Motionless as an Idol - Columbus State University
Motionless as an Idol - Columbus State University Motionless as an Idol - Columbus State University
Bullock 26accurately portraying a Southern woman's struggle to thrive in a Southern communitybased on tradition and inherited prejudices in order to bring about change. Faulknerhimself said the story was "[...] another sad and tragic manifestation of man's conditionin which he dreams and hopes, in which he is in conflict with himself or with hisenvironment or with others" (Faulkner in the University 1 84). By terming the story a"tragic manifestation/* Faulkner acknowledges the damage a Southern community canintentionally, or unintentionally, render to an individual. However, itis also fair to addthat Faulkner also claimed he did not seek to satirize the South because he loved it,saying, "[...] it has its faults and I will try to correct them, but I will not try to correctthem when Iam writing a story, because I'm talking about people then" {Faulkner in theUniversity 83). However, Iwould argue the strongest criticisms are formed through theportrayals of people. Without a personal life,face, and name in which to invest a reader,all criticisms will fall flat.But a character as dimensional as Miss Emily will not fail toinspire devotion and change because of readers' sympathy and attachment to her.Therefore, Faulkner did, indeed, reveal the faults of his beloved land while concomitantlyinspiring the motivation to correct the faults and improve it.If Faulkner had written anessay about the marginalization of women in the South, I would argue that its audienceand response would be much smaller and more lackluster.Faulkner also evidences this kind of specificity by the inclusion of the communityelement present in As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury. Both families in thenovels are highly aware of the community's perception of them and concerned with nottarnishing their reputations. Such a concern, while universal in nature, takes on aparticular personality in the South, greatly affecting comportment in any type of public
Bullock 27setting. It is this preoccupation with public opinion that aids in informing parentalexpectations and disappointments.In The Sound and the Fury, Caddy's brothers are embarrassed with her apparentpromiscuity and seek to suppress her. In As I Lay Dying, the entire family is aware oftheir community's opinions about them as they honor Addie's wishes to be buried in herhometown, not the one in which the family currently resides. The community speaksdisparagingly of the Bundrens not only because of the manner in which they treat Addie'sdeath and funeral preparations but also in the way in which their children act, particularlyDewey Dell. There is much emphasis put on the expectation of Dewey Dell's nonsexualityjust like in Faulkner's other texts, she is valued only when she is not a threat tomen.The opinion of the community also comes into play in the texts, particularly "ARose for Emily" in a religious context. It is the pervasive Protestantism of the South thatresonates through the texts, directing the aforementioned moral compass by whichcharacters judge and are judged and also contributing to cultural events like EasterSunday in The Sound and the Fury. Religion in Faulkner's work is an expansive topicthat I will not claim to exhaust in this paper, but instead I will address it as it specificallyrelates to the development and lives of the women on whom Ifocus.There are instances in As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury that couldrelate to the conflict between the dominantly Protestant South and Catholicism. However,this idea of the relic is best discussed along with "A Rose for Emily" and cannot becompletely understood outside of the artistic context within which the story is formed.
- 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 and 22: Bullock 19Miss Emily as idol, thus
- Page 23 and 24: Bullock 21The art metaphor of Miss
- Page 25 and 26: Bullock 23Community and Religion in
- Page 27: Bullock 25Faulkner's response allow
- 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 26accurately portraying a Southern wom<strong>an</strong>'s struggle to thrive in a Southern communityb<strong>as</strong>ed on tradition <strong>an</strong>d inherited prejudices in order to bring about ch<strong>an</strong>ge. Faulknerhimself said the story w<strong>as</strong> "[...] <strong>an</strong>other sad <strong>an</strong>d tragic m<strong>an</strong>ifestation of m<strong>an</strong>'s conditionin which he dreams <strong>an</strong>d hopes, in which he is in conflict with himself or with hisenvironment or with others" (Faulkner in the <strong>University</strong> 1 84). By terming the story a"tragic m<strong>an</strong>ifestation/* Faulkner acknowledges the damage a Southern community c<strong>an</strong>intentionally, or unintentionally, render to <strong>an</strong> individual. However, itis also fair to addthat Faulkner also claimed he did not seek to satirize the South because he loved it,saying, "[...] it h<strong>as</strong> its faults <strong>an</strong>d I will try to correct them, but I will not try to correctthem when Iam writing a story, because I'm talking about people then" {Faulkner in the<strong>University</strong> 83). However, Iwould argue the strongest criticisms are formed through theportrayals of people. Without a personal life,face, <strong>an</strong>d name in which to invest a reader,all criticisms will fall flat.But a character <strong>as</strong> dimensional <strong>as</strong> Miss Emily will not fail toinspire devotion <strong>an</strong>d ch<strong>an</strong>ge because of readers' sympathy <strong>an</strong>d attachment to her.Therefore, Faulkner did, indeed, reveal the faults of his beloved l<strong>an</strong>d while concomit<strong>an</strong>tlyinspiring the motivation to correct the faults <strong>an</strong>d improve it.If Faulkner had written <strong>an</strong>essay about the marginalization of women in the South, I would argue that its audience<strong>an</strong>d response would be much smaller <strong>an</strong>d more lackluster.Faulkner also evidences this kind of specificity by the inclusion of the communityelement present in As I Lay Dying <strong>an</strong>d The Sound <strong>an</strong>d the Fury. Both families in thenovels are highly aware of the community's perception of them <strong>an</strong>d concerned with nottarnishing their reputations. Such a concern, while universal in nature, takes on aparticular personality in the South, greatly affecting comportment in <strong>an</strong>y type of public
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