FAULKNER'S LAW: AN ANALYSIS OF THE
INTERACTION OF LAW AND PRIVATE CODES IN
WILLIAM FAULKNER'S SHORT FICTION
By The Honorable Barry R. Schaller*
I.
A.
INTRODUCTION
Background
[A]bove all, the courthouse: the center, the focus, the hub; sitting
looming in the center of the county's circumference like a single cloud
in its ring of horizon, laying its vast shadow to the uttermost rim of
horizon; musing, brooding, symbolic and ponderable, tall as cloud,
solid as rock, dominating all: protector of the weak, judiciate and curb
of the passions and lusts, repository and guardian of the aspirations
and the hopes ....I
Law and justice, lawyers and their workplace - the courthouse - are central to the fiction of William Faulkner. A Faulkner critic, Professor Noel Polk, has pointed out: "[T]he courthouse and the jail in Jefferson 2 'stand throughout most of
William Faulkner's fiction as the central axis of his narrative
and thematic concerns, and they are connected to each other by
the strongest and most irresolvable ties'. . . [T]he courthouse
represented in Faulkner's work man's impulse toward the ideal
* Judge, Connecticut Superior Court, B.A. Yale College, 1960; J.D. Yale Law School,
1963. 1 extend special thanks to George J. Willauer for his insightful suggestions and
painstaking review of an earlier draft; to Ralph Gregory Elliot, Christopher Licari and
C.V.C. Schaller for their helpful comments and support; and to Cleanth Brooks for his
willingness to share generously his vast knowledge of Faulkner's life and work.
1. William Faulkner, "The Courthouse," prologue to Requiem for a Nun, THE
PORTABLE FAULKNER,
50 (Malcolm Cowley rev. and exp. ed., 1967).
2. Jefferson is the principal city in Faulkner's mythical Yoknapatawpha County,
Mississippi. The name, which is pronounced YOK[YOCK]-na-pa-TAW-pha, is a Chicka-
saw Indian word meaning "water runs slow through flat land."
FAULKNER IN THE UNtVER-
1957-58 (Frederick L. Gwynn
and Joseph L. Blotner eds. 1958), 74 [hereinafter FAULKNER IN THE UNIVERSITY].
SITY CLASS CONFERENCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
BRIDGEPORT LAW REVIEW
[Vol. 12:715
of justice, that is, the need for security; the jail, the opposite
impulse toward aggression and destruction."3 Although Professor Polk modified his generalization about this powerful courthouse-jail polarity by confining it to the latter part of Faulkner's
career, the statement still stands as a remarkably accurate expression of the importance of law in Faulkner's works.4 Upon
examining Faulkner's novels and short stories, one is struck by
the dominant legal themes, the important roles of lawyers and,
even where not explicit, the constant, ever-palpable backdrop of
law. Faulkner's dominant themes-the relation between individual and society, the alienation of man and woman from the community, power and powerlessness, the ritual search, freedom,
love, bondage or enslavement 5 - including, in Faulkner's own
words, "the human heart in conflict with itself's are displayed
against a field of law and justice.
A common misconception about Faulkner is that he is primarily a "Southern" author whose fiction is so deeply rooted in
this region that it lacks a certain universality of application. It is
natural that we should identify Faulkner with the South for, as
Professor Cleanth Brooks commented: "[H]is fiction is filled
with references to its history, its geography, its customs; and his
prose often employs its special idiom ....
[M]ost of his great
fiction has a Southern setting."7 For example, in Faulkner's 1936
novel, Absalom, Absalom, Quentin Compson's 8 roommate at
Harvard displays a curious interest in this region: "What's it like
there? What do they do there? Why do they live there? Why do
they live at all?" Quentin answers, "You can't understand it.
You would have to be born there." While it is true that Faulkner
has created his own "legend" of the South,9 this legend is no
3. Noel Polk, Law in Faulkner's Sanctuary, 4 Miss. C. L. REV. 165, 227 (1984).
4. Id.
5. Thadious M. Davis, Crying in the Wilderness: Legal, Racial and Moral Codes in
Go Down, Moses, 4 Miss. C. L. REV. 300 (1984).
6. FAULKNER, Nobel Prize Address, December 10, 1950, THE PORTABLE FAULKNER,
p. 723.
7. CLEANTH BROOKS, WILLIAM FAULKNER: FIRST ENCOUNTERS, (1983).
8. Quentin Compson is one of the principal characters in the Yoknapatawpha
County saga. By far, the greater part of Faulkner's fiction is set in the mythical county in
Mississippi, which he created. At least seventeen of his books and more than thirty short
stories are wholly concerned with Yoknapatawpha County and its people. See MALCOLM
COWLEY, Introduction to THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, xii.
9.
According to Malcolm Cowley, the legend of the Old South may be stated as
1992]
FAULKNER'S LAW
more intended to be a historical account of the region than The
Scarlet Letter was intended
Massachusetts.Y0
as a historical
account of
follows:
The Deep South was ruled by planters some of whom were aristocrats like the
Sartoris clan, while others were new men like Colonel Sutpen. Both types were
determined to establish a lasting social order on the land they had seized from
the Indians (that is, to leave sons behind them). They had the virtue of living
single-mindedly by a fixed code; but there was also an inherent guilt in their
design, their way of life; it was slavery that put a curse on the land and
brought on the Civil War. . . . After the War was lost, partly as a result of the
Southerners' mad heroism . . . the planters tried to restore their 'design' by
other methods. But they no longer had the strength to achieve more than a
partial success, even after they had freed their land from the carpetbaggers
who followed the Northern armies. As time passed, moreover,, the men of the
old order found that they had Southern enemies too; they had to fight against
a new exploiting class descended from the landless whites of slavery days. In
this struggle between the clan of Sartoris and the unscrupulous tribe of
Snopes, the Sartorises were defeated in advance by a traditional code that kept
them from using the weapons of the enemy. As a price of victory, however, the
Snopes had to serve the mechanized civilization of the North, which was morally impotent in itself, but which, with the aid of its Southern retainers, ended
by corrupting the Southern nation.
COWLEY, supra note 8 at xxi.
10. It has been said that Faulkner most resembles Hawthorne of all the American
writers who preceded him on the landscape of American fiction. Notwithstanding all
their differences, they are alike in creating moral fables and legends, as well as for the
regional orientation of their fiction. In addition, they both wrote in the Puritan tradition.
Cowley, Introduction to THE PORTABLE FAULKNER. Id.
Faulkner has also been described as embodying two important - although very different - American literary traditions: the psychological horror story associated with Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Henry James, Stephen Crane and Ernest Hemingway;
and the frontier humor and realism of Mark Twain. Id. at xxiv.
Robert Penn Warren, a leading Faulkner critic along with his colleague, collaborator
and close friend, Cleanth Brooks, found a strong resemblance between Faulkner and
Robert Frost, with particular reference to their geographical relationships. According to
Warren:
Both ... knowing the shape and feel of of life in a particular place and time,
felt the story of man-in-nature and of man-in-community, and could, therefore, take the particular locality as a vantage point from which to criticize modernity for its defective view of man- in-community.
Robert Penn Warren, "Introduction: Faulkner: Past and Future," FAULKNER: A COLLECTION OF CRITICAL ESSAYS, 1, 2 (1966).
Among the writers and texts that influenced Faulkner were: The Old Testament,
Don Quixote, Herman Melville, Madame Bovary, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens,
James Joyce, Nicola Gogol, Anton Chekhov, Honorf Balzac, and Joseph Conrad. FAULKNER IN THE UNIVERSITY, pp. 50, 58.
Faulkner openly acknowledged that he borrowed ideas and material widely from
other authors and texts, including the King James Bible, classical mythology, classical
anthropologists, medieval lore and literature, T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land", English
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The value of Faulkner's writing, however, is far from limited
to the place which he knew best, and thus logically chose as a
setting for his people and events. Suffused as his writing is with
references to Southern history and attitudes, his "use of the local material is never allowed to become an end in itself. His ultimate aim ...
is to talk about people, men and women in their
universal humanity."" In 1958, Faulkner told students at the
University of Virginia that an author "is writing about people in
the terms that he is most familiar with. Though his writing
could have sociological implications,
.
.
he's not too interested
2
in that. He's writing about people." Faulkner's setting, the
mythical Yoknapatawpha County, is a vehicle for illuminating
and discussing universal problems and issues.
