Relation between sound imagery and fundamental themes in four novels by William Faulkner

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Authors Leacox, Robert Printy, 1939-

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319005 RELATION BETWEEN SOUND 'IMAGERY AND FUNDAMENTAL THEMES IN FOUR NOVELS BY WILLIAM FAULKNER

Dy Robert Leacox

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

1 9 6 $ STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This thesis has "been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in The University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library0 Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made* Requests for permission for extended quota­ tion from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in their judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholar­ ship,, In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author„

APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR '

This thesis has been approved on the date shown below:

¥/- X 4> , / ^ y Arthur M„ Kay " jy Date Assistant Professor of English ABSTRACT

This thesis is a study of the sound images and their relation to fundamental themes in four novels "by William Faulkner0 The four novels will "be considered in the order in which they were written: The Sound and the Fury, 1929; As I Lay Dying, 1930; Light in August, 1932; Absalom, Absalom!, 1936o Sound images are used "by Faulkner to emphasize themes and can "be considered technical devices which add depth and quality to his writing0 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page

INTRODUCTION o = » = = o <, = = <, o o « o <, = <, = = 1 Io_ Sound Images and Theme in The Sound and t he ^*1^232 ^ 000 o o o 000 o o 000 000 12 II0 Sound Images and Theme in As I Lay Dying „ » 38 III, Sound Images and Theme in Light in August , 56 IT, Sound Images and Theme in Absalom,

AbSalOm loOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOp 79 CONCLUSION 00000000000000000000 96 LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED 000000,000000 104 INTRODUCTION

I . .

The use of imagery and image patterns has always heen an important consideration in the study of poetry» It is through imagery that poets create different levels of meaning in order to give their ideas more depth and perspec­ tive » In this respect it is interesting that William S’aulkner first began by writing poetry and always seemed to feel he was an unrealized poet; he said "I am a failed poet" and thought most novelists were in this same categoryo^ Some of the poetry he published in his early years was good but most of it showed obvious influences which lessened its originality0 The effects of his early experiments with poetry can be seen in his prose style; many critics have observed his use of poetic techniques in his workso The two poetic devices he most often uses are inverted syntax and imagery» Nor example in this line from The Sound and the Fury he uses inverted syntax to give a poetic quality: "A gull on

^Jean Stein9 "An Interview With William Faulkner9" in Three Decades of Criticism0 ed0 Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickeryo East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960, p0 68=

1 p an invisible wire attached through space dragged»" This type of syntax can he found in many lines throughout all of Faulkner's works; in most cases it is used for emphasis hut often seems to he written only for the sake of poetry» Faulkner also creates many different images; some of them are related in a pattern hut they are frequently aloneo Essentially these images are poetic in quality and must he studied with poetry in mind: "Patterns of imagery and symbol are as effective in modern fiction as they have always been in poetry * « . In his works there are images of light and dark; images of time, sound, smell, nature and tasteo All the different types of images are important hut because of the limited nature of this paper only sound images will he studied» This is not to imply that sound images are more important than the other images hut they are an important part of Faulkner0 s writing and add to the depth of his style»

II

There have been many studies of sound images and their relation to thematic problems 0 One of the best examples can be found in Gar©line Spurgeon’s hook on the

- — Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (Mew York, 1929) p= 123o ^Wayne G0JBooth, The Rhetoric of Fiction (Chicago, 1961), pG 272= imagery ©f Shakespeare o In ©ne section of this "beck she points ©mt Shakespearee s use ©f sound imagery and shows its connection with certain themes s $he general impression ©ne gets ©n looking at Shakespeare's sound images „ o » is that he associates the purest emotion and most spiritual condition known to man with music arid with harmony, the most perfect earthly setting he can conceive is the hushed still­ ness of a summer day o <, o^- There is also a passage in Wellek and Warren's Theory of literature that connects sound and meaning in Milton's poetry: When Milton's gray-fly is ®winding her sultry horn,' the epithet calls up the hot summer evening linked "by association with the sound of the gray-flyd? The two examples above are concerned with poets and poetry but the study of sound images has also been applied to many novelists» In a study of Joyce's Ulysses the signi­ ficance of sound is noted: There Joyce gives us a verbal reflection of the world of sounds, of the music of nature, of the clang of horses' hooves, and the roar of the waves of the ocean e-0

h Uarolime Spurgeon, Shakesoeares's Imagery and What It Tells Us (Mew York, 1935)9 P° 74. ^Eerne Wellek and Austin Warren, Theory of literature (Mew York, 1956), p„ 1840 Wo Sternfield, "Poetry and Music— Joyce's Ulysses," in Sound and Poetry: English Institute Essays<, edo Morthrop Frye0 iMew York, 1957) s P° 42« J ■ 4 In an imtredmetion t© Madame Bovary, Caroline Gordon comments ©n Flaubert’s use of sound: He begins with sound „ 0 0 Emma and Rudolph stroll in the wood; 0 c 0 a cote* sur la pelouse* entre les sapins * une lumiere brune circulait dans 1 * atmosphere tiedeo La terre, r©ussatre G#mme"%e la poudre~Te tabae* amortissait le bruit des pas; et du bout d e "leur fers* en marehant* les chveux pmussaient devant eu% des pommes de pins tombees = * o the sounds of October are In the words * But Flaubert never relied on one sensuous detail o = o he reinforces what his characters see by showing you what they hear, taste, touch, and smello7 This passage concerns Flaubert but it could very well be applied to the writings of Faulknero The above examples of similar studies have been given in order to establish a tradition for the critical method that is basic to this paper* They are also used t© emphasize the importance attached to images in the study of literature* The study of sound images is particularly important in Faulkner ".s works because he uses them to a great extent and seems to connect them with certain themes * This ability to describe the sights and sounds of nature has helped make Faulkner a major writer; Alfred Kazin believes, 11 the intense sense of the earth and the regis­ tering of country sights and sounds is the secret of 8 Southern writing*11

^Caroline Gordon, "An Introduction to Madame Bovary *11 in Harper's Modern Glassies edition of Madame Bovary (Hew York, 195©)9 p« xi= ®Alfred Kazin, "The Stillness of Light in August,” in Three Decades of Criticism* p* 249* The study ©f s©un& imagery in this paper will eemeentrate ©n four ©f laulkaer's novels in the order in which they were written; The Sound and the Fury, 1929; As I lay Dyingg 195©; light in August0 1952; AbsalomQ AbsalomI, 1955= These four novels seem t© be Faulkner's best works® They each have a quality ©f depth and univer­ sality which takes them beyond their literary scope and makes them applicable t© the conditions of all men. Each has a certain intensity9 a view implying more than words and requiring speculation and thought for understanding«, The style of structure of these novels is complex; but Faulkner saw a world full ©f complexities and his language had to be more expansive to accomodate this view0 Many critics would include other books but there is a general agreement that these four are his best works» Hyatt Waggoner feels that Absalom, Absalom] closes Faulkner's Q period of most raapid and successful productivity» y Other critics can be cited who would agree with the choice of these books but an addition of this kind seems to be super­ fluous »

III

Sound imagery in Faulkner's novels is used to suggest9 illuminate and reinforce certain fundamental

^Hyatt Ho Waggoner9 From Jefferson to the World (Lexington; University of Kentucky, 1959)? P° 168» themes „ In emphasising themes the semmd images help elmeidate aspeets ©f characters, sustain emotions, and provide atmosphere or meed, This type of image is more than onomatopoeia; it gives a metaphorical aspect to the actual sound, A definition of an image used in this way is provided "by Wellek and Warrens o o o The word ’image" means a mental reproduction, a memory of past sensational or perceptual experience, not necessarily visual The sound image is a means of making the described sound more emphatic and vivid, A sound image is more than a reference to sound— the sound is reinforced because of its comparison with some other sound or quality of sound. For example am image of color would compare the sky’s blueness with that of a robin’s egg; a sound image works in the same way by comparing the baying of dogs with Italian tenors, Caroline Spurgeon also supports the idea of non-visual imagery when she says, "we should think not only of visual imagery, but of every imaginative experience, drawn in every kind of way, which may have come to the poet, not only through his senses, but through his mind and emotions as wello”11

1© Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, Theory of Literature„ p, 176, 11Caroline Spurgeon, Shakespeare’s Imagery, p, 5° Examples ©f s®md images cam be f©und im works by Famlkmer other than those being studied im this papero Im The Hamlet there is a scene about some wild horses which have been brought to Mississippi to be soldo After much trouble and confusion the horses are herded into a barm: o o o fhe entire herd rushed into the long ©pern hallway and brought up against the further wall with a hollow9 thunderous ip sound like that of a collapsing mime shafto Here the image suggests the violence of the horses; the reference to the "collapsing mime shaft" cam also be under­ stood as foreshadowing the coming disaster0 In a later scene from the same novel the horses have broken loose; they run free and create confusion and damage throughout the town: o o o As the faint, urgent, indomitable cries murmured in the silver lambence, soureeless, at times almost musical, like fading silver bell notes "The faint, urgent, indomitable cries" indicate the fear and emotion which exists» fhe wild chase after the horses is given a feeling of movement and distance by the sound of the voices that are "soureeless" and fade away "like bell notes*"

"^Faulkner, The Hamlet (Hew York, 194-0), p* 286* ^ Ibid,« p0 515o 8 Famlkner also mses the soimd of the voice t© delineate certain aspects of a character» In Banctmary^ Famlkner describes the somnds made hy Popeye when he becomes physically excited: She hears him begin to make a whimpering somnd „ „ „ his bluish lips protruding as though he were blowing upon hot soup, making a high whinnying sound like a horse » o <,14- Here Popeye1s perverted character is emphasized by the "high whinnying" nature of his voice» I his technique is evident in many of Faulkner’s works and pertains to a number of characters« Many connections have been made between sound images and particular aspects of Faulkner's novels» The sounds of nature are associated with things good or desirable; only the most despicable characters have no feeling for nature or the lando Faulkner has often been called a writer of the land and he felt that the earth somehow held the power of life and death* $his consciousness of nature is apparent in all of his work and in many eases it is the basis of his imagery * The relationship between a character and nature is usually made in order to emphasize a particular quality; Karl Zink observes that Lena Grove, Judith Sutpen, Dewey Dell and Caddie Compson hear the sounds of nature and feel 15 the rhythms of nature to emphasize their femininity*

^Faulkner, Sanctuary (lew York, 1931)9 P° 191° ^Karl Zink, "Faulkner's Garden: Woman and the Imme­ morial Earth," Modern Fiction Studies* II (Autumn, 1936), 144-o Another important aspect of sound is its relation with silenceo Faulkner often mixes sound with silence in such phrases as the 11 loud silence" and the “quiet thunder- clapo" Walter Slatoff discusses these oxymorons and points out that “the silence often seems not so much the absence of sound as a container for it, a presence even while the sounds are existing =11 fhis connection of silence with sound is also noticed by Alfred Kazin in “Stillness of Light in August"; he says that Light in August has a back­ ground of silence and sound invades this silence as if it were a destructive foreeo 17 In many eases one of Faulkner * s images becomes a symbol for a particular idea connected with theme or characterization: Symbols are created out of, and operate through images which possess that concreteness in the verbal universe that objects and events have in the non-verbal=1® An example of a sound image that becomes a symbol is found in connection with Reverend Gail Hightowero He always hears the sound of "thundering horses' hooves; the associa­ tion of this sound with Hightower makes it a symbol for the

■^Walter Slatoff, "The Edge of Order: The Pattern of Faulkner's Rhetoric," in Three Decades of Criticism, p„ 175° "^Alfred Kazin, "The Stillness of Light in August," in Three Decades of Criticism, pp0 247-265° "*"®01ga Vickery, Hovels of William Faulkner (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1959)? P° 249° past in which he lives „ This same technique is applicable t@ Quentin Oempson in The Sound and the Furyo He is ©bsessed with the movement and conditions of time; there are numerous references to sound and time through the image of ticking clocks: "The place was full of ticking, like crickets in September grass o11"^ Here the sound image of the clock emphasizes the theme of time as it relates to Quentin; the constant use of this type of image recreates it as. a symbol for Quentin's position in time0 The general relation of sound imagery to theme is the same as that of any other type of imageo They work in a poetmanner and could be considered technical devices which give more depth and quality to certain themes» It is quite possible that Faulkner did not realize his use of sound imagery; however it does seem apparent that he did have knowledge of this technique and used it quite con- yy sciously for emphasis and enrichment of themes» Sound images exist in a significant number and play an important P part in the overall texture of his style and meaning» The next chapters will illustrate the connection between.sound imageiy and theme in the four novels previ­ ously namedo It is important to again emphasize that sound imagery is only one aspect of Faulkner's many images« This

"^Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury, p0 102= paper dees net say that senad images are any mere important than any ©f the other images; all have an important function and ©ontrihmte to the rich quality of his writing0 GHAP$E1 I

SOWED IMAGES AID THEME II THE SOWED AED THE FURY

Faulkner's fiction before The Sound and the Fury (1929) is marked by a sense of indecision found in many first novels= In Soldier's Pay and Mosquitoes there does not seem to be a definite purpose; the style is not mature and he is apparently unaware of what he wants to say„ Sartoris does hold the beginning of the family tradition that is to be very important; but it does not have the, i power and quality of later works» Faulkner felt that he discovered the pleasure of writing about half-way through Sartoris; he said he could feel the characters "stand mp«“ After finding himself as a writer in Sartoris <, Faulkner began to produce fiction with a mature style and an intensity that is characteristic of his best work. The Sound and the Fury is the first of these books and it is the work of a major writer. Faulkner said this book was his best and most difficult because it caused him the most grief and anguish. 20 Although the writer is not always the best judge of his own work, Faulkner's belief has proven to be true 1 most critical opinions would place this work at the top of his best fiction.

Oft Jean Stein, "An Interview With William Faulkner," in Three Decades of Criticism, p. 73° 12 The novel has f©ur sections; each section is nar­ rated "by a different person in order to give multiple views of the action* The first section is narrated "by Benjamin and takes place April 7> 1928; the second section is Quentin ©ompson’s and goes hack in time to June 2 9 191©; the third section is Jason’s and takes place on April 6 $ 1928; the last section concerns lilsey and occurs on Easter Sunday9 April 8 , 1928* This type of structure illustrates the different periods of time which exist within the novelr also the dialogue of each character often moves into the past or from the past to the present— this change is indi­ cated by italics. Particular events in the novel are described by different characters; these events are of major importance to the work. The first one is the death of the grandmother in 1898; this is the earliest event in time. Caddie's affair with Dalton Ames takes place in 19©9 and she marries Herbert Head in April, 191©. Quentin Compson commits suicide in June9 191©— two months after Caddie's marriage. Caddie's child, Quentin, is born in 1911 and Mr. Compson dies in 1913° In 1914 Benjie is castrated on the orders of Jason IV. Miss Quentin takes Jason's money box in 1928; Mrso Compson dies in 1933 and Ben is placed in an institution. The basic action of the novel centers upon these different

PI Frederick Hoffman, William Faulkner (Hew York, 1961), p. 50. 14 eventso They all ceneerm a memhen ©f the Cempsen family and are narrated by different characters s© no ©ne view­ point can dominate the plot* The major theme ©f the novel is the disintegra­ tion ©f a family0 This is emphasized by the ironical fact that the only person left on the scene at the end of the book is Jason IT; he is a childless bachelor and the Gompson family will end with him. There are also other themes related to the major theme— they deal with the individual characters and explain the reasons for the destruction of the Gompsons. ©ne of these sub-themes is Caddie's loss of inno­ cence and its effects on the other members of the family. Olga Vickery feels that each of the four sections is 2? mainly concerned with Gaddie and her loss of virginity. Caddie's fall is the reason for Quentin's suicide; it destroys her relationship with Benjie; it is the eventual reason for part of Jason's bitterness and adds to Mrs. Gompson's self-pity. Caddie's action brings Miss Quentin into the world and sets up another conflict involving Jason. This act also provides a contrast with Bilsey; she remains calm and maintains her values while the others die or run away.

