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A Thematic Juxtaposition in the Fiction of William Faulkner

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A Thematic Juxtaposition in the Fiction of William Faulkner THE RATIONAL AND THE INTUITIVE: A THEMATIC JUXTAPOSITION IN THE FICTION OF WILLIAM FAULKNER A Thesis Presented to The School of Graduate Studies Drake University In Partial Fulf'illment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in English by Harriet Howell Custer December 1974 THE RATIONAL AND THE INTUITIVE: A THEMATIC JUXTAPOSITION IN THE FICTION OF WILLIAM FAULKNER by Harriet Howell CU9ter Approved by Committee: Cha.irman School of r ", «1 r-" • '; '\' r­ ..J., ,,)<LI';.) THE RATIONAL AND THE INTUITIVE: A THEMATIC JUXTAPOSITION IN THE FICTION OF WILLIAM FAULKNER An abstract of a Thesis by Harriet Howell Custer December 1974 Drake University Throughout the broad scope of William Faulkner's fiction a thematic pattern emerges which has hitherto been little dealt with by his critics. This pattern presents, initially, an exploration of the principles of rationality and intuition as opposing faculties of the human mind. For Faulkner, however, rationality and intuition could not be divorced from man's mental and sensual awareness. Through an examination of the manners in which various characters shape and react to experience, I hope to demonstrate the force and magnitude with which the rational/intuitive theme permeates Faulkner's fiction. Faulkner's characters range from those who are almost purely intuitive to those who rejeCt intuition and attempt to construct elaborate systems of thought without it. This is a metaphysical pattern which is evident throughout Faulkner's work; it becomes, however, far more prominent in his later novels. In the Snopes trilogy he sets up the rational/intuitive juxtaposition in terms of a conflict, between certain characters and within others, which must be resolved if modern man is to survive his propensity for self-destruction. It is with these three novels-­ The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion--that this study is primarily concerned. --- In The H~t Faulkner sets up this conflict through two main characters: Flem Snopes is an incarnation of cold logic and acquisitiveness, whereas Eula Varner is an embodiment of hot subterranean urges. As Flem rapaciously takes over Frenchman's Bend,he is countered by V. K. Ratliff, who initiates and ultimately sustains the fight against Snopesism. Ratliff is the last and the most fully drawn of a small number of Faulkner characters who truly succeed as human beings. This results from their ability to employ both intuition and reason not only in their reactions to experience, but in their shaping of experience as well. In The Town Faulkner introduces Gavin Stevens, who functions as the chief protagonist in the last two novels of the trilogy. Gavin is a romantic idealist who contains within himself the conflict represented externally by Flem and Eula Snopes. He is constantly juxtaposed to Ratliff, whose shrewd intelligence and realistic perceptions eventually help Gavin to resolve his internal conflict and become a man capable of coping with the modern world. In The Mansion Gavin finally learns, through the activities of Mink and Linda Snopes, to approach experience realistically. Mink, the man of fierce faith in natural justice, joins with Linda, who ultimately combines Eula's intui­ tive nature with a strong dedication to a practical ideology. These two remaining Snopeses move together toward their mutual destruction of Flem, who represents the very antithesis of human obligation and natural responsibility. Through recognizing his own moral complicity in the murder of Flem, Gavin finally rejects his reliance upon illusion and acknowledges his membership in the rmLks of humanity. At the conclusion of the trilogy he and Ratliff stand alone--two old men who, through their ability to reinforce reason with intuition, prevail in the face of modern manls spiritual dilemma. CONTENTS Chapter Page I. "A MORE OR LESS ARTIFICIAL MAl\f 1l A1~D itA MAN" 'lfttHO II PHACTICED VIRTUE FROM SIMPLE INSTINCT • 1 II. "THE USURPATION OF AN HEIRSHIP" • 21 III. "SgCAUSE HE HISSED IT, HE NISSEn IT C0r1PLETELY" 62 IV.· "OLD MOSTER JEST PUNISHES; HE DONT PLAY JOKES". 110 V. "HELEN AND THE BISHOPS, THE KINGS AND THE ~mHOMED ANGELS, TRf~ SCORNFUL AND GRACELESS SERAPHn1" • 146 EIBLl OGRAPHY. 160 iii PREFACE In order to eliminate repetitive footnotes, references to primary sources will be made contextually throughout this thesis. The following key will serve as a guide to editions of Faulkner's works which have been used. (A) Absalom, Absalom! 1936; rpt. New York: Modern Library, 1964. (D) !! I Lay Dying. 1930; rpt. New York: Vintage, 1957. (F) A Fable. 1954; rpt. New York: Signet, 1968. (FN) Faulkner at Nagano, ed. Robert A. Jelliffe. 3rd ed. Tokyo: Kenkyusha Press, 1962. (FU) Faulkner in the University: Class Conferences at the University of Virginia 1957-1958, ed. Frederick L. Gwynn and Joseph L. Blotner. New York: Vintage, 1965. (FW) Faulkner at West Point, ed. Joseph L. Fant and Robert Ashley-.