In 1945, during a time when Faulkner's writings were little
read and frequently disparaged 3 , Malcolm Cowley wrote his
now famous introduction to the first edition of The Portable
Faulkner.Since then, Faulkner's works have received critical attention and appropriate acclaim. While there have been a few
efforts to examine the legal events, issues and personages appearing in Faulkner's novels and stories, many of his significant
works have gone untouched. This article will identify and analyze several of the most prominent legal themes arising in Faulkner's writing, focusing primarily on the following short stories:
"That Evening Sun",' 4 published in 1931 and representing
events occurring in 1902; "Percy Grimm"," Chapter XIX of the
1932 novel, Light in August, perhaps Faulkner's finest novel (a
self-contained story representing events occurring in 1930);
"Odor of Verbena", 16 (the concluding section of The Unvanquished, a novel about events occurring in 1874, published in
1938); "Old Man",' 7 (part of The Wild Palms, published in 1939
and representing events occurring in 1927); and "Barn Burnand French poetry, and European and American fiction. He read contemporary literature
widely and was "saturated with talk .. . still an artistic medium in north Mississippi."
RICHARD P. ADAMS, FAULKNER: MYTH AND MOTION, 101 (1968).
11. BROOKS, supra note 7.
12. Id.
13. FAULKNER,supra note 1 at vii.
14. FAULKNER, supra note 1 at 391.
15. Id. at 621.
16. Id. at 159.
17. Id. at 481.
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FAULKNER'S LAW
ing", 18 (a short story published in 1939, which was originally
planned as the opening chapter of the 1940 novel, The Hamlet).
The above enumeration of short stories with brief descriptive commentaries reveals a significant factor of this undertaking-namely, the complex interrelationship among Faulkner's
works. Although some of his writings stand alone as stories or
novels, most of Faulkner's individual works are part of a whole
embodying a complex network of relationships and events.
For that reason, it is difficult to discuss any specific work as
though it is a separate entity because, in reality, it is not. Thus,
each story is best understood only in the context of the events
and developments surrounding it.
Moreover, the complexity of Faulkner's writing and thinking is, at times, so unusual and profound that it is difficult to
summarize events or character development in a simple fashion.
A great deal of interpretation becomes necessary in order to analyze and explain plot structure and character relationships.
Thus, in order to make the discussion of Faulkner's themes
meaningful to those who may not be familiar with them, I will
provide a synopsis of story development in each case.
It is important, as well, to define the terms which will be
used. By the term "the law" or "legal codes," I mean those authoritative systems of rules embodied in recognized statutes and
court decisions which are designed to govern and apply to an
entire community of individuals.1" The legal codes are generally
found in statutes and published cases and are represented in
practice by the officials of government, including judges, lawyers,
law enforcement officers and the like.2"
By the term "private codes," I mean those values, beliefs
and attitudes which are recognized by particular groups within
the community, but not necessarily embraced by the entire community. These codes shape and govern the thought and action of
COLLECTED STORIES OF WILLIAM FAULKNER 3 (1977).
19. For a study of the cultural and social foundations from which the formal struc-
18.
ture of law arises, see LEOPOLD POSPOSIL, THE ETHNOLOGY OF LAW, 1978. The process of
transformation of community rules into a legal system is discussed and illuminated in
(Viking Penquin ed. 1991) (1939) pp 249-53.
20. Although the focus is on the system of law as a whole, rather than on specific
provisions of law, the narratives discussed deal primarily with laws prohibiting criminal
conduct such as murder, arson, escape and assault as well as the civil law pertaining to
contract disputes and torts.
JOHN STEINBECK'S GRAPES OF WRATH,
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members of the group with respect to other group members as
well as relationships outside the group. The extent to which the
codes affect members outside the group varies according to the
power or powerlessness of the respective groups. Illustrative of
these private codes, with reference to Faulkner's writing, are the
codes of honor adhered to by virtually every social class in
Faulkner's fictional world. In their most extreme form, the codes
of honor call for revenge by duelling or otherwise in defense of
self-respect and reputation. 21 Other codes are racial classification
21. Some of the codes which Faulkner dealt with are the codes of honor of the
white plantation class and the other social classes, as well (which, in one form, required
duelling); class codes, producing and enforcing differentiation among social or economic
classes, all of which stratified the society (generally, the white gentry, poorer whites,
black people and the Indians. See BROOKS, supra note 7 at 3-6.
The codes of honor, which are crucial elements in Faulkner's works, are often not
understood. According to Professor Brooks:
Faulkner... means by honor something very close to self-respect - an unwillingness to stoop to certain actions that a man believes are degrading and contemptible. An honorable man will not lie, for instance, even if his lie could pass
undetected or if a lie would gain him an advantage. Moreover, in Faulkner's
world, an honorable man will not allow himself to be treated in a fashion that
he regards as undermining due respect for himself Thus, he will not allow himself to be called a liar or accused of some shameful action.
CLEANTH BROOKS, "Faulkner's Ultimate Values" ON THE PREJUDICES, PREDILECTIONS. AND
FIRM BELIEFS OF WILLIAM FAULKNER 20. The code of honor often converged with the
legal code or codes of higher morality. Id.
An extension of the code requires action in the event of an insult or injury for which
there is no apology - the code duello, which existed in this country during the times of
Alexander Hamilton, who was killed in a duel, and Andrew Jackson, who killed his man
in a duel, and which lasted in the South longer than anywhere else in the nation. Brooks,
supra p. 20.
Codes of behavior which required revenge have been a frequent subject of literature.
See, for example, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Cyril Tourneur's Reuenger's Tragedy, Guy de
Maupassant's The Duel, Heinrich von Kleist' Michael Kohlhaas, and Aeschylus' The
Eumenides, among many others.
The virtues which Faulkner stressed and which illustrate what he meant by honor
include truth, courage, justice, pride, love, compassion, self-sacrifice, endurance and responsibility. Of those, in Faulkner's words, "Truth covers all things that touch the heart
- honor and pride and pity and justice and courage and love." Go Down Moses, first
edition, p. 297.
An exhaustive study of the code of honor in the Old South has been done by Bertram Wyatt Brown, entitled
SOUTHERN HONOR: ETHICS AND BEHAVIOR IN THE OLD SOUTH,
1982. Brown points out that:
For all the many meanings that the word 'honor' has been given, the ethic for
centuries was fairly stable. Ages differed on which aspect should have priority.
inner feelings of self-worth, gentility, and high-mindedness, or public repute,
valor for family and country, and conformity to community wishes. Each of
these aspects of the ethic might conflict with others, and much of Western
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FAULKNER'S LAW
codes; 2 social classification codes, stratifying the society; codes
governing economic or business conduct, particularly as adhered
to by the middle class whites; and, of course, the codes peculiar
to the Native-Americans who appear in Faulkner's fiction.23
Another variation of private code, a moral code is a system
of values and conduct generated by religious tradition or higher
ethical belief. Natural law, which will be discussed in connection
with "Old Man",24 is frequently characterized in terms of moral
or -ethical principles. 25 Clearly, moral codes are more elusive and
literature is concerned with how and why such antinomies have both helped
and hindered men's choices of action.
Id. at p. 4.
Further:
[H]onor is not confined to any rank of society; it is the moral property of all
who belong within the community, one that determines the community's own
membership. Even those who stand outside or below the circle of honor must
acknowledge its power. Southern yeomen, no less than rich planters, found
meaning in honor's demands. Thus, honor served all members of society in a
world of chronic mistrust, particularly so at times of crises, great or small.
Id. at xv.
Significantly, Brown notes:
[S]outhern whites believed.., that they conducted their lives by the highest
ethical standards. They thought that they had made peace with God's natural
order. Above all else, white Southerners adhered to a moral code that may be
summarized as the rule of honor. Today we would not define as an ethical
scheme a code of morality that could legitimate injustice - racial or class. Yet
so it was defined in the Old South.
Id. at 3.
Interestingly, Brown remarks that the sources of the honor ethic lay in mythology,
literature, history, and civilization and preceded the slavery system. Id. at 4. The traditional honor code was also adhered to by colonial New Englanders. Id. In fact, Brown
begins his discussion by referring to Hawthorne's short story, "My Kinsman, Major
Molineux." Id.
22. "Racial codes" means beliefs, attitudes and customs affecting and governing
interpersonal conduct between African-Americans and whites during the time about
which Faulkner wrote. DAvis, supra note 5, at 300.
23. This subject will not be discussed here. See BROOKS, supra note 7, at 25.
24. Id.
25. "Natural law" is generally defined as "An abstract concept of law in accord
with the nature of man. A rule which so necessarily agrees with the nature and state of
man that, without observing its maxims, the peace and happiness of society can never be
preserved. BALLENTINE'S LAW DICTIONARY 470 (3d ed. 1969).