^01 ga Vickery9 lovels of William Faulkner«, p. 29° 15 The elememt ©r theme ©f time is als© an important aspect of The Soimd and the Fnry. Bach ©f the major characters has a particular-relation to time; this rela­ tion helps emphasize his position in the novel« This theme is reinforced "by numerous references to time* sym­ bolized by clocks 0 The symbol of the clock is especially prominent in The Sound and the Fury but is found in almost all of his worksQuentin is particularly obsessed with time, but all the ©ompsons are defeated by time in one way or anothero The only two characters who remain outside of time are lenjie and Bilsey» lenjie is unable to perceive the passing of time because of his affliction; Bilsey maintains her values and beliefs, thus conquering time by her faith; as Olga Vickery observes: Quentin tries to escape time, Jason conforms to time, Bilsey and Bengie preserve the values of the past and 04. respond to the values of the present= The other characters, Caddie, Mrs„ Compson and Miss Quentin, exist almost passively in time; they make no attempt to alter the facts or direction of their lives. They only live from day to day and accept everything as unavoidable»

2501ga Vickery, Novels of William Faulkner, p 0 227° 24- Hyatt Ho Waggoner, From Jefferson to the World, p° 57° 16 II

There are no sonnd images in the first section of the hook* This provides an interesting contrast and com­ parison with the other sectionso In relation to Benjie9 Jason's part ©f the hook has only three images of sound; Bilsey and Quentin have a great number of sound images» This places Jason's perception on a par with the idiot Benjie and provides a contrast for the more perceptual views of Bilsey and Quentin. In this way Faulkner empha­ sizes Jason's narrow, material world-— the idiot Benjie is able to perceive as much or more than Jason. Harry Campbell points out that "the language of each section represents the 25 mental state of the characters.M The many sound images connected with Bilsey and Quentin indicate their sensitivity and perception; the low number of sound images concerning Benjie and Jason helps to illustrate their mutual inability to perform any beneficent act. In Benjamin's section the language and observations are kept within the range of an idiot's mind. According to Frederick Hoffman "the style, imagery and narrative sequence of each of the sections is adjusted to the point of view from which it is being written." Benjie1s world is known

25

^Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (Hew York, 1929) 9 Po 65o Abbreviated hereafter as SoFo within the texto 18 Qmeatim, in M s section8 continually thinks ©f the past— he recalls a scene that ©ceurred after Caddie's first sexual experience in which the Sound ©f Bennie's voice is heard: o o » Bellowing his voice hammered hack and forth between the walls in waves „ » „ his voice hammering hack and forth as though its own momentum would not let it stop as though there were no place for it in silence bellowing (Solo„ pc 143)= This was Bemjie's reaction as Caddie came through the door— through his knowledge that Caddie had sinned, Faulkner would seem to have us understand that Benjie possesses a moral vision. Benjie is able to know tMngs intuitively; throughout the book he has an inherent sense of order and moral value0 Bawrenee Thompson indicates Benjie's mystical i powers: o o o Ben is represented as having the instinctive and intuitive power to differen­ tiate between objects or actions which are life-encouraging and others which are life- injuring, and these are used by Faulkner to symbolize the antithesis between good and evilo28

It is through the reactions of Benjie that Faulkner empha­ sizes the moral decay of the Cempsons, In the last section of the book the sound images concerning Benjie continue the idea that he is a moral force; he somehow understands the good and evil of man:

28 Lawrence Thompson, "Hirror Analogues in The Bound and the Fury," in Three Decades of Criticism, pp. 214-215o 19 Then Ben wailed again9 hopeless and prolongedo It was nothing. Just sound. It might have "been all time and injustice and sorrow become vocal for an instant by a conjunction of planets (8 ,B,„ p, 3Q5 )o Here his voice is "hopeless and prolonged"; he is joined with all men of all time and seems to carry the burden of all the "injustice and sorrow" that ever existed. After Bilsey has taken Ben to church, they walk into the street and he begins to cry: ", , , He bellowed slowly, abjectly, without tears; the grave hopeless sound of all voiceless misery under the sun," (S,ff,, p, .332) Again the sound of his -voice is associated with the moral disorder of mankind; Ben feels and understands "all voiceless misery under the sun," The idea that "lenjie is an impotent Christ sym- bol"^ is given meaning by the connection of his voice with the world's miseries,. It is lenjie who has an inherent moral code; he has a definite sense of order and is able to distinguish good from evil. He carries the weight of man's problems but he cannot help because he is an idiot. At the end of the book Faulkner re-emphasizes the natural sense of order that Benjie feels. As Luster drives Ben through town he swings the horse to the left of the monu­ ment and Ben begins to bellow:

2Q yHyatt H, Waggoner, From Jefferson to the World, p , 4-4-, 20 Bellow ©n bellow, M s voice mounted, with scarce interval for breath* fhere was more than astonishment in it, dt was horror; shock; agony eyeless, tongneless; dust sound (SoFoQ p* 555)° Ben knew the horse should have gone to the right; M s world of order had been disrupted and he reacted in the only way he could* He represents moral order in a world which has no moral order; he instinctively perceives the distinctions between good and evil but he is helpless and impotent to do more than yell*

III

The sound images in Jason's section connect M m with the different themes in the same way they connect BenjiOo There is an obvious contrast between the two be­ cause Ben is a moral force and Jason is destructive and vicious * William Van 0'Gonnor points out that the "ironic cynicism of Jason is everywhere evident in his languageo11 Jason is a practical materialist who has no values; M s section is full of comedy and satire for he makes Mmself ridiculous in M s single-minded pursuit of moneyo All of the sound images in Jason's section have a harsh quality which emphasizes M s cold, cynical view of life* The first sound image appears when Jason is chasing

^®William Van O'Connor, Tangled Fire of William Faulkner (Minneapolis; University of Minnesota, 1954-), p 0 44o Miss Quentin during her ride with the carnival mano After leaking for them in a wooded area he hears their ear leav­ ing and the horn hi owing: “They kept on blowing it, like it was saying Xaho Xaho Xaaahhhhhhho" (SoFoa p0 259) Here the sound of the hern emphasizes Jason's sense of persecution and self-pity= Jason seeks money and material wealth; his life and his values do not allow him to he happy„ While he sits in the store where he works he hears the hand playing at the carnival: “The hand was playing again, a loud fast tune, like they were breaking up0“ (Solo, p* 264) The sound of the hand is a source of irritation for Jason; he would rather see people working than enjeying themselves and hopes the carnival is “breaking up®" The noise of the hand also suggests a crowd and this provides a contrast with Jason who is isolated, ©Iga Vickery explains Jason's world as isolated and rational: “he wants logic over emo­ tion and contracts for trust, The last sound image in Jason's section reinforces his lack of feeling and sympathy, As he goes to bed he hears Benjie through the deer: “I could hear the Great American Gelding snoring away like a planing mill,* (Sol,, p, 280) It was Jason who gave the orders for the castra-

^Qlga Vickery, Hovels of William Faulkner, p, 46= ti@m ©f Bern "because he thought Bern was tjeying t© molest a yeuag girl. It is ireaie that Bern was actually running after the girl because he hoped it would be Caddie; but Jason's perception and understanding are to© narrow for him to know this. One sound image concerning Jason is found in lilsey's section* It is on Easter morning that he begins his frantic search for Quentin and her boyfriend* He hears the sound of the bells as he prepares to follow the carnival to the next town: "fhe bells were ringing again, high in the scudding sunlight in bright disorderly tatters of sound*" (IL2JL2.S P° 320) Here the sound of the bells increases Jason's irritation and multiplies his anguish* Ihis provides a contrast with Dilsey who gains a sense of comfort from the bells; she represents, along with Benjie, the good in the world and by contrast emphasizes Jason's decadence* While lilsey and Benjie attend Easter service, Jason chases across the country in search of money he actually had stolen* The sound of the bells connects these two acts in time and the contrast shows Jason to be a per­ son without moral values or concepts *

IV

Quentin's section is different from those of Ben and Jason because the language is more expansive and the meanings are more complex* Frederick Hoffman says the 23 difference in Quentin"s section is due to the great variety of figures and allusions in the languageThere are more sound images in this section than in any of the other three; Quentin interprets things through images and symbols thus emphasizing the different themes o Olga Vickery suggests that the symbols in connection with Quentin are used to intensify the emotional impact and reinforce the ■53 meaningso Quentin is the most introspective character and he remains somewhat ambiguous to the encL The main reason for his suicide is the loss of honor brought upon the Oompsons by Caddie's promiscuity0 Quentin loves his sister but he also has respect for the glory of his family's paste Her loss of virginity represents the decay of the family which he unsuccessfully tries to prevent 0 He is concerned with time because he seeks the past time in which his family had values and position; but he cannot preserve time and he cannot stop time so he commits'sui­ cide,, Like Bengie, Quentin wants to preserve his world but not so much for the moral order or love relationship as for the dignity of the past= Time continues and its movement only carries the Oompsons to further decay; Quentin wants to stop time in an effort to halt this decay=

^Frederick Hoffman9 William Faulkner<, p 0 34-<, ^Olga Vickery, Novels of William Faulkner, p 0 40„ 24 He cheeses death net s© mmch t© kill time as t© step it forever at one point0■54 fhe first sound image associated with Quentin occurs in Cambridge; he hears the clock striking in the distance: The hour began to strike „ 0 » It was a while before the last stroke ceased vibratingo It stayed in the air o » o for a long time* Like all the bells that ever rang still ringing in the long dying light-rays * * * (Sof** p* 98)* Here the sound of the bells reminds Quentin of time; the eternity of time is expressed by the unchanging sound of bells* Time is running out for Quentin; this is indicated by the bells fading into the "long dying light-rays*" Then as Quentin walks into the gewelry store he hears the s©und.s of all the clocks: "The place was full of ticking9 like crickets in September grass* " (S*g* * p* 102) Again time is emphasized; here it connects Quentin with the land and nature: "* * * crickets in September grass*" Quentin is out of even the present time because his mind lives only in the Mississippi of his youth* Sound images of bells are used throughout the whole section; they embody a sense of movement which finally brings Quentin to suicide * He goes into the past and is then brought back into the present by the bells of time;

^Olga Vickery, Hovels of William Faulkner* p* 40* 25 I o o o listened to the strokes spaced and tranquil along the sunlight, among the thin, still little leaveso Spaced and peaceful and serene, with that quality of autumn always in hells even in' the month of hrides (SJTo., p0 119)o Sound is here used to emphasize the sadness and futility Quentin feels ahout Saddle’s marriage = The hells are "peaceful and serene" hut they have a quality of "autumn" or death; this quality of death is paradoxically linked with "June hrides" in order to illustrate Quentin’s associ­ ation of Gaddie and death0 fhe last three sound images cariy Quentin to the point of his suicide» As he walks out of his dormitory and into the quad: "» , 0 the chimes did begin and I went on while the notes came up like ripples on a pool . « (Sol«, p 0 189) lime is running out and the notes are like "ripples on a pool"; soon Quentin will drown himself and fix his place in time* The association of water and time suggest that hoth Quentin and time will drown into nothing­ ness o Then as he walks toward the bridge Quentin again hears the sound of hells: The first not sounded, measured and tranquil, serenely peremptory, emptying the unhurried silence for the next one = o o (Soff*, p» 194-)» Quentin is committed to suicide; he now prepares himself for his last act, always noticing the passing time* As he makes his final plans and is about to leave, he hears the distant hells: "The last note sounded* At last it stopped 26 vibrating and the darkness was still again=” (Eolo« p« 197) fhis last image marks the end ©f Qmentin's per©eption0 The seetien cenelmdes with his preparations for death; Quentin has finally moved "beyond time and his suieide will fix him at one point forever0 The sound images at the first of Quentin's section are used to suggest his relation with his home 0 On his trip from Mississippi to Cambridge sound expresses diffi­ culty; Quentin does not want to leave but he is obligated to go because his father sold the family pasture in order to send him to schoolc It is the sound of the train carrying him away from home that is associated with Quentin's feelings % o o o the engine puffing with short heavy blasts 0 = » (Soffo„ p. 106); o o o where movement was only a laboring sound of exhaust and groaning wheels e » o (SoiV, p 0 10?); We were going beside a blank wall, the sound clattering back into the car . „ . (Soffo. p= 108)o The dissonant sound of the train reflects the mind of Quentin; he feels he has been pushed into leaving home and the movement away is difficult» When he arrives in Cambridge the sound of two Megroes contrasts with the Megroes of the South: "At the corner two bootblacks caught me, one on either side, shrill and raucous like blackbirdso11 (Soffo „ p 0 52) All of these images contrast Quentin's affinity for 2? the South with his antipathy for the Norths He seeks a permanent position "both geographically and morally; as Frederick Hoffman points out, "Quentin is in love with stasis3 represented variously hy the place of the Gompson home, "by Gaddie*s virginity, and "by his death itself The next two sound images concerning Quentin are related to water and to deaths Quentin is in Cambridge and he hears a tug coming down a stream: o « o The water shearing in long rolling cylinders, rocking the float 0 = » with the echo of passage, the float lurching onto the rolling cylinder with a plopping sound and a long jarring noise o o = (SoFs, p. 109)o later he goes back into the past and as he thinks of Caddie he recalls trunks brought from the attic: "Bringing empty trunks down the attic stairs they sounded like coffins . . * (SoFs, p c 114) The noise of the water is emphasized to suggest the attraction Quentin finds in it; water is also connected with death because he later drowns himself» The sound of the "empty trunks" is given in a passage referring to Caddie; this associates death with Caddie by the connec­ tion of the trunks with coffins= Quentin seeks death for himself and Caddie in order to preserve their relationship and to halt the destruction of the Compsonso Throughout Quentin's section he always returns to the past; he continually thinks of Caddie and seems to be

^Frederick Hoffman, William Faulkner„ p„ 55° trying to eonstract some form of order for himselfo There is a sense of melancholy ahout him "because he always "broods ever his relationship with Caddie«. The sound images used by Quentin in relation to Caddie, are sensuous-— they have an earthiness, a quality of nature which emphasizes the love and pain he felt. The images could also suggest the desire for incest or the incest Quentin falsely con­ fessed to; this sensuous quality connects their lives and intensifies the natural love existing between them0 Quentin thinks of Caddie and then recalls parti­ cular aspects of nature he associates with her0 It is • almost a counterpoint, with Caddie and nature being inter­ mittently related; the sound images blend her with nature and suggest her lost innocence= They emphasize sex and love by their association with the earth, and reinforce the moral poverty of Caddie = And we'd sit in the dry leaves that whispered a little with the slow respira­ tion of our waiting and with the slow breathing of the earth and the windless October » = 0 listening to the echo of Louis' voice dying away (8,P., p 0 134)0 Then as he listens to the sound of Louis' voice he again thinks of Caddie; o o o He sounded just like the horn he carried 0 o 0 but clearer, mellower, as though his voice were a part of darkness and silence, coiling out of it, coiling into it againo WhoOoooo Got to marry somebody (8.P., p0 134)„ : 29 While Quentin approaches the "bridge in Cambridge the sound of the water suggests his coming death and connects it with Caddie 9 s marriage: Beneath it the water was clear and still in the shadow, whispering and clucking about the stone in fading swirls „ o Caddy that ' s' 11 ve got to marry somebody (S = F0, p Q 1349. Quentin continues to associate the sounds of nature with Caddieo His mind works on the level of immediate objects and also on the level of past events» As he walks across an orchard with three boys going to fish, he seems to con­ nect his surroundings with the lushness of the Southern earth: His bare feet made no sound, falling softer than leaves in the thin dust„ In the orchard the bees sounded like the wind getting up, a sound caught by a spell just under crescendo and sustained (Sol., p. 141)o Finally Quentin directly connects the present with the past: "Some days in late August at home are like this . . .H (8.1., p. 142) The sound of a carriage from the past takes him back, thus releasing his mind from the present: The buggy was drawn by a white horse, his feet clopping in the thin dust; spidery wheels chattering thin and dry, moving uphill beneath a rippling shawl of leaves (SoF0, p. 143)» Quentin walks through town with the little girl; he associates the girl with Caddie and continues to refer to the past. The sensuous quality of the images again suggests the decayed relationship: "It was raining we could hear it on the roof, sighing through the high sweet emptiness of 30 the barn011 (SoP*« p 0 153) This image refers t© Quentin and Caddie before she destroyed him. Then the sound of the little girl's feet are connected with Quentin and Caddie: "Oh her blood or my blood Oh We went on in the thin dust, our feet silent as rubber in the thin dust 0 » 0" (SJBQ, p» 154) Quentin is slowly going insane because he keeps searching his mind, trying to discover the reason for Caddie's immorality0 It is the sound of a bird which sug­ gests his return to normalcy and brings him back to the present: "The bird whistled again, invisible, a sound meaningless and profound, inflexionless, ceasing as though cut off with a knife 0 0 0 " (S_o$Q, ppo 154-155) The last four sound images are brought from the past by Quentin's memoryo They are directly connected with Caddie and Quentin and re-emphasize.the sensuality of their relationshipo After Caddie has come home from her first sexual affair it is Benjie who screams; then Quentin runs after Caddie when she leaves the house: a o o Crickets sawing away in the grass pacing me with a small traveling island of silence o = = the air seemed to drizzle with honeysuckle and with the rasping of crickets „ 0 „ (Soffo„ p„ 168)o Here the sound of the insects and the smell of honeysuckle indicates the sensuous nature of their relationship; the "rasping crickets" also serve as a chorus to illustrate Quentin's feelings of anxiety» Quentin finds her lying in a pool of water wmth her dress soaked against her; this 31 memory is very clear’te M m amd he recalls her teach: "She moved my hand up against her throat her heart was hammering there = 11 ( Soffo „ p0 169) Caddie walks into the woods alone even thongh Quentin pleades with her not to g©o After she is gone he hears the sound of frogs coming from the woods: "In the woods the tree frogs were going smelling rain in the air they sounded like toy music hexes that were hard to turn." (Sole, p„ 174) Quentin realizes Caddie has heen meeting Balton Ames; he tries to kill Ames hut failso After the fight Quentin is on the ground and as he lies there he hears the sound of Caddie”s horse: "I heard the horse coming fast « „ « and heard its feet hunch scuttaring the sand and feet running and her hard running handso" (Solo, p 0 181) While this past action takes place in Quentin's mind, he is actually fighting with Bland in the present; he slowly comes hack to reality hut the connec­ tion of Caddie’s affair with the fight is significant on two levelso The sound of the horse brings him to reality in his dream; the fight with Bland connects the real past with the presento* Olga Vickery points out that Quentin's fights with Julio and Bland "constitute the two points at which past and present, the private and public worlds collideoQuentin has integrated the past with the present hut this state soon falls apart„ He continues to