-New-York: Vintage, 1964. (G) Go DO\ID, ~oses. New York: Modern Library, 1942. (H) The Hamlet. 1940; rpt. New York: Vintage, 1964. ( I ) Intruder in the Dust. New York: Modern Library, 1948. (K) Knight's Gambit. New York: Random House, 1949. (L) Light in August. 1932; rpt. New York: Modern Library, 1959. (M) The Mansion. New York: Vintage, 1959. (R) The Raivers. New York: Signet, 1962. (RN) Requiem fo.!: ~ Nun. 1950; rpt. New York: Signet, 1961. (SF) The Sound and the Furl. 1929; rpt. New York: Vintage, 1946. (T) 'rhe Town. New York: Vinta~e, 1957. iv CHAPTER I "A MORE OR LESS ARTIFICIAL MAN" AND t1A MAN WHO PRACTICED VIRTUE FROM SIMPLE INSTINCT"l Throughout the broad scope of William Faulkner's fiction a thematic pattern emerges which has hitherto been little dealt with by his critics. This pattern presents, initially, what would appear to be an exploration of the principles of rationality and intuition as diametrically opposed faculties of the human mind. Such faculties, however, c~ be viewed as totally opposite only as philosophical abstractions; inasmuch as they are products of human cognition they are ultimately inseparable, and can be distinguished only by degree. For Faulkner, rationality and intuition could not be divorced from man's mental and sensual awareness. The great power of his work lies in oharacterization, and it is through this vehicle that Faulkner expresses the theme with which this study is concerned. Through an examination of the manners in which various characters shape and react to experience, I hope to demonstrate the force and magnitude with wbich the rational/intuitive theme permeates Faulkner's fiction. The 1FU, p. 140. 1 2 terms rational and intuitive, however, are so complex that they require rather extensive defining before one can proceed to an examination or their place in Faulkner's work. The rational faCUlty is commonly associated with rea­ son, logic, and mathematical calculation. The rational mind is primarily deductive; it deals with racts, and forms conclu­ sions based on empirical evidence. The intuitive faCUlty, on the other hand, is associated with instinct; it is primarily inductive, and is ordinarily regarded as an immediate appre­ hension, cognition, or judgment arrived at directly, without reasoning or inference. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was the first or the "mOdern" philosophers to draw a wide distinction between the two faculties. He opens his Pensaea with a discussion of "the difference between the mathematical and the intuitive mind." He says, initially, that mathematical prin­ ciples are "removed from ordinary use": intuitive principles, on the other hand, are "found in common use, and are before the eyes of everybody. ,,1 Pascal tends to view the mathematical mind as so impractical that the concepts Which result rrom such a mode of thought are rendered all but meaningless in relation to human activity, whereas the intuitive mind is a practical faculty very closely bound up in human behavior. He says that "Intuitive minds ••• , being thus accustomed to judge at a single glance, are so astonished when they are presented with Ipascalls Pensees, intro. T. S. Eliot, trans. W. F. Trotter (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1958), p. 1. 3 propositions of which they understand nothing, and the way to which is through definitions and axioms so sterile, and which they are not accustomed to see thus in detail, that they are repelled and disheartened. ,,1 Heavy philosophical systems, unless somehow made relevant, have no meaning for tbe masses of ordinary men. William Barrett, in bis study of the modern temper, Irrational Man, correlates Pascal's statements regard­ ing the opposing faculties with modern man's mania for scien­ tific truth. Pascal, Barrett says, "clearly saw that the feebleness or our reason is part and parcel of the feebleness of our buman condition generally.n2 Pascal's discussion of the mathematical and the intuitive minds is very sketchy, however. Comprehensive analysis of these faculties was left to later philosophers, the first of whom was Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). In his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant examines the nature of intuitive thinking as the source from wbicb the intellect springs. He says that ttWhatever the process and the means may be by wbich knowledge reaches its objects, there is one that reaches them directly, and forms the ultimate material of all thought, viz. intui ti on. ,,3 Perhaps Kant's greates t contributi on to modern 1 Ibid., p. 2. 2Irrational Han: A StUdy in Existential Philosophy (1958; rpt. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1962), p. 115. 3Critique of Pure Reason, trans.F. !'-1ax Muller (Garden City, N. Y.: Anchor Books, 1966), p. 21. 4 philosophy is his delineation of the actual thought-process, the development of immediate response into the formulation of concept. For Kant, the key to human thought is what he terms "sensibility," or the faculty (receptivity) of receiving representations, according to the manner in which we are affected by objects.
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