Writing on the history of political and legal theory, George H. Sabine reports:
As Sir Frederick Pollock says, the central idea of natural law, from the Roman
Republic to modern times, was 'an ultimate principle of fitness with regard to
the nature of man as a rational and social being, which is, or ought to bd, the
justification of every form of positive law.
J. C. SMITH AND DAVID N. WEISSTUB, THE WESTERN IDEA OF LAW, 1, 349 (1983).
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[Vol. 12:715
more difficult to identify than the other private codes. Moreover,
frequently there is considerable overlapping between moral
codes and other private codes.26
I have used the terms "community" and "society" interchangeably to this point. That does not necessarily take full account of the distinction. In his essay, "Faulkner and the Community",2 7 Professor Cleanth Brooks refers to the following
distinctions, first offered by W.H. Auden, as means of defining
various groups of people. In its most basic form, a group of onlookers is a "crowd." 28 A "society," next, is a group of people
bound together for economic reasons in a merely functional relationship. 29 Finally, in its highest form, a "community" is formed
when a group of people is united by common likes and dislikes,
aversions and enthusiasms, tastes, ways of life and moral beliefs. 30 When agreement on those factors is substantial, the
group constitutes a community. 31
Most communities are also societies. However, the converse
is not necessarily true. As Professor Brooks indicates, where, as
in our contemporary world, there is sheer growth in size, increasing moral relativism, industrialization, and decay of religion,
these facts disintegrate the cohesion which had previously exSabine also asserts that, in theory, positive law is designed to be an approximation
of natural law and justice:
Justice is a fixed and abiding disposition to give to every man his right. The
percepts of the law are as follows: to live honorably, to injure no one, to give to
every man his own. Jurisprudence is a knowledge of things human and divine,
the science of the just and the unjust.
Id.
For an illustration of natural law discussed in the context of a murder case, see the
famous case of The Queen v. Dudley and Stephens, L.R. 14 Q.B. D. 273 (1884), a case of
British jurisprudence. The case involved the murder of a seaman (and subsequent cannibalism) aboard a small open boat after all those aboard had to abandon their yacht in a
storm on the high seas. The defendants were convicted and given the death penalty with
a suggestion, however, that the sovereign consider commuting the sentence. Id.
26. For example, in "Old Man", the Tall Convict's code of honor contains strong
moral ingredients. And, too, Bayard's principles contain elements of honor, religiousbased morals and law. FAULKNER, supra note 1, at 481.
27. See CLEANTH BROOKS, "Faulkner and the Community", in ON THE PREJUDICES,
PREDILECTIONS, AND
28.
Fomzi
BELIEFS OF WILLIAM FAULKNER,
Id. at 30.
29. Id.
30. Id.
31. BROOKS, supra note 28, at 30.
29 (1987).
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FAULKNER'S LAW
isted.3 2 In our discussions we can assume that, within the geographical limits of Faulkner's world, we are dealing with societies which also constitute communities, by virtue of their
common values. 3
B. Faulkner's Knowledge of The Law
Certainly, Faulkner had great familiarity with the law. He
was a "curbstone lawyer" par excellence. Although without formal legal education, Faulkner learned the law and applied it
throughout his fiction with competence and skill.3 4 He was liter32. BROOKS, supra, note 28, at 31.
33. The subject of how communities are formed, how they might be improved, and
the role of law in the process has been discussed in recent years by several scholars in the
law and literature field. Among the most interesting treatments of the subject are those
by Professors James Boyd White and Robin West. Professor White offers distinctively
literary answers to the questions involved, focusing on the importance of texts to the
community. According to White, "[C]ommunities are formed and improved through the
promulgation, transformation, and criticism of cultural texts, including legal texts. Literary and legal texts, White argues, reflect communitarian commitments: if a community
has reached consensus on its commitments, its texts will reflect that." Robin West, Communities, Texts and Law: Reflections on the Law and Literature Movement, 1 YALE J.L.
& HUMAN. 129, 130 (1988). Professor West, on the other hand, stresses the importance of
forming communities by interacting with others. The textual community and the interactive community "do not necessarily converge: we interact with many 'others' who are
simply unable to participate, as reading, literate, critical subjects in any fashion in our
cultural texts.... If we want to improve our community then, we should improve not
just the quality of our texts, but also the quality of those interactions." Id. at 154. West
illustrates those points by discussing Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, and Toni Morrison's Beloved, written almost one hundred years later. Id. at 141.
While Professor White's views are valid from the literary perspective which he has
adopted, Professor West's broader analysis speaks forcefully and with remarkable relevance to us as we contend with the current social, political and economic problems facing
our society. Our society, unified in some respects by communication technology, and yet
fragmented by cultural, economic and social forces, has an obvious need to focus on the
interaction between those who are part of the "textual community" and those who are
not, and to make efforts to include within the "textual community" those who are not as
a means of producing harmony and compliance with law in addition to the primary goal
of promoting the dignity well-being and liberty of all members of the society. The social
and legal consequences of the isolation and alienation which result from the absence of
positive interaction are complex. Recognizing the innate and ongoing need of individuals
for a sense of community connection, even in the process of belonging to a larger society,
a partial solution to the social problems in the U.S. may be found in an appropriate
balance between societal law and community code, all converging in relationships between individuals and groups. Id. at 146-48.
34. An example of Faulkner's attention to detail is revealed in an interview with
Attorney T. H. Freeland. "I told him [Faulkner] exactly what was involved and he listened carefully. When I was done he looked up at the volumes behind me and asked me
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ally surrounded by friends and relatives trained in the law.35 His
good friend and literary agent, Phil Stone, was a lawyer and
Faulkner spent many hours in Stone's office researching and discussing the law.38 Faulkner's concern for accuracy led him to
check carefully whatever field of knowledge he was writing
about, whether Indian lore or the law. 37 His concern for accuracy
is evidenced by the fact that many of his fictional legal references can be traced directly to actual statutes and courtroom
cases, and particularly those cases reported in the Mississippi
Reports at the time his works were written.38
Joseph Blotner, perhaps Faulkner's foremost biographer, reported that Faulkner's friend and agent, Phil Stone:
was entranced with the turns and twists of human behavior which his
legal practice daily showed him.... There in Stone's law office the
two men would talk about the actual doings of people like the
Snopses. And when the fancy struck them, they would make up wild,
outrageous stories of things which no Snopes-counterpart may have
done, but things of which they thought them perfectly capable.39
to take a look at the specific statute in the United States Code just to be sure that my
oral recollection was correct. On several occasions he discussed the law with Mr. Phil
[Philip Stonel." MORRIS WOLFF. FAULKNER'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW 245, 246 n.3 (1984).
35. Id. at 245.
36. Id.
37.
Id.
WOLFF, supra note 34 at 247. On the other hand, Faulkner or his works have
been cited frequently In court cases. Among the reported decisions referring to his narratives or style are: Pharr v. State of Mississippi, 465 So.2d 294 (1984) (references to "The
Bear" and the characterization "Snopesean" as meaning "despicable"); Ainger v. Michigan General Corporation, 476 F. Supp. 1209 (D.C., S.D.N.Y. 1979) ("There is only one
William Faulkner and I don't think anyone can imitate his work . . .", Id. at 1234);
United States v. Barham, 595 F.2d 231 (C.A. 5th Cir. 1979) ("The complexity of the
story that unfolded was worthy of William Faulkner" Id. at 233; Auster Oil & Gas, Inc. v.
Stream, 764 F.2d. (C.A. 5th Cir, 1985) (reference to Yoknapatawpha County); Canney v.
State of Florida, 298 So. 2d 495 (1974) (reference to Faulkner's Nobel Prize speech);
McCleskey v. Zant, 111 S.Ct. 1454 (1991) (reference to Faulkner's imagination); Turner
v. Irvin, 146 Ga. 218 (1978) (reference to the Nobel Prize speech); Ryals v. Pigott, 580
So. 2d. 1140 (Miss. 1990) (reference to "A Justice" in Collected Stories).
39. WOLFF, supra note 34 at 247. For example, in the famous "Spotted Horses"
episode found in "The Hamlet", "the fictional anecdote can be traced back to possible
roots in a Mississippi case, Minor v. Dockery. This case was decided by the Mississippi
Supreme Court in March of 1921, ten years prior to its possible inclusion in 'Spotted
Horses,' a short story which was published in 1931 in Scribner's Magazine and later (in
38.
1940) incorporated into 'The Hamlet.'" Id. at 2.
Faulkner's background, and methods of research have been studied in great depth.