^Olga Vickery, Hovels of William Faulkner, p0 37° seek values in a world witheat any apparent values; he finally gives up the struggle and drewns himself that same day0

Y

$he last section of the book concerns Dilsey and points up the idea that she represents peace and eternal valueso Dilsey compares with Benjie as a moral force and she provides a contrast to the petty meanness of Jason* Hyatt Waggoner says the saving positive values of the book are found in the idiot Benjie and the colored maid, -57 Dilsey* ' Dilsey displays love for all the characters 5 she has understanding which goes beyond everyday problems and she embodies those values the Compson family has lost* She acts out of her sense of humanity and represents an ethical norm that creates order from disorder and love from hate* The first sound image in this section reflects the confusion of Jason's section; this sense of confusion could also apply to Quentin— thus contrasting the two with the peacefulness and orderliness of Dilsey: A pair of jaybirds came up from nowhere * * * screaming into the wind that ripped their harsh cries onward and away like scraps of paper or of cloth in turn (S,Fe, p* 282)=

v37 'Hyatt H* Waggoner, From Jefferson to the World* p* 59° 33 $he following images emphasize Dilsey's quiet love and provide a sharp contrast? to. this image ©f the ’'s©reaming jaybirds o *' As lilsey stands in the kitchen on Easter morning the sound of her voice is soft; 060 She sang9 to herself at first » » » repetitive mournful and plaintive9 austere 9 as she ground a faint? steady snowing of flour onto the breadboard (Soffo„ p 0 286)» These are the soft, peaceful sounds which provide an atmosphere of love around Dilsey; there is a sense of cour­ age and dignity9 of faith transcending man's relative pro­ blems 6 The sensual quality connecting Quentin and Oaddie is seen in the sound images relating to Dilsey; but there are no sexual connotations9 only the concepts of love and endurance: The stove had begun to heat the room and fill it with the murmurous minors of the fire « o o (SoloQ p0 286)» o o o A cabinet clock ticked, then with a preliminary sound as if it had cleared its throat9 struck five times (SoFo, p 0 290)0 Dilsey has the same moral vision which characterizes Bemjieo She can see the decay of the Gompsons but her values remain unchanged: The clock tiek-toeked, solemn and pro­ found o It might have been the dry pulse of the decaying house itself; after awhile it whirred and cleared its throat and struck six times (SJP°.9 p 0 301)0 Here the clock indicates the passing time and its association 34 with the "decaying house" emphasizes the inevitable destruc­ tion of the Goapsonso She most important part of Bilsey's section is connected with the church service and Beverend Shegego In most of his work Faulkner has a respect for the Hegro; in this hook it is seen most clearly in the treatment of the church serviceo Shrough the church service the members of the congregation find humanity and learn that all men are equal and brothers in their sufferingo^® She moral visions of Ben and Bilsey are given emphasis and Beverend Shegog suggests the theme of "the innocent child killed by the worldcShis theme relates to Caddie» Quentin, Miss Quentin and Benjie because they are all victims of something beyond their controlo Bach is doomed to suffer his fate and no amount of thought, or faith will help him* Unlike these characters, Bilsey has an inner strength which helps her to face the world, although her whole race is a sub­ jected one* Faulkner illustrates her ability to cope with the world by presenting her section in the third person^ In her section the book moves, for the first time, into the world itself and the reader is not involved within a / Compson mindo

^®01ga Vickery, Bevels of William Faulkner■> p0 49o ^Melvin Beckman, "Faulkner's Sick Heroes," Modern Fiction Studies, II (Autumn, 1956), 107» flie cjamreh service begins when Reverend Shegeg and the regular minister walk onto the pulpit0 fhe people are disappointed by Shegeg*.s appearance; this is illustrated by the sounds: o o o An indescribable sound went up, a sigh, a sound of astonishment and disappoint­ ment o o = six children rose and sang in thin, frightened, tuneless whispers * .<, „ (S.F.. p» 309)« He then crouches ever the pulpit and begins to speak: When the visitor rose to speak he sounded like a white man* His voice was level and cold o o o he ran and poised and swooped upon the cold infleetionless wire of his voice (S.fr,* p0 309)o He stops speaking and there is a hush over the congregation* When he begins to speak again the sound of his voice is imaged to suggest the change within him and within the people* It is as though he provides hope for each of the characters in the novel: 0 0 0 fhe voice died in sonorous echoes between the walls* It was as different as day and dark from his former tone, with a sad, timbrous quality like an alto horn, sinking into their hearts and speaking there again when it had ceased in fading and cumulate echoes (S*ff** p* 310)= His voice carries people beyond time; they seem to blend into one unified group which is purging itself for the sins of all men* fhe preacher and his voice are connected with water to further emphasize his power of salvation: He was like a worn small rock whelmed by the successive waves of his voice * * * he seemed to feed the voice that, sueeubus like, had fleshed its teeth in him (8*R.* p* 310)* 36 The congregation reacts to his words and his emotion as they are brought into a world of peace and understanding: "I seess 0 Jesuse Oh I sees., and still another, without words9 like bubbles rising in water»11 (Soffo „ pc 312) The effect of the sermon on Dilsey and Bemjie is deep; they have been moved to an emotional state full of goodness and love: "In the midst of the voices and the hands Ben sat, rapt in his sweet blue gaze. Dilsey sat bolt upright beside 9 crying rigidly and quietly „ . 0" (Solo, p 0 313) Then as they walk out of the church Dilsey begins to cry; she says "I've seed ,de first and de last o o o I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de endin0" Just as Ben has an inherent moral concept so does Dilsey; but while Ben can only scream, Dilsey speaks and pronounces the doom lying over the Compsons o Dilsey has seen the first of the Compsons and now she realizes Benjie and the childless Jason are the last• The Compson family has come to its end and it is ironic that Jason is the one who restores order at the end by taking the horse Queenie to the right of the Confederate Monument0 The order and values of the world are in control of people like Jason; this represents a world without meaning and Dilsey says "I sees de endin0” The end of the book is narrated from Dilsey’s point of view so it can go beyond the problems of the Compsons and relate to the world» Faulkner is saying the old 37 ordered world of moral values has fallen to the petty people like Jason, The disintegration of the Oompsons is complete; the chaos and materialism of Jason is the ruling force in the world. Through the fall of a family9 Faulkner has given a moral vision of a world which now lacks a moral vision, Hyatt Waggoner feels thst the greatness of this hook is in its ability to relate specific events and periods which finally evoke universal applications and meanings.40

^Hyatt H, Waggoner$ From Jefferson to the World, p, 61. 1 CHAPTER II

SOUKD IMAGES AHD THEME IH AS I LAX DYING

In 193© Faulkner wrote his second major work: As I Lay Dying:o It is similar in structure to The Sound and the Fury "but is more complex-. There are fifteen characters and fifty-nine sections* Dari's point of view dominates the "book; he is given nineteen of the total sections or approximately eighty pages of the entire "book* Vardaman narrates ten sections; Tull has six; ©ash, five; Dewey Dell, four; Amse and Cora have three; Peabody, two; Addle, Jewel and the other characters have only one section* This type of structure emphasizes the perceptivity of Dari and helps illustrate his mystical powers* Olga Vickery points out that Dari is able to penetrate the minds of others and knows the secret thoughts of each of the 4-1 characters* The structure also provides a contrast be­ tween Dari and the others; he perceives more and has greater powers of comprehension* Although the action is centered upon Addie and her burial, it is Dari who records and narrates most of the important events *

"^Olga Vickery, "The Dimensions of Consciousness: As I Day Dying," in Three Decades of Criticism* p* 241*

38 39 The language of each character reflects his interest and participation in the storyc As Olga Westland comments5 the style ranges from the dialect of actual speech to poetic images and rhythms of the unconscious0 4-2 Within the Bundren family$ Anse and Dewey Dell take the least active parts in the action; the language of their sections is flat and objective to emphasize their passive participation* Bari, Vardaman and Cash are more active; but Cash’s language is on a common level to indicate his concern with physical action— lari and Vardaman are mere poetic because they live more fully in the world of imagination* Jewel plays am important part but his main concern is Addie's burial; his language is not poetic but it has a great intensity of feeling* The language of Addie is ornate and poetic for she is isolated from reality by death* The language, for the most part, is not that of ignorant people; it is highly sympathetic and expressive with a number of poetic passages* The theme of the novel is the integration of a family in a time of trouble* Each of the Bundren family has an isolated existence because he is not involved in life by love or action* They are separate entities, alone due to their own reftisal or inability to become involved*

4-2 Olga Westland, "As I Day Dying:*" Perspective* III (Autumn, 1950), 180* , The death ©f Addle provides a situation wherein eaeh person can become involved0 They all join in a mutual effort to bury Addle and through this action their lives gain meaning and significanceo William Van 0 1 Connor believes the theme of the novel “is the obligation to be involved„ People isolated from life have no truthful or meaningful existenceo The Sundrens illustrate man's responsibility to live with dignity 9 self-respect and l©ve0 The most isolated character in the book is Addie Bundren; it is significant her section places the most emphasis on involvement and meaning in life. Addie1s life is an attempt to escape her aloneness but she fails because 44 she rejects life* She is unable to love or involve her­ self and it is ironic that the faults she finds in others are those same faults which keep her in isolation.;, Addie's isolation is reinforced when she points out her failures with Ansa, Gera, Whitfield and each of the children; it is also illustrated on a literal level because she is dead in her coffin* The child she loves is Jewel but even this relationship has no real meaning* Amse's promise to bury Addie in Jefferson is Addie's final attempt to involve herself, and the attempt succeeds *

^William Van 0 1Gonnor, Tangled Bire of William Faulkner* p* 50° . 4 4 Hyatt H* Waggoner, Prom Jefferson to the World* pp * 81—82* 41 r She not only connects her life with others "bmt she provides a situation which enables each of the family to violate his alememesso Addie is the source of tension and violence existing within and between the Bumdrens; only she can rectify this situation by bringing them together= Her burial gives significance to her life and to the lives of her family; each becomes involved in life and exhibits dignity and courage0 Mary deeper lobb says the philosophy of the Bundrens will not help them in the material world9 but it does give them "courage to endure and to look upon 46 their lives with quiet satisfaction,,"

II

Most of the sound images are found in Bari's sec- tionSo Ihis fact reinforces the concept of Bari as more perceptive and understanding than the. other characters0 Yardaman9 Bewey Bell? Addie and Gash have sound images in their sections but there are none in those bf Anse and Jewelo This illustrates that Anse and Jewel are only con­ cerned with physical action while the others often go beyond the physical level* Tull's existence outside the family makes his views more objective; the sound images in his sections help elucidate the problems and feelings of the Bundrens * 1

4-!>Mary Cooper Robb? William Faulkner (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh? 1957)> P« 44* The first s©imd images are connected with the saw Gash mses to build Addle ’s coffin., $his sound represents the life existing around Addle and it is associated with her approaching death® Cora hears the saw going into the board: “We can hear the saw in the beard® It sounds like snoringo"^ Here the sound is “like snoring” to suggest sleep or the death Addie is waiting for; it is the only significant sound she can hear during all her days of anguisho After Addie has died, the noise of the saw is heard by Bari; the sound is “unhurried" and “steady" to emphasise the peace of death Addie has foundo "The sound of the saw is steady, competent, unhurried, stirring the daylight „ » ®" (AI&B. p® 37*) Bewey Bell hears the sound of the saw and by relating it to "a dog outside the house" she connects the sound with the presence of death: Then the sound of Gash’s saw comes in o o o It is like a dog outside the house, , going back and forth around the house o a o waiting to come in (AILB, pc 380)0 The next sound image of the saw indicates the sleep Addie finds in death: "The saw sounds like it is asleepo" (AILB. pi 385)® These images also concern Gash and illustrate his sense of action and involvement= Olga Vickery says "the construction of the coffin becomes an act of love, under-

^Faulkner, As I Lav Dying (Hew York, 1930), p® 3*3° Abbreviated hereafter as AILB within the text. 43 47 st>©©& as smeh "by Addie =" ' It is Gash who mses his physi­ cal abilities as a earpenter to express his feelings for Addie; he is an involved and committed characters Two other sonnd images are connected with Gash to reinforce the objective, physical aspects of his characters Gash exists on a level of action and fact is more important to him than anything else. His labor is dedicated and has a quality of machine-like precision; lari hears the saw start up again: He takes up the saw again; again it moves up and down, in and out of that unhurried imperviousness as a piston moves in oil = » , (AIL1, p c 393)° This quality of dependability and assurance makes Gash the most stable member of the family. His labor is emphasized by sound imagery to illustrate his responsible nature: Gash labors , , , lifting and placing the planks with long clattering reverberations in the dead air as though he were lifting and dropping them at the bottom, of an invisible well, the sounds ceasing without departing, as if any moment might dislodge them from the immediate air in reverberant repetition (AII«B, P° 392)° These sounds are heard by lari; they show his admiration for i - Gash and underline the sympathy and understanding between them, Olga Westland explains their relationship: Gash has sympathy and understanding for Dari and this increases until the end , ,

4?©lga Vickery, "As I Lay Dying,11 in Three Decades of Criticism, p, 239° 44 fhis eombined with M s own firm foundation in action makes Gash the only effective character in the novel. It is his judg­ ments which seem to possess the greatest value,48 Dewey Dell shows little emotion throughout the novel; she does not resist lafe "but feels that her seduc­ tion is caused by fate: ", , , If the sack is full when we get to the woods it won't be me , , I cannot help it." (AILD, p, 355) During the rest of the book she is rightly concerned with her pregnancy but this does not indicate she is without feeling for Addie, At Addie's death, Dewey Dell falls across her body; the emphasis on the sound of her voice and the sounds of the fall indicates the emotion she feels for her mother, The noises underline the death of Addie, and suggest the shock and sense of loss Dewey Dell feels: Her voice is strong, young, tremulous and clear, rapt with its own timbre and volume, the fan still moving steadily up and down, whispering in the useless air , , , Then she flings herself , , , across the handful of rotten bones that Addie Bundren left, jarring the whole bed into a chattering sibilance of mattress shucks , , , the fan still beating with expiring breath into the quilt (AILD, P ° 572), Dewey Dell does have a reaction to Addie's death which portrays her love; but she was born to "negative" Jewel and it is this condition of her birth that keeps her from

