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Absalom, Absalom 1 a Study of Structure

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ABSALOM, ABSALOM 1 A STUDY OF STRUCTURE APPROVED: Graduate Committee: Matfor Br ©lessor ,^9 JS. Committee Membe ittee Member 'Zu/S? t Committed Member Chairman oOdje Department of English Dean of the Graduate School Major, Sylsria Beth Bigby, Absalom, Absalom! A Study of Structure, Doctor of Philosophy (Ehglish), August, 1973> 208 pp., 1 table, bibliography, >6 titles. In order to explore the thesis that the structure of Absalom, Absalom! is unified and purposeful, this study takes advantage of a partial transcription of the manuscript of the novel, the numerous studies of this work, and Faulkner scholarship in general. A review of the influences on Faulkner at the time of Ms writing Absalom, Absalom1 and a consolidation of critical consent on Faulkner's structural techniques, especially in this novel, serve as an introduction to an intensive examination of the work. For the purposes of this study, the first five chapters of Absalom, Absalom 1 have been designated the Mississippi chaptei'S and the last four the Massachusetts chapters. The following structural considerations have been examined for each chapter: the number and kinds of revisions mades the division of material, the principal ordering devices, the role of the chapter in the structure of the novel, and the world, created by the chapter. Chapter I furnishes examples of revisions which move the novel toward the poetic and abstract. like the novel as a whole, the principal organising device in this chapter is psychological. Chapter II is conventionally plotted, Its point of view is sympathetic, to Thomas Sutpen; but its juxtaposition to Chapter I tampers any evaluation made of Sutpen. Chapter III is a biography of hosa Coldfield, told 1 in grotesque caricature and arranged arcurdLa single.--All-absolving event in her lifei the death of Charles Bon. Chapter 17, framed by references to and a citation of Bon's letter and filled with Jason Compson's speculations, also exemplifies the techniques of juxtaposition and psychological ordering. Chapter V partakes of many of the struc- tural qualities of modern fiction: the part that is the whole, the multi-level quest, the fusion of past and present, the reflexive image, and the mythic character. In it the central theme of the novel is revealedJ denial of brotherhood on the basis of race. An increasing awareness of the racial question characterizes the Massachusetts chapters. They are framed by a letter containing a notice of Rosa's death. A pall of death hang3 over Chapter VI, a chapter with three levels of organization—the psychological, the historical, and the symbolic, all levels focusing on the life and death of Charles Etienne Bon. The biography of Thomas Sutpen guides the organization of Chapter VII, the meaning of his life being revealed by juxtaposition of various episodes in his career. Charles Bon's quest for a father determines the structural devices used in Chapter VIII. Chapter IX is ordered so that images of death and despair follow every suggestion of life and hope. The chapter calls attention to Jim Bond and leaves the reader with the question of the meaning of his life. The conclusion drawn from this study is that the arrangement of material in Absalom, Absalom! is unified and purposeful. The structure evokes that despair that is the common denominator of mankind. It 3 reveals both the bond between men and the separation of men; and though some of the most dramatic episodes in the novel picture the union of men in brotherly love, most of the material and certainly the arrangement of the material emphasize the estrangement of men. In addition, by juxtaposing chapters, each separated from the others by its own structural and thematic qualities, Faulkner places a burden of interpretation on the reader suggestive of the burden of despair that overwhelms the protagonists of the novel. ABSALCM, ABSALOMi A SrUDx (F SIMGTUHE DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOC TOP. OF PHILOSOPHY By Sylvia Beth Bigby Major, B. A., M. A. Denton, Texas August, 1973 PREFACE William Faulkner's novel Absalom, Absalom 1 has achieved wide- spread acclaim as a major accomplishment by a major writer. That in itself makes the work a worthy subject for study* It has also generated a controversy of sorts since by its nature it is subject to many interpretations. Consequently, there is a temptation to add one's voice to the debate. More specifically, recent scholarly interest in the structure of this novel-'- and the publication of a partial tran- p script!on of the manuscript point the student in the direction of the technical aspects of the novel, particularly its construction. Thus, while it is with the secondary purposes of better understanding con- temporary literature by examining one of its most illustrious examples and of joining with the throng of critics fascinated by this complex and ambiguous work, it is with the primary purpose of building on the structural studies done thus far that this dissertation is undertaken. Michael itLllgate has pointed out the need in Faulkner studies for a biography and for textual work and the dearth of dissertation-length ~Qf approximately twenty studies published in the years 1968-1972, four have the word "structure" incorporated in their titles, and at least five others have the structure of Absalom, Absalom! as their topics. 