We are left, however, with many unanswered questions, among them what actual cases
1992]
FAULKNER'S LAW
As Professor Wolff points out, it is likely that Faulkner, in addition, "augmented his knowledge of the law by listening to courtroom trials in Oxford [Mississippi] and by speaking with lawyers, who were waiting for cases to be heard." ° When
considering Faulkner's legal background, it becomes clear that
law was an important subject for Faulkner and that his use of it
was neither casual nor incidental; it was, indeed, intentional and
well-informed.'
he watched or read, the impact of the unique Mississippi chancery court on his legal
knowledge and understanding, and how he arrived at the particular relationship of psychology and law in his work. Thomas L. McHaney, Commentary: Papers by Noel Polk
and Morris Wolff, 4 Miss. C. L. REv.2, 265 (1977).
Several important points bear mention although they are beyond the scope of this
article. One is the relationship between Faulkner and Stone, a Yale Law School graduate.
This relationship is dealt with in depth by a number of biographers and, in particular,
Susan Snell's piece entitled Phil Stone and William Faulkner: The Lawyer and the
"The Poet," 20 Miss. C. L. Rev. 169 (1989). A related topic is the important role played
by Gavin Stevens, Faulkner's favorite fictional lawyer who appears in many of his works,
including Requiem for a Nun, The Town, and Intruder in The Dust. Richard H. Weisberg, The Quest for Silence: Faulkner'sLawyer in a Comparative Setting, 4 Miss. C. L.
REv. 2, 193-94 (1977). Stevens, whom some speculate was fashioned after Stone makes a
brief appearance in Light in August, from which "Percy Grimm" is borrowed.
Faulkner's "Southern Lawyer" and all he signifies is discussed at some length by
Professor Robert A. Ferguson in Law and Lawyers in Faulkner'sLife and Art: A Comment, 4 Miss. C. L. REv. 2, 265 (1977).
Before turning to the questions that will direct this inquiry, it is necessary to point
out two additional matters which, although of interest, are beyond the scope of this article. The first is a complete and accurate literary analysis of the fictional works to be
discussed. The value of the texts cannot fully be appreciated without some exploration of
the language, the intricacy of psychological composition of the characters, and the complex development of plot. These features, however, are far too broad-ranging for this
paper.
The other issue is the question of the historical context of Faulkner's writing, with
particular reference to racial issues, for example, the racial code that is clearly present in
the individual and community conscience which he describes. I will be dealing with that
particular private code, to some extent, insofar as it represents an important sub-structure of the community. Discussion of the racial code as it existed in the narratives is
necessary because of its impact on the society of which Faulkner wrote. A discussion of
Faulkner's attitudes and beliefs on race and civil rights is far too complex a subject for
this article. For purposes of this discussion, his characters will be accepted as they are
portrayed. Studies of Faulkner's attitudes on race are readily available. See Davis, supra
note 5, at 299.
40. WOLFF, supra note 34, at 245.
41. See generally essays by Polk, supra note 3,Wolff, supra note 34, and Weisberg, supra note 39, for example.
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LAW, PRIVATE CODES, AND HUMAN INTERACTION
When critics have examined the legal content of Faulkner's
works, they have generally looked to the relationship between
law and justice or to the role which law plays in the conflict between the individual and the social order.42 The results of these
relationships and conflicts are reasonably easy to identify and
evaluate. A more challenging and productive inquiry is an examination of the interaction of legal codes ("the law") with private
codes (racial, social, moral, and other) and with human action as
that interaction produces change in the law or society or both.
The relationship between those forces as it develops and changes
in the course of the confrontation between individual and soci43
ety has been discussed to a more limited extent.
My main purpose, then, is to identify and explore the relationship between the law and the various private codes in the
context of the individual action which is taking place with particular reference to individual action which transcends the
codes. The principal questions to be addressed are: What is the
role of the law in the narrative? Who represents the law? What
42. Davis, supra note 5, at 299. An example of the intersection of legal, racial and
moral codes occurs in Faulkner's hovel, Go Down Moses, which was published in 1942. In
this novel, the three codes unite "past and present experience - words, thoughts and
deeds - to create the ideological core of the work and, essentially, its complexity." Id. at
301. According to Professor Davis, in the course of personal interaction, legal codes (custom and statutes constituting the authorities) interact with racial codes (attitudes which
regulate interracial behavior) and, ultimately, with moral codes (higher values and ideals) to define humanity. Professor Davis notes that together these codes "assert a positive capacity to determine and modify thought as well as behavior, and thereby bring
about social change." Id.
43. Another provocative treatment of that issue - the convergence of law with
private codes, in particular, the racial code - is contained in Professor Teresa Godwin
Phelps' critical analysis of Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Teresa Phelps, The Story of the
Law in Huckleberry Finn,39 MERCER L. REv. 889 (1988). Professor Phelps interprets the
novel as a story of how the law changes when a new "community" is formed (i.e. Huck
and Jim adrift on the raft, temporarily separated from the community in which they had
been living). Id. As Huck develops affection for Jim as a person, his perceptions of the
world begin tb change and the authority of the official legal system as well as that of the
private codes which previously determined their relationship are undermined. As a consequence (stated in oversimplified terms) action takes over, the old language fails, and
the stage is set for the remaking of language and the law. Id. The parallels between
Huckleberry Finn and Faulkner's "Old Man", the "other story about life on the Mississippi River, will be developed later on. The issues raised by Professor Phelps involve not
only an examination of the complex relationship between these methods of regulation of
behavior but also reveal the way in which the various codes of conduct and the value
systems, themselves, define the elements of human society." Id.
FAULKNER'S LAW
1992]
codes exist which govern or affect the characters' conduct? How
do they interact with the law? Does human action occur which
transcends the limits of the codes?, What is the result of that
transcending action? What changes can be foreseen or predicted
to occur in the community as a result of the interaction of action
and code?
A.
44
"That Evening Sun"
I will begin with one of Faulkner's very best stories, "That
Evening Sun. ' " This piece illustrates the powerful impact of the
social codes, in particular the racial code, prevalent in its early
1900 Southern setting. This narrative, although published as a
story rather than as part of a novel, actually belongs to a series
of stories dealing with the Compson children who are perhaps
best known for their central roles in The Sound and the Fury.4"
The story focuses on a black woman named Nancy who is a servant in the Compson household, filling in for the sick Dilsey,
another famous Faulkner character.47 The title of the story derives from the opening line of the song, "St. Louis Blues": "I
hates to see that evening sun go down."
Nancy hates to see that evening sun go down because she is
afraid of being murdered during the night by her husband,
Jesus, whom she fears will punish her for betraying him by pros44. Many other questions will arise and may enter into my discussion. However,
the feasibility of dealing with all of them is beyond the scope of this article.
Among those questions are: What is the source of the law? The codes? From what
do they derive their authority? What function do the codes perform? Is justice served by
the law? (On that issue, it is noted that few Faulkner characters can cope with the fact
of injustice and, instead, "prefer to posit an ontology in which right prevails, in which
accident and injustice have no place." PANrHEA REID BRIOUGHTON, WILLIAM FAULKNER.
THE ABSTRACT AND THE ACTUAL (1974). How is the law perceived by the community?
What social groups in the community adopted the law and which does it serve?
Is the law applied fairly or is it manipulated for gain by some individuals? Does the
law restrict and oppress, protect and secure, or liberate and enable - or some combination of those factors? Does the law reflect a higher moral standard? Does the law promote a stable, unstable, or static society? Does the force of individual will (so dominant
in Faulkner's characters) yield to the law or does the law give way? Are the private codes
in conflict with the law? do they change or remain static? Do they preserve the status
quo or enable change?
45. WILLtAM FAULKNER, That Evening Sun, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER 391 (Malcolm Cowley rev. and exp ed., 1967) (hereinafter That Evening Sun, in THE PORTABLE
FAULKNER].
46.
47.
Id.
Id. at 392.
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tituting herself to Stovall, a white man. Nancy is pregnant with
the child of Stovall who also happens to be a deacon in the local
Baptist church. Although Jesus is believed to have left town,
Nancy is convinced that he has returned to cut her throat. In
the course of the story, narrated from the viewpoint of Quentin
Compson, then nine years old, 8 Nancy seeks the comfort and
protection of the Compson children. Nancy is so afraid of the
dark (and all that it signifies for her) that she initially wanted to
sleep in the Compson home - a wish that Mr. Compson was
willing to humor, but which Mrs. Compson was not.