^ 0 1 ga Westland, "As I Lay Dying," Perspective, III (Autumn, 1950), 184, 4-5 exhibiting mere emotion* She is, in a sense, reliving the life of Addle and faces the same problems of pregnancy which kept Addle from committing herself to life* Jewel's relationship with Addle can never be close because Jewel resents the circumstances of his birth* Addie does love him more than the other characters and Jewel saves her from the flood and fire; but there is. a tension and violence within him because he both loves her and hates her* In an attempt to resolve his, emotional polarity he buys a horse which becomes a substitute for his mother* He breaks his connection with Addie by the ( purchase of a horse on which he can expend his love and ZLQ hate* In this way Jewel transfers his feelings; he can­ not openly hate or be cruel to Addie but he can express his violence on the horse* The violence of Jewel's character is related to the sound of the kicking horse: "* * * The horse kicks at him, slamming a single hoof into the wall with a pistol-like report*" (AILH, p* 34-6) This sound image is given through Dari and suggests the tension and violence existing between Jewel and the horse* The sound images of the horse always express a tension or emotion indicating Jewel's hatred and mistrust* Dari hears the horse as they attempt to cross the river: "The horse is trembling * * * its breathing stertorous like groaning*"

^Olga Westland, "As I Lay Dying," p* 188* (AILD, p 0 4-39) After the river has heen crossed, Tull listens to the' horse coming out of the water: M „ <, = It came splashing and scrambling up the hank, moaning and groaning like a natural man. “ (AIM), p. 450) Jewel is the fatherless son of Addle, and the horse represents the violence he has inherited. When he surrenders the horse so Anse can get a team of mules. Jewel is again allied with Addie and uses all his power to get her hurled. His language is full of cursing and violence until she is hurled; then he becomes quiet and relaxed. William Van 0 1 Conner points out that Jewel's violence subsides after Addie is buried and Dari is in an asylum: 11. . . as though he had accepted his obligation to live with Addie's 50 blood until it was tamed and quieted. The sound images in Addie's section emphasize her isolation and her lack of involvement in life. When she teaches school she resents the aloneness of the children and switches them in an attempt to become part of their lives. Her inability to involve herself is connected with the sound of wild geese; she identifies this wild haunting sound with her feelings of frustration: Sometimes I thought that I could met bear it, lying in bed at night, with the sild geese going north and their honking coming faint and high and wild out of the wild darkness (AILD, p. 462)

50william Van 0 1 Connor, The Tangled Fire, p. 49. 4-7 Addie realizes the uselessness of words which have no real meaning and never seems to bring herself even to the point of wordso She does not speak or act because she finds no meaning in the words of otherso The sound of a voice is related to the geese to suggest her fear of a meaningless life: I would lie by him in the dark, hearing the dark land talking of God’s love and His beauty and His sin; hearing the dark voice­ lessness in which the words are the deeds, and the other words that are not deeds <, <, o coming down like the cries of the wild geese out of the wild darkness in the old terrible nights o o o (AIM), p» 4-66)0 Addie sees the empty values of others and this knowledge keeps her from creating her own values 0 She exists as a stylized representation of the human need to be involved and eommittedo^ Words have no meaning for Addie because she has not created a meaning for them; she can only "hear the dark land talking the voiceless speeeho" The sound images throughout the rest of the book create a sense of movement which elucidates other charac­ ters and events, and carries the story to its ending0 At the first of the book Anse puts on his shoes and walks through the house; Tull hears this sound which suggests Anse's slow, methodical personality: “« » « We can hear them clumping on the floor like they was iron shoes =" (AILD, p 0 359) Anse is described as a somewhat obtuse,

^Ibido, p0 4-5o 4 8 inactive person, but he does fulfill his promise to Addie, thus involving himself in life© He lives on the level of the spoken word and is a "bystander at every crisis, hut this only indicates his limited capabilities and increases the heroic aspects of his deed© Anse acts as a power be­ hind the family and keeps them moving in spite of the obstacles © George M» O'Donnell says that Anse1s promise to bury Addie is an ethical duty he performs to give a 52 sense of meaning to his life© The greatness of the novel is in part due to Anse's overcoming of his own deficiencies and fulfilling his obligation© Vardaman perceives things by associating objects or events with different occurrences© He is not an idiot but he is a small child who is unable to give rational, logical explanations for events = Olga Westland points out that Tardaman uses association and emotion, and all his thoughts are on the level of the unconscious mind © ^ 3?his is the reason he thinks his "mother is a fish"; it is also the reason he associates his mother's death with Dr© Peabody © $© take revenge on him, Tardaman scares Peabody's team of horses away© The sound image of thi horses is connected with rain, demonstrating the associative quality

^George M© O'Donnell, "Faulkner's BSythology, " Three Decades of Oriticism© p© 8?© ^Olga Westland, "As I Day Dying;©" p© 189© 49 ©f Tardaman's world: The stick breaks, they rearing and snorting, their feet popping lend on the ground; loud because its going to rain and the air is empty for the rain (AlhB, p» 377)» Another sound image connected with Tardaman occurs after Addle's death; he has gone to get Cora, and Tull hears him knocking on the door: "» 0 « It kept on knocking= Hot loud, but steady, like he might have gone to sleep thump­ ing o o o” (AJLB, p0 387) This image shows Tardaman as a child* He is tired after traveling at night through the rain-soaked countly and does not understand why Cora is needed— -it is quite natural he should "go to sleep thumping* ” Tar daman is unable to actively help the family bury Addie, but in his own way he participates and involves himself in life* Before Addie's death the weather was very hot and dry* This correlated with the tenseness of the family— waiting for Addie to die increased the emotional states of the characters and added to the suspense of the situation* After she is dead, Dari describes the sound of the rain and connects it with an emotional release: It begins to rain* The first harsh, sparse, swift drops rush through the leaves and across the gound in a long sigh, as though of relief from intoler­ able suspense (AILD, p* 392)* The sound of the rain suggests the peace Addie has found 50 in death; it als© marks the beginning of the regenerating journey0 Addle*s funeral is narrated "by full so an objec­ tive view of the death can be given, fhe first sound image illustrates the excitement the women feel: fhe women folks go on into the house. We can hear them talking and fanning, fhe fans go whishj whish, whish and them talking, the talking sounding kind of like bees murmuring in a water bucket (AILB, p. 599)° fhe voice of Whitfield is heard giving the sermon: "His voice is bigger than him. It’s like they were not the same. It’s like he is one and his voice is one = . ." ' (AILB. pp. 4©3-4©4) fhis separation of the voice from the man indicates that Whitfield lives only with words. He formed the words to say to Anse about his affair with Addie but he could not say them; he rationalized and decided they were not necessary. He is not involved in life because he cannot act: “His voice is bigger than him.“ Whitfield is incapable of a moral act and all his words are "fine dead sounds." fhe last two sound images connected with the funeral are used to provide atmosphere; they also suggest the self- consciousness of the people: "Somebody in the house begins to cry. It sounds like her eyes and her voice were turned back inside her . . ." (AILS, p. 404) fhis image could apply to Dewy Dell who is worried about being pregnant; it could also apply to Cora who is overly concerned with her 51 ®vk Christian righteousness = She end of the funeral is marked by the women singing: She women sing again= In the thick air it's like their voices come out of the airs flowing together and on in the sad, comforting tunes (AIL®, p, 404)0 She people leave the funeral and the long procession to Jefferson begins * After finding all the bridges washed out, the fa£-.ily is taken to a bridge still connected at both ends„ As they look at the flooded river its sound suggests their fear of crossing: Before Us She Shick Bark Current BunSo It. Salks Up to us in a murmur become cease­ less and myriad „ „ » Shrough the under­ growth it goes with a plaintive sound, a musing sound 0 „ <> (AILB,pp0 458-459)° She journey across the river is accompanied by the "clucks and murmurs" of the water and the mules make "deep groaning soundso" A log topples the wagon, and the mules and wagon go downstream; the coffin remains on the wagon and after a struggle both are brought ashore = She confusion and terror of this scene is emphasized by the sound of a mule as it disappears in the water: She head of one mule appears, its eyes wide; it looks back at us for an instant, making a sound almost human= She head vanishes again (AILB,• p» 446)» After crossing to the other side, there is a quiet calm which contrasts with the former violence of the rivero She sound of the river has subsided: 52 It looks peaeefml like machinery does after you have watched it and listened t© it f©r a long time® As though the clotting which is you had dissolved into the myriad original motion, and seeing and hearing in - themselves blind and deaf; fury in itself quiet with stagnation (AILB, p Q 4\?8)o The flood is an obstacle of nature, but the Bundrens combine their efforts to overcome this obstacle; they continue their journey in order to fulfill their obliga­ tion® The fire that burns Gillespie * s barn is set by Dari; this is his attempt to involve himself with Addie by putting her in the ground where she can find peace® Dari is the most intelligent and perceptive member of the Bundren family but these abilities keep him from love or kinship with them® He has no relation with Addie because she refused him at birth and would not accept him as her son® Dari does not get along with Jewel because he knows Jewel was fathered by Whitfield; he also resents the fact that Jewel has a mother and he does not® Dewey Dell hates Dari for knowing about her pregnancy® Yardaman is too young to have affection and Dari is just another person to him® Dari and Gash are the closest but even Gash does not seem to understand him, and thinks Dari is better off in an asylum® Dari cannot involve himself with the others, he can only speculate and perceive; the attempt to cremate Addie fails and he is taken away to an asylum® Dari is too intelligent and understanding to live a meaningful life 53 with the Bundrens; the asylum is the only place he can live an uninvolved existenceo After he has gone* Cash emphasizes Dari's inability to live in the world: "This world is not his world; this life his lifeo"^ Before he sets the fire, Dari hears Addie talking in her coffin; he seems to be going insane because he cannot connect himself with the others; 0 o o The apple tree upon the long slumbering flanks within which now and then she talks in little trickling bursts of secret and murmurous bubbling (AILD, p 0 4-94-) „ Then he sets the fire and sees Jewel running for the barn: « o o He springs out „ „ e cleanly from tin against an abrupt and soundless explosion as the whole loft of the barn takes fire at once o o o overhead the flames sound like thunder 0 <> <> (AILD, p. 498)» This passage portrays the violence of the fire and also the fury and madness of JewelQ Then the sound of a horse is joined with the flaimes to emphasize the chaos: oo.o The horse screams = It plunges and kicks, the sound of the crashing blows sucking up into the sound of the flameso They sound like an interminable train crossing an endless trestle (AILD, pc 498)o These images provide the atmosphere of violence connected with the fire; they also illustrate-that Dari does nothing to help because he seeks involvement with Addie o He can only watch and listen:

-^"Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, p 0 532 = Gillespie and Hack pass me » « o shouting? their voices thin and high and meaningless and dt the same time profoundly wild and sad Q » o (AILDS p° ^-99)o Dari's attempt fails and Addie is taken to Jefferson where she is finally buried with her kin. The last three sound images contrast with the violence of the fire, suggesting that the Bundrens have achieved peace and quiet= The flood and the fire were the external manifestations of the violence within the charac­ ters; this violence has now subsided* The fire has died down and is peaceful like the river: "The sound of it has become quite peaceful now, like the sound of the river d i d o " (AILD, p* 501) Then as the wagon drives into Jeffer­ son the sound is relaxed and unhurried: "In the sand the wheels whisper, as though the very earth would hush our entryo" (AILD, p* 906) After Addie is buried and Dari has gone to the insane asylum the family goes back to normal * Anse gets a new wife and Cash hears the sound of music which suggests the return to problems of everyday life: "The music was playing in the house * * „ It was natural as a music-band*" (AILD, p, 512) The novel ends with the family going home after having fulfilled their obligation to Addie* They have involved themselves in life by performing a meaningful duty* The sounds have become peaceful and normal-— the steady noise of the saw and the harshness of the flood and . fire have disappeared,, The family has integrated itself and their lives are reconciled with the life of Addle« Addle had to wait nntil death "before she could connect herself with others; her existence is no longer connected with the frustration found in the noise of the "wild geese0" Only through the violence of the family’s life could she achieve the final peace of deatho The novel emphasizes the importance of love and communication between people= People are capable of heroic actions if they forget their self-consciousness and their limitationso Olga Vickery observes that here vio­ lence and destruction and even death are only significant when set against the "larger rhythms of birth and renewal 55 which order the natural worldo”

-^Olga Vickery, Hovels of William Faulkner, p c 2640 GHAPISE III

SOUND IMAGES AND THEME IN LIGHT IN AUGUST

The publication of Li^ht in August in 1932 fully established Faulkner as a major writero The main action of the novel centers upon Joe Christmas and his attempt to discover his identity0 Christmas exists between two worlds because he does not know if he is white or Negro; he is a victim of a society and religion which are dogmatic and inflexibleo Olga Vickery sees the novel as a mixture of a black and white social pattern with the "added religious 56 pattern of the elect and the damned=" Christmas is taken to an orphanage as a small child« Two incidents take place there which are to influ­ ence the rest of his life* First, some of the children call him "niggero" This is the basis of Christmas1 life­ long belief that he is part Negroo Then he accidentally sees the dietician being seduced and is paid not to tell, rather than being punished0 This confuses him; he begins to seek justice and law, rather than love* His adoption by MeEaehern only reinforces his sense of injustice— the injustice of dogmatic religion which he comes to hateQ

^Olga Vickery, Novels of William Faulkner, p 0 70o

56 57 When Christmas leaves McEaeherm1s he has already "been thoroughly conditioned; the main conflicts of his life have taken forme He always ^exists "between two worlds and is the victim of rigidity which keeps him from finding himself and eventually destroys him* Unable to accept himself, he seeks punishment and death throughout his life* Gail Hightower and Joanna Burden are similar with Christmas in that they are also victimized by the spirit of rigidity* Hightower lives in the past during the time his grandfather was killed; this is the moment of glory he can­ not achieve in his own life* He is unable to accept the present because it has no glory or adventure; only his vicarious existence in the past adds meaning and signifi­ cance to his life* This inability to accept the present causes Hightower to create his own code of rigidity* He loses his wife and is forced to resign from the church; he lives in isolation due to his own inability to come to terms with the realities of the present* Christmas is a victim of the rigid standards of others but Hightower creates his own problems and is the cause of his own moral failures* Irving Maiin says Hightower is a person who 57 deliberately attempts to adopt rigidity and live with ito Joanna Burden is a northerner who lives in the South; she has grown up believing in integration and

57irving Malin, William Faulkner; Am Interpretation (Stanford, 195715 p* 2* . devotes her life to helping the Hegro 0 Her motivation stems from childhood indoctrination and is not "based on any clear understanding of the Negro problemHer efforts cannot "be constructive or valid "because she. is a creature without the ability to understand the motives which force her to aeto Her attempt to help the Negroes without under­ standing them causes her to become two people= Her rigid belief in the Negroes is paralleled by a desire for masochistic pleasure obtained from being criticized by the white people; this is also evident when she makes love with Christmas and calls him “niggeroM Another aspect of her dual personality is the fact that she is very religious but also develops the desires of a nymphomaniaco Religion dominates her and finally causes her death when she tries to make Christmas accept her beliefs= The rigid, narrow principles of her life keep her in isolation and contribute to her violent murder= The other major characters can be placed into two opposing groupso Lena Grove and Byron Bunch represent the forces of lome and goodness in the world; Grimm, HcBachern and Doc Hines are rigid, dogmatic people who force their empty values and beliefs on others= These two forces represent the polarity found in the novel; Christmas, Hightower and Burden exist between these points and are never able to totally achieve identification with either viewo Alfred Kasim points out Christmas, Burden and 59 Hightower are prisoners of their own histories and try to resolve this servitude in their own minds; hut they are never able to "lift themselves out of the labyrinth,11 The book opens and closes with Lena* suggesting that the forces of good remain untouched by a violent world, Hightower also undergoes a regeneration while the others die or disappear into the background. Brown is a man without values or connection with life; he betrays Christmas and deserts Lena, The characters try to achieve the stability and goodness of Lena but they fail because of their inability to cope with a rigid society. The main theme of Light in August is the problem of individual survival in a society too rigid to make provisions for the individual, Co-existant with this theme is that of a religion without meaning or benevolence; the religion seen in Light in August does not incorporate sympathy or understanding but only leads to false righteous­ ness and destruction, Hyatt Waggoner believes "puritanism or punitive religious moralism" is the main antagonist in the novel,^ Lena Grove is the only character who remains untouched by the corruption of religion and society. Her faith in people carries her beyond the problems of others;