2 C-erald Langford's Faulkner1 s Revision of Absalom, Absalom 1 A Collation of the Hani?script and the Published Book ^Austin: University of Texas Press, 1971) contains a partial transcript of the manuscript, though, as Noel Polk has pointed out ("The Manuscript of Absalom, Absaloml" Mississippi Quarterly, 2$ (Summer 1972), 3^9-367), there are errors in the transcription. References in this paper to the manuscript are to Langford1s transcription. iii studies of individual works. ^ Biographical and textual studies necessarily left to scholars s.t institutions where manuscripts, type- scripts, and other materials concerning Faulkner are kept or to whom such artifacts are available. Some textual study of Absalom, Absalom! has been undertaken, the most recent of which is Gerald Longford's collation. However, Langford has dealt only with the completed manuscript, which, according to Faulkner's own testimony, is a complete revision.^ At present there is not a record of how the manuscript itself took shape, other than that scissors and glue were used extensively. Millgate believes that a careful study of the shaping of the manuscript might determine the phases of the construction and that such a study would be more than worthwhile since, in his view, Faulkner is a skillful technician.^ In addition to further study of the manuscript, there is a need for work on the typescript. According to Noel Polk, it is much marked by Faulkner's editors, they being responsible for most of the 1U00 variants between the typescript and the published work.^ It may eventually be concluded that the finished work owes sane of its strengths and weaknesses to editorial revision. Whatever the outcome of textual ^"Faulkner," American Literary Scholarshipi An Annual, 1969, ed. James Woodress (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1971), p. 108. ^Frederick L. Gwynn and Joseph L. HLotner, ed., Faulkner in the University: Glass Conferences at the University of Virginia 19^7-^8 TCharlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press, 1959), p. 76. **The Achievement of William Faulkner (New York: Random House, 1966), p. 15>0. ~ ~ 6 "The Manuscript of Absalom, Absalomi" p. 361. iv studies, the record of the genesis and composition of Absalom, Absalom! has only begiyi to he written, and it- i? not the purpose of this steqy to pursue such aspects of the work. The finished structure is the primary subject of this discussion. Che may be led to question the soundness of a paper on structure that virtually ignores the pre-publication arrangement and rearrangement of material. It is a legitimate question. 1" justify the limits of my paper by calling attention to the restricted access to textual materials and by asserting that it is the published work that has won acclaim. Mine is for the most part the study of an accomplished fact rather than an account of the journey to that accomplishment. To establish a framework for the study of structure, I have been first of all concerned with possible influences on the artist1s philosophy of structure. Second, by assessing the large body of critical comment on Absalom, Absalom1 in general and its structure in particular, I have been provided with terminology and guidelines for my study. In turning to my own analysis and evaluation of the structure, I have chosen to look at the parts before looking at the whole, to see the chapters as structural entities in and of themselves as well as integral parts of the novel. I have grouped the chapters according to setting, the first five being the Mississippi chapters and the last four being the Massachusetts chapters, though they might also have been grouped according to family or race, i.e. the Coldfield chapters and the Bon chapters or the white family chapters and the black family chapters. I have come to the conclusion that the novel achieves unity out of dis- continuity and rests on a sound structure. v I believe ny study may lead weight to conclusions about the whole of Faulkner's work in the area of structure. Studies of 'Hie Hamlet and Go Down, Moses, for example, more and more point to the unity of thsss works, whereas at one time they were considered loose collections of stories. The structural relationship between the Lena story and the Joe Christmas story in Light in August is mora highly regarded now than formerly.
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