Eventually, Nancy persuades - rather, lures may be a more
accurate description - the children to accompany her for a
while. She feels protected: but is it the mere presence of other
human beings which comforts Nancy or is there actual protection from harm, under the racial code, while her white family
members are present? Mr. Compson discovers where the children are and, after superficially reassuring Nancy and attempting unsuccessfully to persuade her to stay with another black
woman, retrieves the children, leaving Nancy to face her terror
alone. In rejecting the idea of staying with someone besides the
Compsons, Nancy says, "Twon't do no good.... Putting if off
won't do no good." When Mr. Compson asks, "Then what do
you want to do?," Nancy replies, "I don't know .... I reckon it
belong to me. I reckon what I going to get ain't no more than
mine."4
Nancy accepts as inevitable that she will be punished for
being unfaithful to Jesus by prostituting herself to Stovall (and,
in so doing, violating the private code of honor governing their
marriage relationship or, in any event, affecting Jesus' self-respect). Once she is denied the protection of the Compsons,
Nancy reasons, she may as well accept her fate.5 0 She is convinced there is nothing anyone can do, even the Compsons, to
prevent Jesus' retribution from eventually occurring. The law is
not mentioned by anyone as a possible avenue of protection: the
private code of honor will drive Jesus to retaliate against Nancy
48. That Evening Sun, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 45, at xii. Quentin
Compson assumes major roles in Faulkner's later novels Absalom, Absalom, as well as
The Sound and The Fury.
49. That Evening Sun,in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 45, at 408.
50. Id. at 409.
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FAULKNER'S LAW
without intervention of law.
Faulkner's: Nancy has had an earlier acquaintance with the,
law. Arrested and on route to jail with the marshal she passes
Stovall on the street. 51 When she confronts him about not pay'
ing her for the last "three times, ' o2
he knocks her down and,
then, when she continues to taunt him, kicks her in the mouth
with his heel." At that point, the marshal "caught Mr. Stovall
back" 4 and apparently continued on to the jail. Although Nancy
is undaunted by the incident and, even on the ground while spitting out blood and teeth, continues to laugh and repeat her
charge, there is no suggestion of any official reprisal against
Stovall for the assault (nor was there, apparently, any great effort to prevent the assault). During the night, Nancy attempts
suicide but is cut down and "saved" by the jailer, who then
"beat her, whipped her."55 After those events had occurred,
when Jesus was warned by Mr. Compson to stay away from the
Compson house, he confirmed his understanding of the racial
code:
I can't hang around white man's kitchen ....
But white man can
hang around mine.'White man can come in my house, but I can't stop
him. When white man want to come in my house, I ain't got no house.
I can't stop him, [then, asserting his will,]
. .
. but he can't kick me
outen it. He can't do that.5"
Here, we see vividly two private codes - the racial code and the
code of. honor - operating, permitting, even demanding vengeance against Nancy. From all indications, the legal system will
not intervene. The only evidence we have suggests that the representatives of the law elect not to intervene for the purpose of
assisting or delivering Nancy from harm at the hand of Jesus.
Thus, the law tolerates -
perhaps even reinforces -
the private
codes in the community. Whatever the reason, the law proves to
be impotent to protect an individual whose life is jeopardized.
Of what ultimately happens to Nancy, we cannot be certain.
51. Id. We are not told why Nancy is arrested but can assume it was prostitution.
Id.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
Id. at 393.
That Evening Sun, in
Id.
Id.
Id. at 394.
THE PORTABLE FAULKNER,
supra note 45, at 393.
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The story ends with this character alone in her house, making a
sound which, to the children, "was not singing and not unsinging." It has been suggested by a noted critic that, from an incidental reference in The Sound and the Fury, Nancy was indeed
murdered and her body left in a ditch for the vultures.58 There
is no consensus on that conclusion, however. Another theory is
that the Nancy of this story reappears as Nancy Mannigoe in
the novel, Requiem for a Nun." In support, Professor Brooks
reminds us that Faulkner acknowledged to University of Virginia students that the two characters were the same person.60
Regardless of the outcome, about which we can only speculate, it is clear that the actions of the characters do not transcend the limits of private codes; the codes control the people
and their actions. Nancy looked to the Compsons for help and
they did not rise to meet the standard of higher moral responsibility which she requested of them. Perhaps she knew all along
that they would not protect her by sheltering her from the consequences of her violation of the code of honor in her relationship with Jesus. She tested the heart of the Compsons and they
failed her test.6 '
As Mr. Compson left Nancy, he expressed his belief that she
would be in his kitchen in the morning as she had been before.2
Nancy's response was: "You'll see what you'll see, I reckon ...
'6 3
But it will take the Lord to say what that will be."
64
B. "Percy Grimm"
The next story in Faulkner's chronology with which I shall
57.
That Evening Sun, in
58.
59.
60.
BROOKS, First Encounters, supra note 7, at-32.
FAULKNER IN THE UNIvERsrrY, supra note 2 at 32.
THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 45,
COWLEY, Introduction to THE PORTABLE FAULKNER at xiv (1967).
at 410.
61. Id. Mrs. Compson is an example of a character who rationalizes away the injustice in the world. She "absolves herself of responsibility for dealing with wrong; her pas-
sivity is sanctioned by her abstract faith in the right order of the world." Broughton,
supra note 50 at 145.
When asked about this story, Faulkner told University of Virginia students that this
black woman "who had given devotion to the white family knew that when the crisis of
her need came, the white family wouldn't be there." Faulknerin ihe University, supra
note 2, at 21.
62. FAULKNER, That Evening Sun, supra note 45, at 409.
63. Id.
64. WILLIAM FAULKNER, Percy Grimm, THE PORTABLE FAULKNER 621 (Malcolm
19921
FAULKNER'S LAW
deal is "Percy Grimm," Chapter XIX of Faulkner's novel, Light
in August, which is regarded by some as Faulkner's finest and
most powerful novel.6 5 "Percy Grimm" is not necessarily the
best passage in the novel, but it is the only one which tells a
complete story in itself.6 It should be noted that Light in August is very complex as well as being "one of the most brilliant
and daring of Faulkner's novels.16 7 Two stories are told in the
novel and, although both involve the same people, the two principal characters never actually meet. The story of Percy Grimm,
a young Captain in the State National Guard, occurs late in the
action of the novel, at a point where the principal protagonist,
Joe Christmas, has been arrested for the murder of his paramour, Joanna Burden. e8
It is tempting to want to tell the story of Joe along with
that of Lena Grove, whose life events also take place in Jefferson
during, more or less, the same time period as those in Joe's life.
Those events and the complexity of the characters, however,
need not be thoroughly covered here. Focusing on Joe, because
his life intersects with Grimm's, it is enough, for these purposes,
to know that Joe appeared in Jefferson as an alienated soul engaged in a search for his human identity. Belonging to no group,
appearing white but believing that he may have had black ancestry, he lives outside - not only of the law, but also of any
private code. He is rejected by all."'
In their own ways, all the characters in the novel are searching for some form of identity and all, to a greater or lesser extent, are alienated from their respective communities. Each major character either never had, or had but lost, a vital connection
to the community. Joe never had a connection, except through
Joanna Burden, whom he murders, thus completing his"0 ultimate separation.
The Reverend Mr. Hightower, ousted from his church but
Cowley rev. and exp. ed., 1967) (hereinafter Percy Grimm, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER].
65. Id. at 583.
66. Id.
67. Brooks, supra note 7, at 160.
68. Like Dickens, Faulkner enjoyed using emblematic names for his characters.
69. Alienation was an important theme for Faulkner as it was for numerous others
writers, notably James Joyce, Fyoder Dostoyevsky, Albert Camus, Franz Kafka and Henrik Ibsen.
70. Percy Grimm, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 64 at 623.
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insisting on living in Jefferson - contrary to the wishes of his
former parishioners - 71 is searching for his own sense of moral
responsibility. He comes close to finding it after Joe seeks refuge
in his home, the event which brings Grimm into the picture.
Grimm presents a particularly interesting case. Far from being a major player in the story, he does enter near the final act
as the official representative of the law.72 He, too, has been
searching for identity, which previously depended upon his "battle scars" received during a fight with a soldier over an unpatriotic remark which the soldier had made. Grimm had always regretted that he had not served in the military. He had:
[A] sublime and implicit faith in physical courage and blind obedience, and a belief that the white race is superior to any and all other
races and that the American is superior to all other white races and
that the American uniform is superior to all men, and that all that
would ever be required of him in payment for this belief, this privi3
lege, would be his own life.
It is striking that Faulkner, when asked about Grimm by
students at the University of Virginia, remarked: "I wouldn't say
prevalent, he exists everywhere, I wrote that book in 1932 before
I'd ever heard of Hitler's Storm Troopers, what he was was a
Nazi Storm Trooper, but then I'd never heard of one then, and
he's not prevalent but he's everywhere .... 7" Although his type
may not have been prevalent in Jefferson when the events of the
story take place, Grimm manages to enlist enough of his type
"to compose a fair platoon" for the sake of protecting "order...
