The Angle
Volume 1958 Issue 1 Article 8
1958
Some Notes On The Tragedy In William Faulkner's "The Sound And The Fury"
James Bond St. John Fisher College
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Recommended Citation Bond, James (1958) "Some Notes On The Tragedy In William Faulkner's "The Sound And The Fury"," The Angle: Vol. 1958 : Iss. 1 , Article 8. Available at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/angle/vol1958/iss1/8
This document is posted at https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/angle/vol1958/iss1/8 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Some Notes On The Tragedy In William Faulkner's "The Sound And The Fury"
Abstract In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.
"Whatever else it may be, and it has run the gamut of critical evaluation, the novel "The Sound and the Fury" is a tragedy. Whether or not it is a tragedy. Whether or not it is a tragedy in the dynamic tradition of Sophocles and Shakespeare or Whether it is so lacking in moral resonance as to be merely an agglomeration of perverted and questionable ideas remains to be seen, but by a complex interweaving of incident and character, the personages in the novel are destined to doom, and nothing in the finite world can alter that destiny."
Cover Page Footnote Appeared in the issue: Volume 3, 1958.
This prose is available in The Angle: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/angle/vol1958/iss1/8 Bond: Some Notes On Faulkner
WALDEN: SOME NOTES ON T HE TRAGEDY IN FROM CABIN TO BATH-HOUSE WILLI AM FAULKNER'S JOSEPH c. DERITJS "T HE SOUND AND TH E FURY" Th e citizens of Concord, Massachusetts, whos e ancestors "fired the shot heard JAMES BOND 'round the world ," have mustered to def end one of the most famed cultural shri nes in our nation. Nothing less than the woodland site of Henry D avid Thoreau's cabin on Walden Pond is being threatened with mutilation by bu ll " 1f7e paint life merel)' as it is. bllt beyond Jhat~noth;ng at dozer and power-saw. ali . IV e haN' neith er immediate nor remote aims, and in I 011 1' JO IiI there ;1 a great empty JpaCC,- ANTON CHEKOV With a request in hand for improved bathing Facilitiesand outdoor refreshmen t stands at Walden, the Middlesex County Commissioners of the state of Massa I W hatever else it may be, and it has become in O'Donnell's interpretation chusetts have begu n their program of ' reconstruction.' Theitr aim is to ransform run the gamut of critical evaluation, not so much persons as polar antithesis the world-renowned site into an expanded recreation center. the novel, "The Sound and the Fury" in a conflict of moral codes . Similarly, For years the value of the Thor eau Memorial has been seriously impaired by i~ a tragedy. Whether or not it is a Quentin, the tragic hero, in Faulkner' s the existing ba thing facilities at Walden Pon d, Any fur ther additions to or ex tragedy in the dynamic t radition of words, "loved not the idea of incest pansion of the present recreational facilities would certainly add final ruin to the Sophocles and Shakespeare or whether which he could not commit, but some noble shrine. With modern transportation so rapid and efficient, the people of it is so lacking in mora l resonance as concept of its eternal punishment: he Massachusetts can easily go to other state ponds or bath ing beaches , to be merely an agglomeration of per could by that means cast himself and The imm ediate problem is how this 'reconstruction ' programb can e reconciled verted and questionable ideas remains his sister both into hell, where he could with the deeds of gift wh ich bestowed the shrine on the public, the object be to be seen, but by a complex inter guard her forever amid the eternal ing to preserve the W alden of Emerson and Thoreau, its shores and woodlands weaving of incident and character, the fires:' In other words, Qu entin, the (which have already undergone substantial devastation) . personages in the novel are destined personification of traditional values, by To be sure the error of the M iddlesex County Commissioners at Wa lden is not to doom, and nothing in the finite means of phis false roclamat ion, at intentional. It is rath er an error of judgment. For their orig inal aim was to de world can alter that destiny. tempts to turn h is sister's meaningless velop and dean up W alden, which in itself is commendable, but they have con As in traditional tragedy, there is a degen eracy into significant doom. Th e fused the idea of an historic or cult ural shrine with the idea of a recreation conflict situation. George Mar ion climax of the tragedy is of course center for mass bath ing, Th e two arc incompatible, O'Donnell in his essay Faulkner' s Quentin 'S suicide. Seeing the impend. The question now is: how to rectify the mistake? Legally this project is a jl,fyth olog y (Kenyon Review, Summer ing doom, the disintergration of his violation of the deed of gif t, but the law moves slowly. H owever, preventive 19 39 ) expounds the thesis that there own traditional values around him, he measures are now being taken. I know of a young