,58Alfred Kazin? "The Stillness of Light in August," in Three Decades of Criticism, p= 257° -^Hyatt H, Waggoner* from Jefferson to the World, p, 101, 60 she believes in the value of humanity and symbolizes those values man must seeko Faulkner recognizes the failures of man and his institutions but also emphasizes man's ability to "endure and prevail" through love and faith*

II

The first sound images in Light in August are con­ nected with Lena Grove* She represents the timeless values of all mankind and her faith and beliefs remain intact throughout the novel* Lena first lived with her brother and his family in Alabama; the sound image of a train indicates the trouble which soon comes to her: "The train o o * appeared out of the devastated hills * * * wailing 6© like a banshee * * *" The omen of the "banshee" comes true and Lena finds herself pregnant * She leaves Alabama in search of Lucas Burch (Brown) and as she sits beside a road in Mississippi, the sound of a.wagon comes up behind her: The sharp and brittle crack and clatter of its weathered and ungreased wood and metal is slow and terrific: a series of dry sluggish reports carrying for a half mile across the hot still pinewindy silence of the August afternoon ILIA, p* 5)* Here the image illustrates Lena's aloneness— she is connected

^Faulkner, Light in August (Hew York; 1932)9 p* 3® Abbreviated hereafter as LIA within the text* 61 with, nature until the “sharp and "brittle crack and clatter" of man's world penetrates her isolation* This association "between Lena and nature exists during the. whole course of the "book; the timeless values she "believes in are those symbolized in the purity of the land and nature * , Lena is an earth-mother who represents all the goodness Faulkner connects with the land* Lena embodies the values which can replace "an artificial social structure with the values of humanityo" 61 As the wagon comes closer9 Lena identifies the sound with a ghost; this further emphasizes her isola­ tion— her world is being invaded by the ghostly sounds of mankind: * * * The sound of it seems to come slow and terrific and without meaning, as though it were a ghost travelling a half mile ahead of its own shape (LIA* p* 6)* Lena's isolation is finally broken by Byron's love for her but she always remains in harmony with nature and brings out the good in Byron, the Armstids and Hightower* Her world of love and1 faith exists as the ideal behind the book; she moves through life and faces her responsibilities while the other characters retreat into their empty shells * Byron Bunch and Lucas Burch (Brown) represent opposing views toward Lena* Byron involves himself in life with his love and care for Lena* Brown runs from all

^Olga Vickery, Novels of William Faulkner * p* 254* 62 responsibility and has no values or sense of moral duty. rfhe image of Brown's voice suggests his empty characters 0 o 0 His voice heard clear across the sgmare and hack again in echo, somewhat as a .meaningless sound in a church seems to come from everywhere at once (BIA, p Q 36)„ Byron sees the evil existing in Brown; he tells Hightower that Brown does not know Lena is in town because he is tee busy trying to collect the reward for Christmas' arrestc Byron's description of Brown matches the sound of his meaningless voice: "Like a man that can't play a tune» blowing a horn right loud, hoping „ « 0 it will begin to make musico" (LIA, p0 286) All of Brown's actions are futile because he does not accept life but only tries to escape any involvement„ Brown is finally brought by force to see Lena; again the sound of his voice indicates his empty character: "His voice was loud, hearty0 Yet the heartiness, like the timbre, seemed to be as impermanent as the sounds of the words o o o" (LIA, p Q 407) Realizing he has been trapped and tricked into seeing Lena, Brown climbs out a window and runs to the railroad tracks to hop a freight= The Mound of his breath emphasizes his amoral life and his flight from meaning: "Rather, it is the snarling and malevolent breathing of a fleeing animal," (LIA, p, 409) Byron goes after Brown because he feels he must do some­ thing; Brown has forsaken Lena twice and Byron loves her and seeks revenge» The fight does not last long and as Byron lies on the ground he hears Brown run to the tracks: "Then Byron was lying quietly among the broken and trampled undergrowth e » . hearing the underbrush crashing on, ceasing, fading into silenneo" (BIA, p0 416) As Brown jumps onto the moving train his voice echoes back into the weeds "in a soundless shouting above the noise of the train." (LIA, p. 417) He ran away at the first of the book and he is still running at the end. His life is meaning­ less and will always remain a "soundless shouting." Byron goes back to Lena and commits himself to a life with meaning. He has learned to bear the responsibility of being human while Brown's life has no significance and he forever runs through his empty world. McBaehern and Doc Himes are the most rigid and self-righteous people in the book. McBaehern1s religion is a business with no human compassion and he pushes it on other people for their own good. He hates humanity and his strict adherence to religion makes him blind to love and understanding. When he adopts Christmas, the child has already been conditioned to hate, but McBaehern forces religion upon him so that Christmas learns to hate religion along with society. McBaehern forces Christmas to memorize from a prayer book but the child refuses to learn. The sound of 64- tike old man's voice illmstiraties kis karsk$ immovable character: "His voice was not unkind» Iti was not hpman9 personal9 ati all* Iti was justi cold, implacable9 like written or printed words«11 (LIA^ p0 139) Then McBackern prays over tike boy0 Christmas learns to hate tike sound of prayer and he later kills Joanna Burden because her praying voice reminds him of McEachern's voice: "He prayed for a long time8 his voice droning? soporific? monotonouso" (LIA, pc 143) The righteousness MeBaehern feels is due to the fact he thinks of himself as God's personal agento After he has tricked Joe into lying9 the sound of his voice indicates his satisfaction for uncover­ ing a sinner: "He sighed; it was a sound almost luxurious? of satisfaction? and victory*" (BIA? p„ 134) Finally Joe is caught at the dance; HcEachern's rage suggests his hatred of man and pleasure: "His voice thundered? into the shocked silence « » o into the ceased music? into that peaceful moonlit night .» = o" (BIA? p* 191) Joe leaves home after this incident but he is never able to come to terms with religion* He is always pursued by the righteous Christian voices which remind him of McEachern's inhuman religious values* Both Doe Hines and his wife live in the past* Their real life ended on the day their daughter Hilly died giving birth to Christmas* There is a sense of religious righteousness and sterility about both of them; especially 65 Doc Hines who is a major contributor to the tragedy of Christmaso He is always ranting and raving for justice and his shouts of "abomination and bitehery" indicate his hypocritical sense of moral outrageo Mrs„ Hines feels guilty because of Christmas and she and Doc go to Hightower for help;"but they are only trying to rid themselves of a bad memory and have no real interest in helping Christmaso Doc screams about the evil of women and when he stops, Mrs = Hines is heard: She speaks in the same dead, level tone: the two voices in monotonous strophe and antistrophe: two bodiless voices recounting dreamily something performed in a region without dimension by people without blood » » 0 (LIA, p 0 355)o Here the sound of their voices blend to give them a quality of death and non-existence» They are falsely righteous people "without blood"; their rigid standards only lead to death and destruction0 Reverend Gail Hightower lives in a quiet, shaded house in Jefferson and his only knowledge of the outside world is obtained from Byron Bunch<> Hightower exists in the past-time of his grandfather's death and he is unable to adjust his mind to the reality of the present 0 Olga Vickery points out that Hightower is destroyed because, "for the sake of a dream, he becomes insensitive and indifferent to the quality of his actual experience<»"

G^Olga Vickery, Hovels of William Faulkner, pQ 760 66 His marriage was convenient "because it enabled him to work in Jefferson near the place of his grandfather's death* His Sunday sermons indicate his existence in the past: “o * o His wild rapt eager voice in which like phantoms Sod and salvation and the galloping horses and his dead grandfather thundered 0 * =M (LIA, p. 60) His life in the past made him unable to have a successful relationship with his wife and she created a scandal which ended in. her suicide* Hightower had to leave the church and now as he listens to the hymns there is a suggestion of his isola­ tion: From a distance, quite faint though quite clear, he can hear' the sonorous waves of massed voices from the church; a sound at once austere and rich, abject and proud, swelling and falling in the quiet summer darkness like a harmonic tide (hiA* p* 70)* Hightower's life in the past has become his reality; along with the glory of his grandfather, his wife and his duties as a preacher are only memories to him* The sound of his voice is "light and trivial" to associate him with his empty, isolated world: "His voice sounds light, trivial, like a thistle bloom falling into silence without a sound*" (HA, p* 83) In his youth Hightower loved nature but as he f grew older and became more uninvolved with life his connection with the land was severed* He still hears the sounds of nature but only through his window: "He hears 67 now only the myriad and interminable insects leaning in the window9 breathing the hot still rich maculate smell of the earth „ « (LIA, p» 300) Hightower's separation from the goodness of nature is emphasized by his taste for Tennyson— he is unable to appreciate nature and turns to Tennyson as a substituteo The sound of Tennyson's language indicates Hightower's fall from goodness: Soon the fine galloping language, the gutless swooning full of sapless trees and dehydrated lusts begins to swim smooth and swift and peaceful0 It is better than praying <> „ o It is like listening in a cathedral to a eunuch chanting in a language which he does not even need to not under­ stand (LIA, p° 301)o Hightower's life does not have the vitality and growth of nature; it is filled with "sapless trees" and "dehydrated lusts" which associate him with the dead quality of his present life0 His life in the dead past has destroyed his ability to respond to the presento In the last part of the book Hightower begins to change; his moral conscience awakens and he becomes aware of the rigid dogmatism of the church. He realizes his own life has been destroyed by his inability to face re&lity; the sound of church music indicates his recognition of religious evil: The organ strains come rich and resonant through the summer night, blended, sonorous o o o Yet even then the music has still a quality stern and implacable, deliberate and without pleading, asking, for not love, not 68 life? forbidding it to others, demanding in sonorous tones death as though death were the boon, like all Protestant music (ill, p„ 54?) Hightower's redemption is illustrated by his involvement with Lena and Christmas c As he goes to help Lena with her baby he passes Joanna Burden1s house and then the sound of his voice suggests his new vitality: * 0 o The mellow shouts, the presence of fecund women, the prolific naked children 0 0 0 and the big house again, noisy, loud with the treble shouts of the generations o 0 o he calls in a hearty voice that almost booms o o o (LIA, p 0 385)° Hightower is beginning to be able to distinguish the past from the present; his act of involvement with Lena and his later alibi for Christmas are the outward signs of his self-recognition0 Hightower's regeneration takes place quickly; he realizes his mistakes and plans to connect himself with life and add meaning to his existence0 His first oppor­ tunity comes when Christmas runs into his house followed by Grimmo Hightower tries to alibi for Christmas and although it fails, he does succeed in involving himself° Ironically, this connection with Christmas also marks the end of his redemption— the cruel violence of Christmas' murder takes Hightower back into the pasto Harry Campbell says the irony exists because "Hightower always dreams of violence and glory of the past but this cruel ugly violence of the present destroys him0 After Christmas is dead9 Hightower sits in his study and listens to the sounds of the returning past: That fading copper light would seem almost audible, like a dying yellow fall of trumpets dying into an interval of silence „ » 0 Already $ even "before the falling horns had ceased, it would seem to him that he could hear the "beginning thunder not yet louder than a whisper, a rumor, in the air (LIA, p -o 441) o He then goes over the past and along with the 11 shouts" and "drumming hooves," he accepts the knowledge that his grand­ father was killed in a chicken house and not in a great battleo He fully recognizes the trouble he caused his wife and accepts the responsibility of his evil. The turning wheel image was used to show his awakened moral conscience; now his fall into the past is associated with the wheel's release: "The wheel, released, seems to rush on with a long sighing sound0" (LIA, p<> 465) He recognizes his inability to live in the present and retreats to the safety and security of the paste The last view of Hightower finds him in his study, listening to the sounds of his life: He( hears above his heart the thunder increase, myriad and drumming» bike a long sighing of wind in trees it begins, then they sweep into sight o o o with tumult and soundless yelling « , * like the crater of the world in explosion,, They