[and the] courts of justice. ' ' 75
At the point in the story where Grimm enters, Joe has been
captured and arrested. 7 He is in the custody of the Jefferson
sheriff. 77 Grimm, in an effort to place himself in the center of the
action, undertakes a campaign to establish himself as the law
official in charge. 78 By a series of Grimm-orchestrated deceptions
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
BRoOKS, supra note 7 at 163.
See Percy Grimm, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 64 at 623.
Id. at 622.
Faulkner in the University, supra note 2, at 41.
Percy Grimm, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 64 at 624.
Id. at 622-23.
See id. at 625.
See id. at 623-26.
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FAULKNER'S LAW
combined with misunderstandings on the part of others, he
manages to convince even the sheriff to allow him to become
"the law" - in charge of maintaining order and peace in the
community and preventing anyone from interfering in the legal
process. In Grimm's words: "We got to preserve order ....
We
must let the law take its course. The law, the nation. It is the
right of no civilization to sentence a man to death. And we, the
'7 9
soldiers in Jefferson, are the ones to see to that. 1
To this point in the narrative, the private codes--- racial,
class, honor, civility - have defined and limited the characters
and their actions. The dynamics change; the balance is shifted
and thrown off center. Grimm, the representative of the codes,
by pretense and deception, has become the representative of the
s
law. Grimm even cloaks himself in his National Guard uniform
although he is not authorized to do so as he is acting as an individual. Moreover, the force of Grimm's individual will overreaches, in its excess, the constraints of the law and, as well, the
codes. Although this is the first instance in the story where "the
law" has attempted to assume control, it does so through an illegitimate representative, Grimm. The legitimate representative,
the sheriff, takes no part in the jihad of Grimm and his platoon
of self-appointed storm troopers.
Word spreads throughout the square that the special Grand
Jury will be meeting tomorrow to deliberate charges against
Joe.8" Faulkner tells us: "Somehow the very sound of the two
words with their evocation, secret and irrevocable and something
of a hidden and unsleeping and omnipotent eye watching the
doings of men, began to reassure Grimm's men in their own
'
make believe." 82
When Joe escapes from the jail, in an attempt to fulfill his
private code and regain his freedom, Grimm takes up the pursuit and, on a bicycle which he forcibly takes from a passerby,
proceeds relentlessly to follow him through the streets.8s The
pursuit is described brilliantly by Faulkner:
The bicycle possessed neither horn nor bell. Yet they sensed him
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
Percy Grimm, in THE PORTABLE
Id. at 624.
Id. at 627.
Id.
Percy Grimm, in THE PORTABLE
FAULKNER,
supra note 64 at 627.
FAULKNER,
supra note 64 at 629.
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somehow and made way; in this too he seemed to be served by certitude, the blind and untroubled faith in the rightness and infallibility
of his actions. .. . He was going fast too, silent, with the delicate swiftness of an apparition, the implacable undeviation of Juggernaut or
8
Fate. '
Finally, Grimm, the emotionless mechanism of the law, corners Joe at Hightower's house. 5 Mindlessly driven, Grimm casts
Hightower aside, rejecting his late attempt to 'provide an alibi
defense for Joe: "Men!" he cried. "Listen to me. He was here
that night. He was with me the night of the murder. I swear to
God-" 8' After flinging the old man aside, Grimm bursts into
a room where Joe has taken cover behind a table.8 7 Although Joe
offers no resistance in the moment that follows, Grimm opens
fire at Joe, intending to inflict mortal wounds.88 Then, in one of
the most dramatic and memorable events of the book, Grimm
proceeds brutally and ruthlessly to mutilate the dying Joe: "But
the man on the floor had not moved. He just lay there, with his
eyes open and empty of everything save consciousness, and with
something, a shadow, about his mouth." 89 While Grimm commits his lawless act, to the utter revulsion of the other men who
enter the room, one of whom is sickened, he repeats his reasons:
"'Now you'll let white women alone, even in hell,' he said."90
Grimm has, then, enacted his revenge on Joe for his perceived
violation of the racial code in carrying on an affair with Joanna
Burden.
The law has, thus, retreated from any pretense of objectivity, fairness, or purpose, and has instead plunged into an abyss:
the blind fury of revenge, consistent with a severe and irrational
enforcement of the racial code of white against (in Joe's case,
only suspected) black. The brutality of Grimm's assault is devastating and, Faulkner tells us, memorable for all who witness it.,,
After this event, more of the religious imagery, which pervades
the narrative, follows. Joe seems to undergo a Christ-like ascen84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
Id. at 629-30.
Id. at 632.
Id. at 633.
Percy Grimm, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 64 at 633.
Id.
Id. at 633-34.
Id. at 633.
Percy Grimm, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 64 at 634.
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FAULKNER'S LAW
sion with the suggestion of later resurrection:
[Tihe man seemed to. rise soaring into their memories forever and
ever. They [the other men, watching] are not to lose it, in whatever
peaceful valleys, beside whatever placid and reassuring streams of old
age.... It will be there, musing, quiet, steadfast, not fading and not
particularly threatful, but of itself alone serene, of itself alone
triumphant. 2
The meaning of Faulkner's religious imagery in this story
(among others) is an important subject in its own right. However, Joe's apparent "ascension" in the men's perception is significant for its suggestion that Joe, for all his shortcomings, has
somehow transcended the codes and the law and, most certainly,
the ruthless private revenge on Grimm's part.
Grimm has degraded the law to one of the lowest points
narrated in Faulkner's fiction - utter lawlessness executed by
the law's representative. By committing not only murder, but
mutilation to boot, Grimm has separated himself from the community notwithstanding the private racial code which exists in
Jefferson. The revulsion of Grimm's men at seeing his depraved
93
act in mutilating Joe, supports this interpretation.
In this episode of Light in August, as in "That Evening
Sun," one sees the domination of events and relationships by the
individual will, directed in large part by the private codes of the
community. The actions of the characters, for the most part, fail
to transcend those self-limiting views of human nature and
human capacity. Instead, Faulkner's characters predictably act
consistently with the private codes to which they adhere (even
to excess, as in Grimm's case) - even if this entails disregard
for the law.
While we cannot say that all private codes necessarily exert
a negative influence on community or society, certainly we can
92. Id. at 633-34.
93. As in the fiction of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, for example, the act of murder for
Faulkner seems to represent the ultimate anti-social act - the complete separation from
the community. Both Joe and his pursuer, Grimm, have committed deliberate, uncontrollable, ritualistic, anti-social acts. The "uncontrollable" element is a factor not yet
discussed. Grimm's actions are described, as are Joe's earlier actions, as directed by some
omnipotent but unseen "Player... [which] moved him on the Board." Id. at 631. There
is a strong suggestion that this Player directing and manipulating the characters' actions
is their past. See ALFRED KAZiN, THE STILLNESS OF LIGHT IN AUGusT, TWELVE ORIGINAL
ESSAYS ON GREAT AMtERICAN NovELs 257-83 (C. Shapiro, ed. 1958).
BRIDGEPORT LAW REVIEW
f[Vol. 12:715
say that they have limited perspective and that they restrict
human potential by subjecting it to limits which do not fully allow for growth and change. They also serve to fragment the community into groups which honor and follow different codes, thus
tending to preclude meaningful, mutual interaction between
groups and, consequently, between individuals.
C. "An Odor of Verbena
' s4
In the next narrative which I shall discuss, we will see an
example of human transcendence of the codes and of the language of the law as well. On the latter score, the crucial role of
language in the law has 'been discussed at length by Professor
James Boyd White.9 5 According to Professor White:
Each of us is partly made by our language, which gives us the categories in which we perceive the world and which form our motives; but
we are not simply that, for we are users and makers of our language
too; and in remaking our language we contribute-to the remaking of
our characters and lives, for good or ill.96
The third narrative covered in this discussion, "An Odor of
Verbena," embraces several forces which are central to my
theme: law, the private code of revenge and the occurrence of
human action franscending the limits of the codes thereby forcing a re-examination of the standards of the community. "An
Odor of Verbena," one of Faulkner's finest long stories, is actually the concluding section of a novel, The Unvanquished.e1 The
full significance of the narrative depends on the context of the
loosely-knit novel, but it, nonetheless, constitutes a story in
itself.
The events takes place in Jefferson, shortly after the Civil
War, perhaps in 1874.18 Bayard Sartoris tells the story as a
94. William Faulkner, An Odor of Verbena, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER 159 (Malcolm Cowley rev. and exp. ed., 1967) [hereinafter An Odor of Verbena, in THE PORTABLE
FAULKNER]
95. Professor White's publication in 1973 of THE LEGAL IMAGINATION was responsible for the emergence of a "distinct, self-conscious field of law and literature." RICHARD
POSNER, LAW AND LITERATURE: A MISUNDERSTOOD RELATION (1988).