author, Truman Nelson, a exists a conflict between amoral mod makes the inevitable sacrifice. The membe r of the Thoreau Society, who is presently involved in the necessary court tfn ism and traditionalism. This thesis remainder of the story, although procedures to halt this Wa lden desecration, A committee also has been set up has in general been acknowledged as its chronology is actually hopelessly hy this Society to legally stop this havoc at W alden. If you, as an inte rested one of the more serious and objective jumbled by the author's "stream of reader, would like to add your word of protest, you may forward your letter of ways of st'eing Faulkner 's novel as a consciousness" technique is anticlima support to Me. Truman Nelson, 20 Beckford Street, Salem, Massachusetts, or whole. "Qu entin Cornpson represents tic in the sense that the family's al cont act one of t he editors of sthi magazine. all tha t is left of a decadent moral ready obvious dege neracy is merely By all means, W alden Pond sho uld be a shr ine for the pub lic. But any person code, " O 'Donnell states; "the rest of confirmed and brought to its consum who is not willi ng to hike into W alden as Thoreau himself did, and enjoy that his family have succumbed entirely to mation. It is interesting to note that green memorial, does not deserve the privilege, let us not atlow W alden Pond amor al modernism." These two groups O'Donnell believes Faulkner to be a to be made a shrine to pop -bottles, beach-to ilets and litter·bugs . 12 I 113
Published by Fisher Digital Publications, 1958 1 The Angle, Vol. 1958, Iss. 1 [1958], Art. 8
"traditional moralist in the best senses,' of a traditional order and its values, is EPISODE which would seem to refute the critics potentially great. However. here again JOHN PORTER who deprecate him as a deprave d mod . Faulkner has failed to make the tra emist, nescient of any universal values. gedy a significant and profound one On the other hand, the horror, per because: his hero has no true universal It began and ended with 3 Bash . His hands moved swiftly. grabbing at the version, and cruelty, exemp lified ('S. values but only a pseudo-idealistic f«ially by the emasculation of the sense of tradition and a warped and drunken levers, and all at once he was out. Tearing• smashing throug h the solid idiot Benjy. which pervade the novel. perverted sense of hono r. Therefore he air. the noise resounding in his ears, he sped earthward. H ~ body moved quickly. lessen its aesthetic value. In many cases loses nothing of value by his downfall the fl ashing clouds and dancing sun weaving a kaleidoscopic pattern on his the horrible and the cruel are legiti. and defeat and the theme itself be aching eyes. Even now the fear was in his throat. and the wind ripped away his mate aesthetic agents, as in Oedipus comes a hollow one. Furthermore, scream. With a jarring shock the parachute opened. His bounci ng, spinning and Lear. However such is not the d Quentin 's false and perverted prods body came to rest. Down was restored and he felt suddenly calmed. even reo ect prod uced in "The Sound and the marion of i nce~ and his final suicide Fury" . Faulkner has failed to trans are so lacking in moral resonance as lieved to be here with nothing under his boots but the haze-shrouded empt iness mute the raw material in such a way as to force the tragedy into the sphere of of air. 111e earth was a recognizable map. tilting back and forth. teetering, but to give a purdy a esthetic effert . He ap naturalism-the blind and purposeless "ery solid. He looked up at the red-white canopy above him ; he became dizzy peals to the viscera. not to the mind. dead end where all values are ephem and afraid again. Th e earth below moved closer to him. As it rushed up his The theme of tragedy. the degeneracy eral because they are merely engen senses cleared. He could Sec' where he would land. 111e ice and snow rammed and lack of perspective arising in the dered by trans ient beliefs sanctified by human spirit as a result of the collapse tradition. up and u p and he hit-rolling, scrambling, legs, arms, head all ming ling in one pain-and it was over. He lay quiet. He listened to the cold wind and the shak i n~ o f his body and he was peaceful.
Y ON mNsl s« liP. Y ON m lilt come back to life again. Y ON knou' JON my sst et
yOIl 'don t , Get ;IP, get NP. R emember iUary and tbe romfOrlah/e home, the em bracing u-a mb of cioiiizaiion, The cold is here and it will overpower JON and what comer after that? ThiJ is rn;gnatio" and 1011 tare worse han a coward . Y o" are IhroNgh. . . . This is almolt pJeaJam. I; I hiJ the peau, the MU }(IN hale b een Jeeling all )Ollr life? N o one to imp reu , no one to Iall u';lh, no dlltin. There if jNlt )011 and YONr bou'n od).
111e toes of his feet were now coated with the shifting snow. Little drifts peaked against his body like warm brown sand. He hadn' t moved, he was just a dark blotch against the glaring whiteness. The sun beat down, but there was no heat. Just the clear, impenetrable cold.
14 I 116
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