G^Harry Campbell, "Structural Devices in Light in August," Perspective, III (Autumn, 1950), 2140 "64"Carl Benson, "Thematic Design in Light in August, South Atlantic Quarterly, LIII (October, 1954), 545° rush past, are gone » 0 o Tet.leaning for­ ward in the window » o o it seems to him that he still hears them: the wild "bugles and the clashing sahres and the dying thunder of hooves (MA, pp0 466-4-67) = The glory and violence of the past have more dignity than the cruelty of the present; Hightower returns to the world of his memory "because he is unable to accept the present worldo Joe Christmas is plagued by Christian righteousness from the time he is born0 He does not know if he is black or white; he exists between both worlds and is not accepted by eithero "In a sense his life is determined by forces beyond his control— he is conditioned to hate and his life is a constant denial of love. Even his name indicates that he has no real existence nor any knowledge of his real identity* Through the sound of his name, his charac­ ter is known: » = ='It was as though there was something in the sound of it 0 o = that he carried with him his own inescapable warning, like a flower its scent or a rattlesnake its rattle (LLiU p= 29). Christmas' first significant memory concerns "the dietician at the orphanage. The sounds of the seduction help him recall his introduction to the world of adult evil: It had a ruthless sound, as the voices of all men did to him yet » . » he heard other sounds which he did not know: a scuffling of feet, the turn of the key in the door . he heard other sounds, rustlings, whisperings, not voices (LIA, p 0 113). $k® dietieian gives him money so he won’t tell; "bmt Christmas knows he has done wrong and expects to he pnnishedo Part of his life-long resentment of women stems from this incident— they offer him shortcuts to a reality he does not understand. The sound of the seduction also suggests his continual denial of mankind: "It had a ruthless sound, as the voices of all men , , ," During the time Christmas lived with McEachern, he had two experiences which increased his contempt for people. Some hoys arranged for a colored girl to meet them in a shed; hut when Joe's turn comes, he heats the girl and goes into a furious rage. Aside from the dieti­ cian, this is his initiation into the world of sexual experience and he cannot accept it; he rebels from the filth and weakness of man. As he returns home there are many sounds of nature heard in the distance— -his isolation is suggested hy the sound of frogs: "When he approached the fluting of young frogs ceased like so many strings cut with simultaneous scissors," (hlA, p, 149) This image shows his separation from nature; there is a veiled reference to castration which emphasizes his hatred and contempt of sex, Joe is also initiated into the world of older people and he learns to understand humiliation. He goes to see lohhie at the lunch room; the men think he wants to sleep with her and laugh at him when he leaves. 72 flie sound of their laughter indicates Joe's humiliation: "He walked in laughter 0 . => upon the laughing of the men0 It swept and carried him along the street; then it "began to flow past him 0 » „ letting him to earth 0 « «" (LIA, p» 1?2) Christmas goes out with Bobbie "but HeBachern ends the relationship when he breaks into the dance0 Joe hits the old man, takes his horse and rides home to get his belongingso As he runs up the stairs, his laughing suggests his hatred of the world: He laughed 0 . „ his laughing, running on up the stairs, vanishing as he ran « o = as if he were running headfirst and laughing into something that was obliterating him » » o (LIA, p0 195)o Joe ran out of the house into the street which ran for fifteen yearso His laughing indicates that he has lift his childhood; he now goes into another world, no better suited for him than the first„ After leaving home, Joe's life is isolated from all other people; as he rides into town, the hollow sound of horses' hooves emphasizes his isolation: "000 Slow hooves rang with a measured hollow sound through the empty and moondappled street =" (LIA, p<, 196) Christmas tries to get Bobbie to come with him but she refuses-— Max criticizes and maligns him* Max's valueless world is illustrated through the sound of his voice: "000 His voice held again that ambiguous quality 0 <= „ completely empty and completely without pleasure or mirth, like a shell o » o" 75 (LIAo p 0 199) Christmas is "beaten up hy Babbie's friends but he is fully conditioned and accepts his fate* The sounds of voices suggest his hatred and indifference to people: » * The voices « « = had no more significance than the dry buzzing of the steady insects <> „ „M (hIA„ Po 205) Christmas runs through life seeking humanity but is never able to find it. His life moves in an endless circle which separates him from man and nature = The sounds of crickets are associated with silence to suggest his iso­ lation: ”0 o o The crickets » „ » keeping a little island of silence around him like thin yellow shadow of their small voices <> 0 0" (LIA0 p 0 216) He then meets Joanna Burden who has lived her life alone and tried to help the HegrOo Her ordered but empty world is emphasized by the sound of her voice: « o Her voice was without source9 steady, interminable, pitched almost like the voice of a man o o o" (LIA, p. 227) In less than six months he brings her to his own state of corruption but his involvement with her is not complete— it is more of a weakness hn his part* His inability to resist temptation is indicated through the sound of a breaking skeleton: 11» « . That surrender terrific and hard, like the breaking down of a skeleton the very sound of whose snapping fibers could be heard011 (HIA, p 0 242) They go through different stages of their affair; 74 then Glaristmas begins to feel hatred and contempt for their relationshipo He imagines his hody "in a whispering of gutter filth like a drowned corpse in a thick still black pool of more than watdro" (LIA? p Q 99) She tries to force him into the Negro world by calling him "nigger" and by wanting him to go to a Negro school. He resists her attempts and her voice connected with autumn forecasts the death of Joanna and the relationship: . . .It was as though dhe were not listening to her own voice $ did not intend for the words to have any actual meaning: that final upflare of stubborn and dying summer upon which autumns the dawning of halfdeath,had come unawares (LIA. Po 251) There is an indication they both plan to die but these plans are disrupted when Joanna tries to pray ever Christmas: "Already he would be hearing her voice . . . the monotonous steady voice . . . He could not distinguish the words; only the ceaseless monotone." (LIA. p. 265) This reminds him of HcEachern and brings out his hatred of his past and religion. He begins to hear the sounds of the past: . . . He was hearing a myriad sounds of no greater volume— voices, murmurs, whispers; of trees, darkness, earth; other voices evocative of names and times and places . . . (LIA, pp. 97-98). Christmas associates Joanna with the rigid, valueless people of his youth. On the night he kills her, he has fully connected her with the past and feels his life is a "flat. 75 pattern1' of emptiness: "Mow it was still quiet „ <, « The dark was filled with the voicess myriad, out of all time he had known, as though all the past was a flat patterno” (LIAq p 0 266) Joe's separation from the world occurs when he kills Joanna with the razorc He has existed in isola­ tion "but now he is totally separated from humanity and society; again he runs into the endless street* Existing between two worlds all his life, Christmas is ironically forced into the world of the Megro during his escape* Joanna Burden could not put him into the Megro world in her life but it was finally accomplished through her death* He is a hunted animal, alienated from all associations; the valueless society that created his life of evil is now trying to capture and kill him* He breaks into a Megro revival during the night and the sound of his entry indicates his violence: "* * * The sound crashed into the blended voices like a pistol shot *" (BIA, p* 305) This image suggests his hatred of religion and his resent­ ment for being pushed into the world of the Megro* Christmas runs from the black world as he runs from his white pursuers but he continually hears the sounds of Megroes: "* * * He could hear without hearing them wails of terror and distress quieter than sighs * * * with the sound of the chewing and swallowing*" (LIA* p» 317) Christmas finally realizes he cannot escape because there is no place in the world for him. He exists in a black and white void and his life consists of disembodied sounds, Sitting in the middle of the road to Mottstown he hears the wagon coming toward him; the sounds suggest his final decision to surrenders "The next thing of which he is conscious is a terrific clatter of jangling and rattling wood and metal and trotting hooves," (hlA, pp, 319-320) Arriving in Mottstown, Christmas cleans up, buys new clothes and is recognized and put into jail. He has accepted his fate and has realized his only hope was death through justice, Christmas' escape from jdil is accompanied by the sound of the fire engine which emphasizes the fear and chaos of the town: o o o The fire engine sounded for the first time , , o a slow and sustained scream that seemed at last to pass beyond the realm of hearing, into that of sense, like soundless vibration (LIA, p, 435)° Percy Grimm takes it upon himself to bring Christmas to justice, Grimm always regrets the fact he was not in the war; he has a need to kill and feels it will give his life glory and meaning. He represents the self-righteous people who have pursued Christmas all his life. The sound of Grimm's voice illustrates the rigid, inhuman qualities that have been connected with religion: ", , , Grimm cried, his voice clear and outraged like that of a young priest," 77 (LIA^ p., 439) Ironically? Grimm's life is given meaning when he shoots and castrates Christmas« The forces which created and molded Christmas have paradoxically killed a product of their own making in an act of self-justification,, The problems of the individual and his self- discovery are never resolved, but Lena's final trip empha­ sizes the values of love and faith* Christmas found a place in the world because he resisted the violence of his black blood and submitted to the passive peace of his white* His death did not break the rigidity of society but it was the only way he could find peace in a hostile world* Hightower did realize his own identity but he was not able to live in a society based on cruelty and death* His return to the past indicates the decadence and emptiness of the present* The world which created and destroyed Christmas also kept Hightower from living with his knowledge of the present* : Each of the characters seeks the peace and quiet of the earth, which is symbolized by Lena* She exists in the background of the novel and is associated with eternal silence; the sounds invading this silence suggest the vio­ lence of man* The circle enclosing Christmas and Hightower is small because it is based on the temporal values and rigid, dogmatic views of society* Lena's trip at the end of the book completes a circle which encloses all men; it is connected with the love and faith of eternal time0 The ideal she represents exists "beyond the dicta of society and Faulkner seems to say it is this ideal that man must strive for in order to live with meaning* CHAPTER IT

SOUND IMAGES AND THEME IN ABSALOM, ABSALOM!

Im 1936 Faulkner finished his fourth major work, Absalom, Absalom! The style is similar to that of the other works but the rhetoric seems to have more intensity and feelingo The book is full of images and the unceasing flow of language indicates the emotion Faulkner-put into it o The imagination of the reader works along with the characters in a maze of imagery and dramatic phrases, William Troy points out, "the book is image laden and mournfully eadenced and gives reason to consider Faulkner 65 a poet rather than a novelist," Faulkner seems to be more involved with this book because of its direct connec­ tion with the rise and fall of the South, Sutpen exists as an individual but he also represents the Confederate design which failed during the Civil War, The four narrators in the book exist in the present time,- 191©» and look back into the past of Sutpen's era, Quentin Compson is the central narrator because he is connected with each of the others = He listens to Rosa Coldfield and his father; he and Shreve reinterpret the story while at Harvard, The period from Sutpen1s birth to

G^William Troy, "Poetry of Doom," Nation, CXXXXllI (1936), 524, 79 the death of Rosa Coldfield is over one hundred years; hut the actual narrative time of the novel is two days-— a summer afternoon and evening in Jefferson, Mississippi in 1910 and a winter evening in Cambridge, Massaehusetts.o The'story centers upon Thomas Sutpen and his attempts to construct a plantation and establish a family nameo He has a design which will enable him to become a member of the landed aristocracy of the South. His plan failed because he did not consider the values of humanity and acted from a sense of expediency. Sutpen1s values are relative to his design and have no connection with human feelings or beliefs. He rejects his first wife because she is part colored and refuses to accept their son, Charles Bon. His second wife, Ellen, has no personal existence for him but is only another part of his plan. He kidnaps an architect and forces him to build the house; he coldly offers Rosa Coldfield the chance to give him a son and he seduces a young girl, Milly Jones, with the hope she will give him a son. Throughout his life he fails to consider the conditions and feelings of others and it is this inhumanity which destroys him. Sutpen’s design is paralleled by the plan of life which existed in the South. Sutpen and the South failed to establish a landed caste system because they would not accept people as equals. They did not accept the Negro and 81 the poor farmers, like Wash Jones, were exploited and doomed to servitude* Sutpen"s values represent the South9s values; his inability to accept the equality of people caused the destruction of himself and his planned way of life * Frederick Hoffman says that Sutpen1s failure of humanity is the same as the plantation culture: "its failure to accept the brotherhood of all mankind* The other characters living in Sutpen’s time express the same rigidity and narrow view* His wife Ellen is quite incapable of any significant action and is only a decoration for Sutpen's house* Judith has vitality and life but she does nothing when her father forbids her marriage; she accepts her fate without questioning or trying to change it* Henry is controlled by his father's design although he does not accept it until he learns that Bon is part colored* Henry's shooting of Bon commits him to an affirmation of his father's plan and emphasizes his own world of rigidity * Charles Bon also expresses an inability to adjust to things; he uses his love for Judith as a kind of lever to force Sutpen into recognizing him* Bon's attempt fails and he is killed; his use of Sutpen's tactics caused his destruction* The narrators exist in 1910 and look back into the past* Shreve, a Canadian, is Quentin-'s roommate at Harvard;

^Frederick Hoffman, William Faulkner, p* 75° M s language is objective and humorous to provide a con­ trast with the others 9 who all live in the South» Quentin is too close to the problems of the South to maintain an objective view; he is sensitive and sad, and his language is intense and subjective* Hr* Comps on does not take a personal interest in the story like Quentin; his comments are often caustic and full of irony* He is more of a spec­ tator and has no real connection with the action, Rosa Coldfield is very personally involved with Sutpen and his design; her language is emotional, high-pitched and wildly rhetorical to express her hatred and confusion* She is prejudiced and her imagination seems to place things out of proportion. The main theme of the novel is man's inability to come to terms with reality and his failure to express the values of humanity and brotherhood. This rigidity of spirit keeps Sutpen and the South from recognizing reality; as a result they forsake human values and form an empty world without meaning* Rosa Coldfield and Quentin are situated in nature but activated by history. They have let the Sutpen legend form a barrier between themselves and their present existence* They cannot commit themselves to the present and can only live in the past* Olga Vickery says that the legend must be a symbol of humanity and not a basis for conduct; "otherwise it becomes a barrier "between the individual and his experience =

II

The start of the novel finds Qnentin and Eosa Coldfield sitting in her officeo The dead quality of Miss Eosa's appearance and her lifeless existence is associated with the sounds of sparrows: There was a wistaria vine "blooming 0 » = on a wooded trellis „ = , into which sparrows came now and then in random gusts 9 making a dry vivid dusty sound before going away » 0 068 Eosa's only life is in the past and Faulkner uses a number of images to suggest her isolated, old maid's life. The sound of her voice emphasizes these qualities: Her voice would not cease, it would just vanish . 0 ® and the twice bloomed wistaria o o o into which came now and then the loud cloudy flutter of the sparrows like a flat limber stick whipped by an idle boy , 0 0 (A 0A 0, p„ 8)0 Then Quentin hears her voice and provides a contrast be­ tween Eosa's old age and her youth: And maybe it (the voice, the talking, the incredulous and unvearable amazement) had even been a cry loud once „ = o of young and indomi­ table unregret 0 o « (AUU, p« 14) o Eosa is unable to accept the conditions of the past and ironically it is the past which keeps her from a commitment

^Olga Vickery, Novels of William Faulkner„ p0 224= 68paulkner, Absalom, Absalom! (New York, 1936), p 0 70 Abbreviated hereafter as A.A. within the text0. 84 to the present» She is isolated and can only bring herself to life by probing into the dead past* Rosa's story begins with her view of Sutpen as the demon who disrupts the silence: "Out of the quiet thunder­ clap he would abrupt (man-hdrse-demon) upon a scene peaceful and decorous = » .“ (AoAo. p» 8) Her view of Butpen is full of bitterness and a sense of wild fury0 Quentin listens to her and is taken into the past; he seems to be able to hear the sounds of Sutpen's Hundred: Quentin seemed to watch them overrun suddenly , the hundred square miles of tranquil and astonished earth and drag house and formal gar­ dens violently out of the soundless Nothing and clap them down like cards upon a table = o » ( Aj>_Ajj_ ^ p o 8 ) o Rosa tells Quentin about Sutpen's marriage to Ellen and the two children, Henry and Juditho The wild rides to church on Sunday morning represented the irresponsibility of Butpen; Rosa soon realized Sutpen's corruption when she discovered that Judith,’ not Henry, made the colored driver race the horses= The wild cry of Judith always remained with Rosa; it symbolized the evil of Sutpen's creation: It was as though = <, „ the screams of that child still existed, lingered, not as sound but as something for the skin to hear, the hair on the head to hear (AoJU, pp= 25-S6)o Rosa remembers the fear and mystery she connected with Sutpen's mansion. She associates the mansion with loud sounds which suggest her terror: "I could hear the sabbath afternoon quiet of that house louder than thunder, louder than laughing even with triumph =" (AUL , p. 2?) The house was filled with the presence of the "demon" and Ellen; their breath seems to blend with the sounds of misery and hardship: Ellen's life and breath had now gone into it as well as his, breathing away in a long neutral sound of victory and despair, of triumph and terror too (A.Ac,, p. 27) » Rosa's story continues with the accounts of evil and misery Sutpen brought upon the familyc She tells of Ellen's death and Sutpen's refusal of Charles Bon0 The day Wash Jones ran to her house and told her of Son's