96.
97.
98.
James Boyd White, Thinking About Our Language, 96 YALE L.J. 1960.(1987).
An Odor of Verbena, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 95 at 159.
POSNER, supra note 95 at 63.
FAULKNER'S LAW
19921
young man of twenty-four. 9 Bayard's father, Colonel John
Sartoris, a violent and ambitious man in the tradition of the Old
South, 0 0 has had a long-standing quarrel with his business partner, Ben Redmond. 0 1 Colonel Sartoris has struggled his way up
from poverty to a position of power and wealth in the community.10 2 He has a second wife, Drusilla, a much younger woman
who is only a few years older than Bayard.10 3 She and Bayard
have become attracted to each other, 0 4 a discovery which has
become apparent just before the critical events of the story.
Bayard is a law student and resides with a Professor Wilkins at the University where he is reading law. 0 5 In this way,
Faulkner portrays Bayard as the law's representative. As the
narrative begins, Bayard learns that his father has been killed
by Redmond. 0 6 A duel between the two had seemed inevitable
because of Sartoris' constant provocation of Redmond.0 7
Sartoris had told his son, when they were last together, however,
that he was "tired of killing men" and that he intended to con08
front Redmond unarmed.
Professor Wilkins provides Bayard with a horse and, ironically (for a man of law), with a pistol which he fully expects
Bayard will need. 0 9 Clearly, it is part of the code of honor which applies not only to the white plantation class, but to the
lower class of whites, as well, as will be apparent from this story
that revenge is required for a killing of this sort. All elements
of the Jefferson community expect Bayard to comply with this
code of honor."10 Although Colonel Sartoris apparently did not
draw his weapon in the encounter with Redmond,"' he was
99. Id.
100. Id.
101. Id.
102.
POSNER, supra note 95 at 63.,
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
Id.
Id.
BROOKS, supra note 7 at 37.
Id.
POSNER, supra note 95 at 63.
108. An Odor of Verbena, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 94 at 175.
109. BROOKS, supra note 7.
110. Id.
111. POSNER, supra note 95 at 63. An indication that the Colonel, himself, wished
to end the revenge cycle. His words to Bayard indicated that and it was generally conceded, even by the Colonel's supporters, that he had pushed Redmond too hard. CLEANTH BROOKS, "Faulkner'sUltimate Values," in ON THE PREJUDICES. PREDILECTIONS, AND
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armed with his concealed derringer, contrary to his representation to Bayard. 112 Because the Colonel had been armed, the
1 13
community had pronounced the fight a fair duel.
Bayard, as he departs from the Wilkins' household, can almost hear the Professor saying: "Ah, this unhappy land not ten
years recovered from the fever yet still men must kill one another, still we must pay Cain's price
also imagines that Mrs. Wilkins,
"Granny", is thinking: "Who lives
it", 115 just as his grandmother would
self, is weighing his moral dilemma:
in his own coin."11 Bayard
who reminds him of his
by the sword shall die by
have thought. Bayard, him-
I was beginning to realize, to become aware of that which I still had
no yardstick to measure save that one consisting of what, despite myself, despite my raising and background (or maybe because of them) I
had for some time known I was becoming and had feared the test of
it; I remember how I thought while her hands still rested on my shoulders: At least this will be my chance to find out if I am what I think
I am or if I just hope; if I am going to do what I have taught myself
is right or if I am just going to wish I were."11
Here we see Bayard wrestling with the conflict between the private codes which govern life in Jefferson and the law to which he
has committed himself. As he continues his preparations for departure, he wonders:
[I] thought for a second how if I told him what I was going to do,
since we had talked about it, about'how if there was anything at all in
the Book, anything of hope and peace for His blind and bewildered
spawn which He had chosen above all others to offer immortality,
Thou shalt not kill must be it, since maybe he [Wilkins] even believed that he had taught it to me, except that he had not, nobody
had, not even myself, since it went further than just having been
learned."'
In addition to the law, Bayard obviously is moved by the
FIRm BELIEFS OF WILLIAM FAULKNER 22 (1987).
112. POSNER, supra note 95 at 63.
113. Id.
114. An Odor of Verbena, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER supra note 94 at 161.
115. Id.
116. Id. at 162. (emphasis in original).
117. Id. at 163 (emphasis in original).
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FAULKNER'S LAW
existence of a higher moral code based on some kind of religious
beliefs. We see, then, in Bayard's dilemma the intersection of
law, private codes of honor, and higher moral codes of right and
wrong.
The pressure on Bayard to continue the revenge cycle increases. Virtually everyone in the community encourages him to
avenge his father's murder, especially his stepmother, Drusilla,
who is the very embodiment of the code of honor, as she tells
Bayard:
How beautiful you are: do you know it? How beautiful: young, to be
permitted to kill, to be permitted vengeance, to take into your bare
hands the fire of heaven that cast down Lucifer. No; I. I gave it to
you; I put it into your hands; Oh you will thank me, you will remember me when I am dead and you are an old man saying to himself, 'I
have tasted all things.' - It will be the right hand, won't it?" 8
As she kisses Bayard's right hand, she senses immediately that
Bayard does not intend to kill Redmond and, repulsed by the
realization, screams in horror and has to be taken to her bedroom. 1 9 Bayard's Aunt Jenny assures Bayard that it is all right
for him to decide not to kill Redmond and that he must abide
by his own principles. 12 0
The next day, Bayard proceeds to Redmond's office unarmed, intending to confront, but not to kill, Redmond.1 2 ' Bayard enters Redmond's office and walks toward the desk where
Redmond is seated. 22 Redmond, expecting him, raises his pistol,
fires twice - deliberately missing Bayard - rises from his desk
and leaves the office.' 23 Although the townspeople outside believe he has killed Bayard, they allow Redmond to leave town. 2 4
He boards a train and departs, never to return again to
Jefferson. 25
118. An Odor of Verbena, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 94 at 180.
119. Id. at 180-81.
120. Id. at 181.
121. See id. at 186-87.
122. An Odor of Verbena, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 94 at 188.
123. Id. at 188-89.
124. Id. at 189.
125. Redmond's departure is not explained. One theory is that, although he acted
courageously, Redmond did "lose" the duel of honor and, thus, felt he had no choice but
to leave. Faulkner may well have considered Redmond to represent the "old code of
honor" whose departure was demanded in light of the emergence of a regime of law and
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When Bayard's brave action is revealed - and understood
it is accepted and admired. 2 Even Drusilla, who had left
town before Bayard returns to the house, has left behind a reminder (a single sprig
of verbena - her emblem) that she has
127
-
accepted his action.
Not only was Bayard principled and brave, he was also very
fortunate; fortunate that Redmond, too, had decided to end the
revenge cycle and did not attempt to kill Bayard. Redmond
acted courageously, as well. It is apparent from the text that he
expected to be killed and had prepared himself for that likelihood.12 When he realized that Bayard was not armed, he deliberately fired both shots to miss Bayard.
There are several important points to make about the
events in this story. As Professor Cleanth Brooks has pointed
out, Bayard did not merely "reject" the old code of honor - he
"transcended" it. 29 He did everything required of him in risking
his life and confronting his father's killer courageously. 30 But,
he apparently decided from the outset not to kill and, for a complex of reasons -
including law, moral right and reason -
he
adhered to his principles in the face of community disapproval
and a real likelihood of death. 13 '
Bayard, the law student, acted in accord with the law and
with higher moral standards. In contrast, the entire community
at that point had placed the private code of honor above all else,
even the law. There was no mention of the role of criminal law
or punishment for murder. It was as though the law remained
suspended so long as the dictates of the code were followed.
Even though there was general sentiment that a killing by Redmond of young Bayard would not have been as fair and justified
as the killing of Sartoris, the community was ready to accept it.
In fact, the members of the community actually demonstrated
principle.
126.
127.
128.
188.
129.
130.
An Odor of Verbena, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 94 at 189-90.
Id. at 192-93.
Redmond is clean shaven and freshly dressed with tragic appearance. Id. at
BROOKS, supra note 7 at 40.
Id.
131. An important factor may have been that Bayard once before killed a man.
Near the end of the War, when there was no legal system in existence to which anyone
could turn, Bayard and Ringo, both boys of sixteen, had enacted revenge on the person
who had killed Bayard's grandmother. BROOKS, supra note 7 at 22.
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FAULKNER'S LAW
their acceptance of (what they had every reasonto believe was)
the murder of Bayard, as they permitted Redmond to leave
town without any attempt to apprehend him.
