the error.2 Late in my research I came across a reference to Gordon, a character from Mosquitoes who also happensto be a sculptor. M<strong>an</strong>y critics suggest that Faulkner is representing himself <strong>as</strong> <strong>an</strong> artist through Gordon,thereby making Gordon's sculpture of <strong>an</strong> "armless, legless, <strong>an</strong>d headless torso" that he tre<strong>as</strong>ures <strong>as</strong> "[his]feminine ideal, [. .] a virgin with no legs to leave me, no arms to hold me, no head to talk to me" (<strong>as</strong> qtd. in.Singal 89-90) all the more indicative of Faulkner's reflections <strong>an</strong>d critique. This scene, even if notcorrelated with Faulkner himself, positions my argument within a wider context in Faulkner's work <strong>an</strong>d 1pl<strong>an</strong> to add <strong>an</strong> <strong>an</strong>alysis of its relev<strong>an</strong>ce <strong>an</strong>d implications <strong>as</strong> I continue to develop this project in the future.
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