\ . murder is associated with her fear of the mansion: "And I running out of the bright afternoon, into the thunderous' silence of that brooding house .„ . «" (Aoju, p 0 156) Rosa's views are almost hysterical with fear and misunder­ standing o Everything connected with Sutpen is an object of hatred for her; she blames her destruction and that of her family on Sutpen in an effort to hide her own inability to adapt to life0 Sutpen's entrance into Jefferson, Mississippi occurred in 1833° Mr* Compson and Quentin sit on the porch and listen to the bells which also rang for Sutpen— these are the same bells that Sutpen heard and they connect the two events in time: 86 That Sunday morning in June with the "bells ringing peacefully and peremptory and a little cacophonous— -the denominations in concord though not in tune = = e (AoA,» p 0 31)o Sutpen came into town with his band of Negroes and then disappeared into the country» The mystery and intrigue connected with him started the town talking; his name "went back and forth among the residences in steady strophe and anti-strophe: Sutpen." (A.A., p. 32) Sutpen acquired his land, built his house and his two children grew up; Henry went to the university and met his half- brother, Charles Bon. Bon was suave and educated beyond his years and Henry began to follow him around; when Bon met Judith, he captured her as easily as Henry and they were soon engaged. Sutpen said nothing about the family relationship between his children and Bon. The marriage plans drew the approval of Ellen but Sutpen refused to allow it and one night he called Henry into his study for a talk. Mr. Compson imagines the meeting and the sounds suggest the violence of this event: I can imagine him and Sutpen in the- library that Christmas eve, the father and-the brother, percussion and reprecussion like a thunderclap and its echo = „ . (AoA.. p. 90). Presumably the old man told Henry of the connection between himself and Bon— what happened is never definitely known but that same night Henry and Bon rode away from Sutpen*s Hundred. Henry would not believe his father because Bon and his world were too full of glamor. The sound of Son's voice indicates the sophistication and mystery that kept Henry from the truth: o o 0 A facade shuttered and blank, drowsing in steamy morning sunlight, invested by the bland and cryptic voice with something of secret and curious . . = delights „ . o (A.A.«, p 0 112) o Henry and Bon join the ’’University Greys” at the start of the Civil War. The gaiety and music that takes place before they go to battle provides a contrast with their existence: ''Music, the nightly repetitive last waltz o o o the brave trivial glitter against a black nighto" (A.A., p 0 223)° Bon, Henry and Judith are in a triangle and are not part of the pleasure; the tension between Bon and Henry makes them the "watcher and the watchedo" All during the war their relationship is strained because of Judith. The War begins to make them weary and in a letter Bon writes Judith, there is an indi­ cation of the disillusionment: . .-0 That one fusillade four years ago which sounded once and then was arrested o . o and it now only the loud aghast echo jarred by the dropped musket of a weary sentry or by the fair of the spent"Body itself o o o TAoAq„ p. 15TJ7 The sound of four years ago indicates the losing position of the South; this sound could also represent the rigid spirit of Sutpen which halted Judith's marriage and helped cause the war. Toward the end of the war, Sutpen tells Henry that Bon must not marry Judith because he is part 88 colored,, Henry leaves his father and returns to Bon; as they sit by a fire a sense of quiet pervades % , » Their voices are not much louder than the silent dawn itself=" (AoAo„ p0 356) This silence suggests the tenseness and suspension of Henry's mind; it is not incest he thinks of9 but miscegenation. Bon wanted recognition from his father and now his bitterness increases; he still says he will marry Judith, The violence and rigid positions of each of them is emphasized by the sound of breath: ", , , The panting which ceased, the breath held , , , the voice now not much louder than an expelled breath , , ," (A,A,, p, 357) Henry pleads with Bon to not marry Judith but Bon refuses and tells Henry he will have to stop him. The sound of Bon1s voice grows gentle to suggest his firm stand: "His voice is gentler than the first breath in which the pine branches begin to move a little , , ," (A,A,, p, 358) The inability of each of them to accept the values of humanity destroys their lives, Henry shoots Bon as they ride into Sutpen’s Hundred; the remainder of his life is spent hiding from forces that ironically are not even after him. Bon refused to consider the values of man and was ready to commit incest for the sake of a useless principle, Henry loved Bon but he had no belief in brotherhood or equality; both of their lives suggest the blind faith in empty values that motivated Sutpen and the South, 89 Sutpen' s design "began when he was a child— he dis­ covered people were not equal "but that the land owners were the ruling forces» His father sent him on an errand to the "big house; he was turned away "by a colored servant and told to go to the "back door» His humiliation is indicated "by the laughing voices: "„ „ 0 The roaring waves of mellow laughter meaningless and terrifying and loudo" (A 0A<,, p„ 252) Here the sounds of the Negro's laughter increase his hatred and envy of the plantation life* As he lies in his "bed that same night, he can still hear the sound of laughing: "It all kind of shouting at him at once, "boiling out and over him like the nigger laughing „ .. »" (AoJL, p» 237) He leaves his family and goes to Haiti in search of wealth. He "became a foreman on a sugar plantation and the Negro workers soon revolted. The sounds of drums foreshadow the violence: "He rode upon a volcano, hearing the air tremble and throb at night with the drums and the chanting . o o" (A.A., p. 231) Sutpen and the owner's family were barricaded in the house while the Negroes burned the fields. Sutpen finally walked into the night and subdued the workers; it is not known what he did but the revolt:, ended and he married the plantation man's daughter. After their first child, Sutpen discovered his wife had Negro blood and he left her and forsook the child. This was the mistake that plagued his life and destroyed his design. It is 90 ironic that Sutpen's motivation stemmed ffom his being rejected by a colored servant— his own destruction was created by his rejection of his wife and child0 After the Civil War, Sutpen and the South are in a state of poverty and destruction,, Sutpen runs a country store but he never forgets his plan; he needs a son to carry on his name and rebuild his empire„ He bluntly asks Eosa Coldfield to try and give him a son but she refuses and leaves his home. In a last attempt he seduces Wash Jones' granddaughter, Milly„ Wash seeks revenge and the sounds of Milly's labor suggest his calculating plan: "o o o The granddaughter's screams came steady as a clock now but his own heart quiet = „ „" (AoJL, p0 287) Sutpen rides to Jones' shack and discovers that Milly has had a baby girl; this is the end of his design and he leaves the girl alone with her baby„ Wash stands outside, waiting for Sutpen; he admires Sutpen and hears the sounds of war which he associates with Sutpen's glory: o o o Still hearing the galloping = „ « watching the proud galloping image * „ . which marked the accumulation of years, time „ „ „ forever and forever immortal beneath the brandished saber and the shot-torn flags rushing down a sky in color like thunder . „ <, (AoAo, p0 288)o Wash kills Sutpen with a scythe and then kills Milly and her babyo He has stepped beyond the bounds of humanity by taking human lives; his sin, like Sutpen's, is his inability to realize the basic values of mankind= 91 Quentin's interest in the past becomes his only existence as he and Shreve reinterpret the story of Sutpeno He begins to blend with each action and his identity is lost within the echoes of the past0 He is too involved with the complexities of his tradition to perceive or understand the present„ He sees the past as a part of,the present; the sound of a pebble falling into water indicates his connection with history: Maybe nothing ever happens once and is finishedo Maybe happen is never once but like ripples maybe on water after the pebble sinks „ = <= that pebble 1 s' watery echo whose-TaTT it did noU even see moves across its surface too at the original ripple •space, to the old ineradicable rhyEbm i 7 » H o A , , po 261) o Quentin is too close to the South to maintain any objec­ tivity; this provides a contrast with Shreve who sees and relates the subtle meanings of the Sutpen story with no prejudiceo Quentin's inability to live in the present was the cause of his death in fhe Sound and the Fury; his posi­ tion is the same in this novel and the connection between the two books is given through the sounds of the past: "0 o o All the voices, the murmuring of tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow beyond the immediate fury « » o" (AcAo, p. 290) A further connection is made between the two booksthrough the sound of bells: "Soon the chimes would ring for midnight, the notes melodious and tranquil, faint and clear as glass in the fierce 000 still air*" 92 (AoAo, p. 293) Quentin is out of time and only lives in the past; he has given life to the Sutpen legend and for­ saken his own life* The end of the Sutpen story and the novel concerns Quentin and Rosa Coldfield, and their trip to Sutpen1s houseo Miss Rosa "believes someone is living there and she persuades Quentin to help her investigate* Quentin remembers the sounds of the buggy and the earth as they enter Sutpen’s property: * o * He could hear the dry plaint of the light wheels in the weightless permeant dust and * o * he seemed to hear the single pro­ found suspiration of the parched earth's agony 000 (AoJU, po 3^2) * The "dry plaint" and the "parched earth" suggest the dead quality existing around Sutpen's Hundred; they also refer to the lifelessness of Quentin and Rosa* Quentin hears the sound of Rosa's breath which indicates her determination to enter the old house: "He could hear her panting now, her . voice almost a wail of diffident yet iron determination*" (A*JU, p* 568) They leave the carriage and walk to the house; Rosa was beside him and she, "produced a steady whimpering, almost a moaning sound*" Quentin had to break into the house and its decay and emptiness is indicated by the echo of his voice: "* * * The dark room which he faced repeated his voice with hollow profundity * * *" (A*A*_, p* 568) Quentin let Rosa in through the front door and then 93 the sound of a match explodes into the silence: "Then "behind him the sound of the scraped match was like an explosion, a pistol o 0 »" (AgJU, p» 368) Clytie and another Negro are inside "but Rosa runs up the stairs with Quentin following her. They found Henry Sutpen hiding, and old with decay like the houseo Quentin remembers taking Rosa home and then the Harvard chimes ring into the dark to bring him back to the present: Now the chimes began, ringing for one oclock o o o he just heard them without listening o = » until they ceased, died away into the icy air delicate and faint and musical as struck glass (AoAo, p. 374)o Quentin is momentarily suspended between the present and the past; then he is released and returns to the day the house burned. Hiss Rosa got an ambulance so she could put Henry into a hospital; but Glytie thought the law was after Henry and set fire to the house. Quentin and Rosa can see Henry and Glytie standing in the burning house but they cannot rescue them. The last people who have a direct connection with Sutpen are Rosa and Jim Bond; the association of these two with the house indicates both the past and future of Sutpen's world. Quentin hears the sounds of people and the doomed house: „ . . He could see her, struggling and fighting like a doll in a nightmare, making no sound . . . her face . . . lit by one 94 last wild crimson, reflection as the house collapsed and roared away, and there was only the sound of the idiot negro left (A.A., p0 576) <, This is the end of Sutpen's world; Hiss Eosa dies and Shreve says the Jim Bonds will take over the world. Quentin cries that he does not hate the South hut this only emphasizes his inability to live in the present. Olga Vickery says, "Quentin's cry at the end of the book reveals his decision to commit himself to the past„ Quentin, like all the other characters from the South, is unable to find his identity in the present. His rigid standards will not embrace the realities of his life; like Sutpen, he clings to a world of fantasy which eventually leads to his destruction. The complexity of Absalom, Absalom1 is never fully resolved because the conclusions are only surmized by the different narrators. The theme of rigidity clearly is applicable to the characters and the South; but there are many motives and desires which are kept hidden from the reader. The sound images again indicate Faulkner's per­ ception and feeling for sound. They seem to echo back and forth from Sutpen's Hundred to Cambridge; from the past of Sutpen to the present of Quentin. Sound images help delineate the doom existing around the characters who

^Olga Vickery, Hovels of William Faulkner, p. 100. refuse to accept the reality of their situation* In a maze of different times, thoughts and events, each of the different people in the book maintains his own position in spite of obvious signs of failure or destruction* It is appropriate that Faulkner's greatest period ends with Absalom* Absalom1; it marks the end of his direct concern with the fall of the old South—-with the exception of A Fable * it is the last of his involved, complex novels * CONCLUSION

The sound images in Faulkner1s works are not confined to these, four novels = They range from his earliest "book to his last, The Reivers<> The books dis­ cussed in this paper have more sound images than the others; this is because of the intensity of the language and the complexity of the thought c There are over two hundred sound images in the four novels plus many refer­ ences to sound such as Benjie's "moaning11 and wagons "creakingo" The sound images that Faulkner creates seem to have a symbolic meaning behind them— for each type of sound there is a particular idea. The one exception to this concerns the image of a voices Faulkner uses the sound of the voice as a device of characterization and the images vary according to the different characters <, The sound images connected with nature are soft, sensuous and serene because they emphasize the goodness of the earth. The two exceptions to this use of sound are associated with birds— Quentin connects the two Northern Negroes, who are out of nature, with the "shrill and raucous" cries of blackbirds (S.F., p„ 102); at the beginning of Bilsey’s section the jaybirds are heard: "A pair of jaybirds came up from nowhere = . . screaming into the wind that ripped their harsh cries onward like scraps 96 of paper = 0 0” (SeF., p 0 282) Both of these images are in The Sound and the Bury. The image of the blackbirds indicates Quentin's antipathy for the North; the screaming jaybirds refer to the confusion associated with Jason and Quentin. All other sound images concerning nature express the love that Faulkner held for the land. The two major characters who exhibit love and express eternal values are Dilsey and Lena Grove. The sounds connected with them are soft and warm to suggest their harmonious existence with nature and man. Dilsey1s singing illustrates her world of love: "... She sang, to herself at first . . . repeti­ tive, mournful and plaintive, austere as she ground a faint, steady snowing of flour ..." (S.F., p. 286) Lena represents the peace and contentment of eternity; the destructive sounds of man enter her world as she sits beside a road: The sharp and brittle crack and clatter of it's weathered and ungreased wood and metal is slow and terrific: a series of dry sluggish reports carrying for a half mile across the hot still pinewiney silence of the August afternoon ILIA, p. 5)° Lena and Dilsey are the most understanding and perceptive people in the four novels = Their values transcend the rela­ tive views of man and the sound images help point out their earth-mother qualities. Sound images of machinery provide a contrast with the soft sounds of nature. Machines reveal the harsh. empty world of man; the sounds of machinery are used to reinforce the confusion or hysteria of a person or event0 During the fire in As I Lay Dying, the chaos is indicated by the sound of a train: o o o The horse screams = It plunges and kicks, the sound of the crashing blows sucking up into the sound of the flames„ They sound like an interminable train crossing an endless trestle (AILD, p 0 498)= This same type of sound is used to illustrate the absurdity of man; in Light in August a train comes into town, bringing dogs to track Christmas: o <, o A thousand costly tons of intricate and curious metal glaring and crashing up and into an almost shocking silence filled with the puny sounds of men (LIA, p0 280)„ This loud, violent type of sound image is also helpful in characterizationo The most despicable person in all four novels is Jason Compson— -all the sounds associated with him are loud and frenzied to suggest his meaningless world0 Every sound image of a bell is related to the theme of time. These images are used to indicate that a character is out of time because of his concern with the past» They are also used to bring a character from the past to the presento Quentin Compson"s relation to time is emphasized because he continually hears bells» He. is unable to exist in the present because he seeks the values of the past; the sound of bells suggests his inability to accept the present: o 0 o The strokes spaced and tranquil along the sunlight, among the thin, still little leaveso Spaced and peaceful and serene, with that quality of autumn always in bells „ 0 „ (Soffo. p 0 119). This image indicates Quentin's concern with time; his life has only a certain amount of time at this point and every hour makes it a bit shorter. In Absalom. Absalom1 Quentin is immersed in the Sutppn story when the chimes of Harvard bring him to the present and suggest his life in the past: . . Soon the chimes would ring for midnight, the notes melodious and tranquil, faint and clear as glass in the fierce o . . still air . . .11 (A.A.. p. 295) Another example of sound imagery and the theme of time is connected with Hightower and Rosa Coldfield. Everything in Hightower's life passes him and exists in the past. The sound of "thundering horses' hooves" recalls his grandfather's time; the sound of church music or organ music indicates his past work as a preacher. Rosa Coldfield also lives in the past and is unable to accept the reality of the present; the sound images associated withhher are "dry vivid dusty sounds" which suggest her lifeless exis­ tence. Her voice is "like a stream running from patch to patch of dried sand" (A.A., p. 8); this connects her life with the "dried sand" or emptiness of her world. By emphasizing the themes of time and nature, sound images elucidate the problems of rigidity and involvement. 100 A character who is out of time is very often alienated from nature; this alienation is caused by an inability to accept reality due to the blind adherence to a particular way of life. It is an inflexible concept of life which keeps the character from involvement and creates his isolated and meaningless world0 The sound of Tennyson"s poetic language is described in Faulkner as "gutless" and "dehydrated" to illustrate Hightower's separation from nature and to point out his uninvolved life because of his rigid belief in the paste The sound of the wild geese indicate Addie Bundren's uninvolved life and emphasize her frustrated, inflexible worldo Another example of rigidity and its destruction is associated withreligion* Sound images reflect the narrow­ ness of inhuman religions; Hightower says all Protestant music is stern and implacable and Faulkner emphasizes this static quality by sound imagery= . A dogmatic adherence to religion places the character in a state of uninvolvement which is out of time and alien to nature« Faulkner often connects sound with silence to underline the qualities of good- and peacefulness in silence„ The sounds of nature are murmuring and soft; they are in harmony with the eternal silence of the world0 The sound of man and his inventions are loud and invade this silence as a destructive force* Man comes into the peace and quiet of the world and begins to destroy it; his sounds are harsh 101 and loud to indicate M s lack of faith in higher values. In this way, Sutpen came out of a "quiet thunderclap"; he is the thunder or noise which disrupts the quiet of nature0 When he builds his house, the sound image used suggests the violence and corruption he brought upon the land: "» o o Drag house and formal gardens violently out of the soundless Nothing and clap them down like cards upon a table o o o" (AoAo„ p„ 8) This same device is related t© Benjie; he is in "silence bellowing=" This indicates that he is in harmony with eternal nature but he bellows because of the disorder and corruption of man„ The sound images which pertain to the sound of the voice are used to reinforce aspects of character« Benjie1s voice is "wailed and prolonged „ „ a sorrow become vocal for an instant by a conjunction of planets." (S.F.. p. .303) This image suggests the burden of sorrow upon Benjie; he is an impotent Christ who can only cry for the sins of man. Jason's world is illustrated by M s voice, "so harsh and thick that he had to repeat himself" (S.IP., p. 300); an obvious contrast exists between Jason's voice and Benjie's voice. This points out the morality of Ben and the amorality of Jason. The three preachers, Beverends Shegog, Whitfield and Hightower, represent contrary positions; these are illustrated by the sounds of their voices. Shegog understands man's problems and provides a redemption for humanity; at first he speaks like a white man9 hut his voice changes to suggest his faith and power: "o o o The voice died = » = it was as different as day and dark from his former tone, with a sad, timbreus quality like an alto horn, sinking into their hearts 0 „ o" (Soffo, p 0 310) Hightower's voice emphasizes his life in the past: "« = „ His wild rapt eager voice in which like phantoms God and salvation and the galloping horses and his dead grandfather thundered . . 0" (LIA, p, 60) . Whitfield's voice is "bigger than him" (AILD, pp0 403- 404); he does not have the faith of Shegog nor the pro­ blems of Hightower* Whitfield is a hypocrite who forms words but has no understanding of their meanings or signi­ ficance* Many sound images elucidate aspects of characters and help to suggest their relation with the plot*. Sound images connected with Faulkner's overall themes are used to suggest the noise and insignificance of man as compared with nature * Mature, the greater force, embodies those virtues which people must seek in order to live with meaning* This use of sound is emphasized by the title, The Sound and the Fury; man's inability to realize the values of the earth and connect them with his life, creates a vacuum around him* In this respect man's world and his sounds are empty; his life is a "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing*" 103 Faulkner associates sound with, the temporal qualities and relative values that concern man's life on earth; the eternal values are found in the land and are suggested "by peace and quiet0 Sound images indicate the distance man has strayed from the eternal peace of the earth* 'Taking an orthodox Christian view, Faulkner feels that nature is the outward symbol for God; man must be in harmony with nature to achieve the peace of life and death* Sound images indicate man's concern with ephemeral concepts— but the sound images of nature suggest a higher level of existence which man must learn to seek through love and faith* The characters of Dilsey and Lena are examples of the hope for man's ascension* The endurance and strength of the Bundren family indicates man's ability to go beyond his own weaknesses* . There is the hope for a better world through the decline and fall of Sutpen and his way of life* Faulkner uses sound to show the decadence of man and also to reinforce his belief in eternal values* There is love and hope in his novels and the sounds of man are able to gain their lost significance: "I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail * * * because he has a soul*

