Faulkner’s Fundamental Morality
(a confession)
Two-Fold Approach:
1. The Writerly– the WHATS
2. The Linguistical– the HOWS
Modernism
• Fitzgerald: soap sud whats, very pretty hows
• Hemingway: paralysis by parataxis
• Faulkner
– What? WHAT?!
-- How?
HOW?!
Introduction
Faulkner’s innovations regarding perspective, multiple
narrators and stream of consciousness writing constitute
the defining features of these works. Both shocking in their
approach and notoriously difficult to unravel, they present
their own challenges and peculiarities to the author as well.
With the absence of an omniscient or representative voice,
conveying the underlying moral principals that the author
sees as crucial to society becomes its own challenge. None
of these values can be clearly stated; instead, the author
must rely on the interplay between his flawed characters to
gradually illustrate what the ideal might be—and this
occurs as often through its absence as its presence.
The Two Main Features
Analysis reveals that the ability to see beauty
and give love are foundational to Faulkner’s
construction of morality; in both works, these
two aspects can be used to gauge the true
character of an individual. Faulkner uses the
absence or presence of these values to define
the inner reality of each character, and their
actions function as his commentary on the
nature of human failure.
Textual Evidence for Beauty
Darl’s recognition of beauty lends his voice
importance. A lyrical quality permeates Darl’s
sections from the first page with his portrayal
of the planks Cash holds: “between the
shadow spaces they are yellow as gold, like
soft gold, bearing on their flanks in smooth
undulations the marks of the adze blade”
(Faulkner Dying 1).
…and it’s absence.
Addie goes to the woods at the end of winter, in
slanting sun beside a bubbling spring, and yet she
seeks only to “be quiet and hate ” (Faulkner
Dying 98). At a place ripe with potential life and
rich with natural beauty, she experiences only her
own misery and bitterness. This single act
constitutes a fundamental failure on her part,
setting the tone for the rest of her section
focusing on the emptiness of words, sin, God and
love.
“Through the fence, between the curling flower
spaces, I could see them” (Faulkner Sound 1).
Benjy, despite not having the capacity to
conceptualize time or engage in critical analysis
of anything that occurs to him, nonetheless
recognizes and finds comfort in beauty. In
moments of calm or sleep, and in the fire, he
finds “bright, smooth shapes” that bring him
solace and indicate that he is at peace (Faulkner
Sound 41).
By contrast, Jason (like Addie) demonstrates
an utter inability to perceive beauty that
corresponds to his deeply flawed morality. …
This interpretation of reality provides telling
insight into how Jason structures his world—
centered firmly around his sense of
entitlement and bitter self-interest, utterly
lacking in any perception of beauty, it is as
damning a one as can be found.
Textual Evidence for Love
Recognition of beauty must be combined with
expressions of love. What is more, this love is
not as straightforward as it initially seems, for
it encompasses the issue of perspective
fundamental to the entire underlying
premises of the novels. Such acts of love
require the capacity to act for the good of
another rather than one’s self.
Darl possesses great capacity to recognize beauty… yet he
also demonstrates an equal lack of capacity in finding this
beauty in the people around him. Pettey observes:
Darl often relies upon artistic metaphors to demarcate his
animosity toward members of his family. For example, Darl
sees Jewel in terms of banal, crude modes of art as
though the form itself will be the essence of what Jewel
is. (Pettey 29)
Darl shows similar contempt for Anse, describing his face as
“carved by a savage caricaturist in a monstrous burlesque”
(Faulkner Dying 45), and for Cash, comparing him to a
“signboard” (ibid 62).
Benjy the Litmus Test
This is due to multiple factors: partly because love shown to
Benjy must be love solely for love’s sake as Benjy is
incapable of returning favors; partly because Benjy is not
necessarily easy to love as a “slobbering” and “moaning”
man incapable of even feeding himself (Faulkner Sound
172); partly because in reading Benjy’s section, the reader
is granted ready access to unbiased interpretations of the
actions that occur to him; but also because “there is a
strong sympathy in Faulkner’s fiction for those who are
powerless, and there is a fundamental respect for the
ability of human beings to help each other in a communal
fashion”(Labrie 404) that interactions with Benjy
encapsulate as no other interactions could.
Caddy is Critical
From Caddy, Benjy receives love. Not because
he is able to give her anything other than his
adoration in return, but because she sees in
him the innate beauty of humanity. Benjy
gravitates to Caddy in the same way he
gravitates towards beauty, equating her with
all that is good and comforting in his world:
“Her hair was like fire, and little points of fire
were in her eyes, and I went and Father lifted
me into the chair too, and Caddy held me.”
…even for Jason
Even Jason cannot remain unaffected by
Caddy—when he encounters her by their
father’s grave, he reflects, however briefly,
that life without her in it gets him to “feeling
funny again.” He stands beside her, conscious
of the fact that without her, he is alone under
Uncle Maury’s reign—a cold reality that leaves
him in a world utterly lacking in care “like the
way he left me to come home in the rain by
myself” (Faulkner Sound 127).
The Template
• Quentin—beauty, yes; love, yes, but he can’t
maintain it.
• Dewey Dell—beauty, no; love, definitely not.
• Luster—beauty, some; love, also some. He lies
somewhere in the middle.
• Anse—beauty, heck no; love, not really. Great
comic relief, though.
• Dilsey—beauty, in abundance; love, unfailingly.
That she endures, like the love of first
Corinthians, comes as no surprise at all.
Review of the whats: beauty and love.
What about the hows?
The Power of Form
The strongest argument for the importance of
these two qualities is Faulkner’s writing itself.
Faulkner does not tell us that beauty and the
ability to feel empathy for others are what
human experience demands. He forces us to
experience them in the very reading of his
words—words that catch and astound us with
their unexpected beauty and plunge us deep
into the reality of others.
• BEAUTY: through the words themselves.
• LOVE: through the use of multiple
perspectives.
As we read Darl’s hauntingly beautiful words, we are
pulled into his reality. When we stand by Addie in the
winter light, we find comfort in the smell of damp
decay. Through Benjy’s eyes, we glimpse the beauty in
the smooth brightness of Caddy’s face on the pillow. In
Jason’s desperate failings, our own angst leaps bitter to
our throats. We suddenly see through eyes we actively
shun, walk in shoes we would readily destroy if given
the chance. He gives us no opportunity for denial,
thrusting us into his world as it rapidly disintegrates
around us. We follow Darl into madness, we receive
salvation beside Dilsey.