^Faulkner, "The Stockholm Address," in Three Decades of Criticism* p* 3^8* LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED

Adams„ Robert M 0 "Poetry in the Novel," Virginia Quarterly Review, XXIX (1953), 4-19-4-34„ Aiken$ Conrad0 "William Faulkner5 the Novel as Form," in William Faulkner, Three Decades of Criticism, edo Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery. East Lansing Michigan State College Press5 I960. 135-141. Allen , Charles A. "William Faulkner's Vision of Good and Evil9" Pacific Spectator, X (Summer, 1956), 236- 241, Allen, Walter. "Mr. Faulkner's Humanity," New Statesman and Nation, XXXVIII (October 15, 1949),428-29. ______= "Worldwide Influence of William Faulkner," New York Times Book Review (November 15, 1959), 52- 53 .” ” . Arthos, John. "Ritual and Humor in the Writings of William Faulkner,'" in William Faulkner, Two Decades of Criticism, ed. Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1951° 101-118. "Artists and Thinkers," Commonweal, LXVII (October 25, 1957), 86. ; ™ 9. Backman, Melvin, "Faulkner's Sick Heroes," Modern Fiction Studies, II (Autumn, 1956), 95-108= ______. "The Pilgrimage of William Faulkner, A Study of Faulkner's Fiction 1929-1942," Dissertation Abstracts, XXI (i960), 193-194° ____ . "Sickness and Primitivism: A Dominant Pattern in Faulkner's Works," Accent, XIV (Winter, 1954), 6i-73° Backus, J. M. "Each in Its Ordered Place: Structure and Narrative in Benjy1s Section of The Sound and the Fury," American Literature, XXIX (January, 19587T 5%o-56. Baker, Carlos. "Cry Enough," Nation, CLXXIX (August 7, 1954), 115-118. . 105 Baker 9 J» E 0 "Symbolic Extension of Yoknapatawpha County $" Arizona Quarterly, VIII (Autumn, 19521, 223-228<, Beck, Warren. "Faulkner and the South," Antioch Review, I (March, 1941), 82-94. ' "Faulkner's Point of View," College English, II (May, 1941), 736-749. ______. "William Faulkner's Style," in William Faulkner, Two Decades of Criticism, ed, Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery! East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1951. 147-164. Beebe, Maurice. "Criticism of William Faulkner," Modern Fiction Studies, II (Autumn, 1956), 150-164. Benet, William Rose. "Faulkner as Poet," Saturday Review of Literature, IX (April 29, 1933773637 Benson, Carl. "Thematic Design in Light in August," South Atlantic Quarterly, LIII (October, 1954), 540- 555. Blotner, Joseph L. "As I Lay Dying: Christian Lore and Irony," TwentietEuentury Literature, III (1957), 14-19. Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. Chicago: Univer­ sity of Chicago Press, 1961= Bowling, Lawrence. "Faulkner and the Theme of Innocence," Kenyon Review, XX (Summer, 1958), 466-487. ______. "Technique of The Sound and the Fury," in Two Decades of Criticism, ed. Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery. East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1951° 165-79° Boyle, Kay. "Tattered Banners," Hew Republic, XGIV (March . 9, 1938), 136-137° Breaden, D. G. "William Faulkner and the Land," American Quarterly, X (Fall, 1958), 344-57° _ Breit, Harvey. "Faulkner After Eight Years," Hew York Times Book Review (September 26, 1948), -4. ______. "Sense of Faulkner," Partisan Review, XVIII (January, 1951), 88-94. ______o "Walk With Faulkner," Hew York limes Book Review. (January 30, 19557, 4-, 120 o "William Faulkner," Atlantic, OLXXXYIII (October, 1951), 53-55: " Broderick, John Go "Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury," Explicator, XIX (I960), Item 12. Brooks, Oleanth. "Absalom, Absalom!: The Definition of Innocence," Bewanee Review, LIX (October, 1951)» 543-558. : - Brumm, Ursula. "Wilderness and Civilization," in Three Decades of Criticism, ed. Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickeryl East. Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960. 125-134. Bunker, Robert. "Faulkner, A Case for Regionalism," New Mexico Quarterly Review. XIX (Spring, 1949),

Campbell, Harry M. "Experiment and Achievement," Sewanee Review, LI.(April, 1943), 305-20. •____. "Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!," Explicator, VII (December, 1948), Item 24. ______. "Structural Devices in the Works of Faulkner," Perspective, III (Autumn, 1950), 209-226. Canby, Henry Seidel. "Grain of Life," Saturday Review of Literature, X (October 8 , 1952), 155-5S1T . "School of Cruelty," Saturday Review of Litera­ ture, VII (March 21, 1931),”6^3-74. Cantwell, Robert. "The Faulkners: Recollections of a Gifted Family," in Three Decades of Criticism, ed Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery. East Lansing Michigan State College Press, I960. 51-66. Capote, Truman. "Faulkner Dances," Theatre Arts, XXXIII (April, 1949), 49. \ ------Chase, Richard. "The Stone and the Crucifixion— Light in August,11 in Two Decades of Criticism, ed. Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery. East Lansing Michigan State College Press, 1951° 205-216. Collins, Carvelo "War and Peace and Hr0 Faulkner9" Mew York limes Book Review (August, 1954-), 1, 13o Goughian, Robert = Private World of William Faulknero New York: Harper and Brothers, 193^° Cowley, Malcolm. "Introduction," Ihe Viking Portable Faulkner. New York: Viking Press, 1954-° 1-24. "Poe in Mississippi," New Republic., LZXXIX (November 4, 1936), 22. ■ ______. "William Faulkner's Legend of the South," Sewanee Review, LIII (Summer, 1945), 343-61. . "William Faulkner's Nation," New Republic, CZIX (October 18, 1948), 21-22. Cullen, John B. Old Times in the Faulkner Country. Chapel Hill: University oT Worth Carolina Press, 1961. DeVoto, Bernard. "Faulkner's South," Saturday Review of Literature, XVII (February 9, 1938)7 5° like, lonald A. "World of Faulkner's Imagination," lissertation Abstracts, XV (1955), 265° loster, William C. "William Faulkner and the Negro," Dissertation Abstracts, XX (1959), 1094. Downing, Francis. "An Eloquent Man," Commonweal, LIII (December 15, 1950), 255-58. ' "Early Faulkner," Newsweek, L (December 30, 1957), 70. Fadiman, Clifton. "World of William Faulkner," Nation, CXXXII (April 15, 1931), 422-23° Faulkner, William. Absalom, AbsalomI New York: Random House, Modern Library Edition, 1951° . As I Lay Dying. New York: Random House, Modern —;----- LTUr ary~EdTtxon, 1946. ______. The Hamlet. New York: Random House, 1940. _____ . Light in August. New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1932. ______. Sanctuary. New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1931° 108 ______o Sartoriso New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929o ______o The Sound and the Bury^ New York: Random House, Modern library EHition, 19/t-60 Brazier, David L0 "Lucas Burch and the Polarity of Light in August," Modern Language Notes, LXXIII (June, 1958), 4-17-19. Garrett, George P„ "An Examination of the Poetry of William Baulkner," Princeton University Library Chronicle, XYIII (1957),124-35o Gordon, Caroline0 "Introduction," Madame Bovary0 New York; Harper and Brothers, 1950» v-xiiio Green, Wigfall, "William Baulkner At Home," in Two Decades of Criticism, ed, Brederick Hoffman and Olga Yidkeryl Bast Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1951» 33-4-7» Halsband, Robert, "Baulkner and the Critics," Saturday Review of Literature, XXXVIII (March 26, 1955), 19o Hardwick, Elizabeth, "Baulkner and the South Today," in Two Decades of Criticism, ed, Brederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery, East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1951° 244-50, Hoffman, Brederick, William Baulkner, New York: Twayne Publishers,1961, ______, and Olga Vickery, William Baulkner, Three Decades of Criticism, East Lansing: Michigan State UoTTege Press, I960, ______and Olga Vickery, William Baulkner, Two Decades of Criticism, East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1951° ' Howe, Irving, "Baulkner Appraised," Newsweek, XL (July 14, 1952), 95-94, ______"William Baulkner1s Enduring Power," New York Times Book Review, XIX (April 4, 1954), 1, 22, Hudson, Tommy, "William Baulkner, Mystic and Traditionalist, , Perspective, III (Autumn, 1950)» 227-35° f 109

Humphrey, Roberto "Form and Function in William Faulkner”s Sound and the Fury," University of Kansas City Review, XIX CAutumn, 1952) , 24-4-0, Kazin, Alfred, "Faulkner: The Rhetoric and the Agony," in On Native Ground, New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, t w :— ^ 53^ - — ‘

______o "The Stillness of Light in August,11 in Three Decades of Criticism, ed,"Frederick Hoffman and Olga VTckeryZ hast Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960, 247-264, Labor, Earle, "Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury," Explicator, XVII IT959JT Item 29, Lament, William, "Chronology of Light in August," Modern Fiction Studies, III (195777 550^617 Leaver, Florence, "Faulkner: The Word as Principle and Power," in Three Decades of Criticism, ed» Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery, East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960, 199-209o Lind, Use Dusior, "Design and Meaning of Absalom, Absalom!" in Three Decades of Criticism, ed, Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery, last Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960, 278-304, Longley, John, "Joe Christmas: Hero in the Modern World," in Three Decades of Criticism ed, Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery, last Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960, 265-78, Lytle, Andrew, "Regeneration for the Man," in Two Decades of Criticism, ed, Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vidkery, East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1951o 251-58, McElderry, B, R, "Narrative Structure of Light in August," College English, XIX (1958), 200^2077 Maiin, Irving, William Faulkner, An Interpretation, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1957° Mercier, V, "Search for Universality," Commonweal, LX (August 6 , 1954), 443-444, Miner, Ward, World of William Faulkner, Durham: Duke University Press, 1952, 110 Mizener9 Arthurc "The Thin, Intelligent Face of American Fiction," Kenyon Review, XVII (Autumn, 1955.) 507-24o Muller, Herbert Josepho Modern Fiction, New York: Funk and Wagnalls , ± W T ° — 4 U 5 ^ W : 0'Connor^ William Van, "Protestantism in Yoknapatawpha County9" Hopkins Review, V (1952)$ 26-42, ______, Tangled Fire of William Faulkner» Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954= ______, William Faulkner,. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota-FressT™"1959= : O'Donnell, George Marion, "Faulkner's Mythology," in Three Decades of Criticism, ed, Frederick Hoffman and Olga VickeryT East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960, 82-95 = Poirer, William R, "Strange Gods in Jefferson, Mississippi, in Two Decades of Criticism, ed, Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery, East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1951= 217-45, Powell, Sumner 0, "William Faulkner Celebrates Easter, 1928," Perspective, II (Summer, 1949), 195-218= Rabi, "Faulkner et la Generation de 1 'Exil," in Three Decades of Criticism, ed, Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery! East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960, 118-158= Rice, Philip Blair, "Faulkner's Crucifixion," in Three Decades of Criticism, ed, Frederick Hoffman and Olga VicEeryl East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960, 575-81= Robb, Mary Cooper, William Faulkner, Pittsburgh: Univer­ sity of Pittsburgh Press, 1957= Roberts, James L, "William Faulkner, A Thematic S+.udy," Dissertation Abstracts, XVII (1957), 5025= Sartre, Jean Paul, "Time in The Sound and the Fury," in Three Decades of Criticism, ed, Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery, East Lansing: Michigan State. College Press, 225-252, Ill Schappes, Morris U0 "Faulkner as Poet," Poetry* XLIII (October, 1933), 48-52» , Scott, Arthur Lo "E^riad Perspectives of Absalom* AbsalomI" American Quarterly* VI (Fall, 1954),

Slatoff, Walter J0 "The Edge of Order: The Pattern of Faulkner1s Rhetoric," in Three Decades of Criti­ cism* edo Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery* East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960* 173-98= Sleeth, Irene = William Faulkner: A Bibliography of Criticism* Denver: Alan Swallow Press, 1962= Sound and Poetry: English Institute Essays * ed= Norhtrop Frye* New York: Columbia University Press, 1957* Spurgeon, Caroline = Shakespeare1s Imagery and What It Tells Us* Cambridge Press, 1935= Stein, Jean* "An Interview With William Faulkner," in Three Decades of Criticism* ed* Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery= East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1960= 67-81= Sternfield, F* W* "Poetry and Music— -Joyce's Ulysses *11 English Institute Essays* Sound and Poetry * 1957° 16054= Stone* Geoffrey* "Light in August *" The Bookman* LXXV (Iovbmber7T9J277 7 # % — ------Sullivan, Walter* "Tragic Design of Absalom* Absalom?" South Atlantic Quarterly* L (October* 1951)* 55215557 ------^

Swiggert, Peter* "Moral and Temporal Order in The Sound and the Fury *11 Sewanee Review* LXI (April, " 1953), 251-37= . ... "Time in Faulkner's Novels," Modern Fiction ' Studies, I (May, 1955), 25-29= ; Thompson, Lawrence E= "Mirror Analogues in The Sound and the Fury*" in Three Decades of Criticism* ed= Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery= East" Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960* 211-225= 112 Drilling, Lionel0 "Contemporary Literature and Its Gela­ tion to Ideas," American Quarterly. I (Fall, 1949), 195-208o Troy, William. "The Poetry of Doom," Hation, CXLIII (October Jl, 1936), 524-25= Vickery, Olga W. "As I Lay Dying," in Three Decades of Criticism, ed. Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickeryo last Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960. 252-246. . Hovels of William Faulkner. Baton Gouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959° Waggoner, Hyatt H. William Faulkner, From Jefferson to the World. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1959° Warren, Gobert Penn. "Cowley's Faulkner," in Three Decades of Criticism, ed. Frederick Hoffman and Olga Vickery. East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, I960. 109-124. ___ . "William Faulkner," in Selected Essays. Hew York: Gandom House, 1958” 59-79’° Wellek, Gene and Warren, Austin. Theory of Literature. Hew York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1956. West, Gay B. "William Faulkner, Artist and Moralist," Western Geview, XVI (Winder, 1952), 162-67° Westland, Olga. "As I Lay Dying," Perspective, III (A d t u m n , " T 9 5 0 7 ; i T F T l l ° ----- Whan, Edgar. "Absalom, AbsalomI as Gothic Myth," Perspec­ tive, III (Iutumn7~T^50),■192-201. "When the Dam Breaks," Time, XXXIlI (January 23, 1939), 45-46. Willingham, Cecil B. "Faulkner and His Critics," Hation, CLXXIX (December 11, 1954), 512. ; "Worldwide Influence of William Faulkner," Hew York Times Book Geview, LXIV (Hovember 15,..1959), 52-53° Zink, Karl E. "Faulkner's Garden: Woman and the Immemorial Earth,” Modern Fiction Studies, II (Autumn, 1956), 139-149° Zoellner? Robert He "Faulkner's Prose Style in Absalom, Absalom!" American Literature, XXX (January, 1959)9 486-502,