Lawyers play an important role in the story. In addition to
Bayard (a law student), Redmond was a lawyer, 132 and, while the
Colonel was probably not a lawyer, he was skilled at manipulating the law for private gain. 133 During Bayard's last visit home
before the fateful confrontation, the Colonel had spoken to him
about his expected role in the family's affairs:
I acted as the land and time demanded and you were too young for
that, I wished to shield you. But now the land and the time too are
changing; what will follow will be a matter of consolidation, of pettifogging and doubtless chicanery in which I would be a babe in arms
but in which you, trained in the law, can hold your own - our own.
Yes. I have accomplished my aim, and now I shall do a little moral
housecleaning, I am tired of killing men, no matter what the necessity
or the end. 34
Bayard, then, was expected to use his legal training to manipulate the law for the private gain of the family. Bayard, in rejecting the revenge cycle, however, demonstrated that he had his
35
own standards, at least during that period of his life.1
We can conclude that, with Bayard's act of principle and
bravery, the role of the law in the Jefferson community has been
elevated substantially. Although the private codes continue to
exist, we can assume that they will be accorded less deference in
light of Bayard's action which undermines their hold on the
community. It is apparent that the force of law is not potent.
Throughout the events leading to the confrontation, no representative of the law intervenes. Apart from Bayard's own reliance on his devotion to the law, the law is not an active participant in the drama which occurs, despite the likelihood that
murder is about to occur in Jefferson. There is no reference to
the criminal code. Nonetheless, the decisions and actions of
Redmond and the Colonel, as well as Bayard, suggest that the
132. See, e.g., An Odor of Verbena, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 94, at
189.
133. Id. at 187.
134. Id. at 174-75.
135. Bayard became known as "Old Bayard" in the later novels "rather crusty small-town banker." BROOKS, supra note 7 at 42.
an unheroic,
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private code of honor (at least, insofar as it requires revenge) has
been exposed. Thus, human potential has been expanded and
the community's standards have been changed.
The second point I wish to make with respect to "An Odor
of Verbena"' 136 concerns Faulkner's view of community. It is
clear from the rather uniform responses of the citizens of Jefferson, despite differences in social position, that Jefferson constituted a society approximating a true community.1 37 In Professor
Brooks' words:
We make a great mistake if we think that that Faulkner chooses his
heroes from only one class or that he limits the code of honor to, say,
his plantation gentry Yoknapatawpha [of which Jefferson is a part] is
a rich and complicated world. Though it is characterized by a caste
system based on color, the class system within the white community is
not nearly so rigid as most readers have been led to believe.138
Faulkner has highlighted the private code of honor as the
destructive force that it is and has shown what can happen when
human will and human action combine to transcend the confinement of the code, elevating morality and law. As in all his fiction, here "the human heart [has been] in conflict with itself" 39
and has prevailed, thrusting change upon the community.
D.
'4 0
"Old Man'
The intersection of the law with codes of class and morality
finds vivid and dramatic illustration in another of Faulkner's
best long stories, "Old Man.''4 Although published as a tale
under that name, it was originally part of a novel entitled The
Wild Palms, containing two virtually unconnected sections.
That aside, we can treat the story of the "Tall Convict", 1 42 as a
136. Another significant point is the categorization of An Odor of Verbena in the
genre of "anti-revenge literature." Richard Posner points to the story as "[a] particularly
apt specimen of anti-revenge literature. . . because of its curious echo of Hamlet." RICHARD A. POSNER. LAW AND LITERATURE, 1, 63 (1988). Posner goes on to discuss the parallel
developments in "The Hamlet" and An Odor of Verbena. Id.
137. BROOKS, supra note 7, at 36.
138. Id.
139. Faulkner, Nobel Prize Address, supra note 6.
140. William Faulkner, Old Man, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, 481 (Malcolm Cowley rev. and exp. ed., 1967) [Hereinafter Old Man, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER].
141. Cowley, supra note 8,at xxv.
142. BROOKS, supra note 7, at 19. That is the only name given to him in the whole
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FAULKNER'S LAW
complete story in its own right. The Tall Convict was born in
the pine hills southeast of Frenchman's Bend, located in
Yoknapatawpha County, but, otherwise, "Old Man"'143 is not
part of the Yoknapatawpha series. In a sense, this story can be
interpreted to represent a bridge between the fictitious region
144
and the rest of the South, or even the world.
The Tall Convict 145 had read advertisements in cheap
magazines and, in reliance on them, had ordered robbers' equipment for an attempted (and highly unsuccessful) train robbery.
Convicted of attempted robbery, he had been sentenced at the
age of nineteen to fifteen years imprisonment at Parchman, the
Mississippi State Penal Farm, an unwalled but heavily guarded
cotton plantation. In quiet desperation, he is resigned to his
fate; he muses:
[WJith a kind of enraged impotence fumbling among the rubbish left
him by his one and only experience with courts and law, fumbling
until the meaningless and verbose shibboleth took form at last (himself seeking justice at the blind font where he had met justice and had
been hurled back and down): Using the mails to defraud: who felt that
he had been defrauded by the third-class mail system not of crass and
stupid money which he did not particularly want anyway, but of lib14
erty and honor and pride. e
The Tall Convict is one of Faulkner's "natural men," limited in mental power, but "superbly in control of his immediate
environment and endowed with a fine, even over-acute sense of
moral obligation. 1 47 At this stage of his life, the Tall Convict
operates on the basis of a private code of honor, reinforced by a
higher sense of moral responsibility and a knowledge of the diftext. Id.
143. The name, appropriately, refers to the great Mississippi River.
144. Cowley, supra note 8, at 479.
145. Faulkner describes him:
[A]bout twenty-five, flat-stomached, with a sunburned face and Indian-black
hair and pale, china-colored outraged eyes - an outrage directed not at the
men who had foiled his crime, not even at the lawyers and judges who had sent
him here [to imprisonment], but at the writers, the uncorporeal names attached to the stories, the paper novels... whom he believed had led him into
his present predicament....
Id. at 481.
146. Old Man, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 140 at 482.
147. IRVING Howz, WILLIAM FAULKNER A CRITIcAL STUDY 237 (1991).
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ference between right and wrong. Once again, Faulkner applies
the codes of honor and moral responsibility to classes other than
the white plantation class.
The Tall Convict is among those convicts brought without
their knowledge or consent, of course, to the banks of the Mississippi River to help control the great flood of 1927. He is directed to launch a small skiff for the purpose of rescuing a woman who is reportedly perched on a cypress snag and a man on
a cotton-house roof. When the other convict who is dispatched
with him is promptly lost to the enterprise (but soon rescued),
the Tall Convict is left alone to battle the awesome and destructive river while he fulfills his mission. Like so many other Faulkner characters, he is driven by a force almost beyond himself to
complete his search and mission.
Quite by chance, he locates the woman who, to his utter dismay, is far advanced in pregnancy. By the force of his remarkable will, aided by his strength and powerful survival skills, he
adapts himself to the flooded river and guides the two of them
to ultimate safety. Throughout the nightmare, he barely wavers
from his mission of delivering the woman to safe harbor and
himself, along with the boat, to the prison officials. Even the
pleasure which he discovers as he savors the new-found feeling
of freedom to work and to earn money does not deter him from
striving to complete his mission.
The Tall Convict consistently views the woman and (eventually) her child as his greatest burden and longs for his obligation to end. "Neither intimacy nor affection sweetens the life of
convict and woman; two people are thrown together, they must
48
cooperate if they are to survive, but more they will not do.'
As a final blow of injustice at the hands of the law, the Tall
Convict is sentenced to ten additional years for attempted escape (a patent injustice). The sentence was imposed apparently
without a trial and with his sentencers (the warden and a
"young Governor's man") knowing full well what enormous feats
he had accomplished before voluntarily surrendering himself.14 9
The deputy warden actually proposes a sort of trial, although
148. HOWE, supra note 147, at 237.
149. The Tall Convict's case has proved an embarrassment for the Governor as
well as the Warden because the Tall Convict had been declared officially dead and discharged upon the first report from the second convict of his drowning death. Id.
1992]
FAULKNER'S LAW
"kangaroo court" would be a more appropriate term: "I'll tell
you what to do. Just call twelve men in here and tell him its a
jury - he never seen one but once before and he won't know no
better - and try him over for robbing that train. Hamp can be
the judge." 15 0 In response to the deputy warden's suggestion, the
Governor's emissary invokes the principle of double jeopardy,
and asserts: "You can't try a man twice for the same crime. He
might know that even if he doesn't know a jury when he sees
one."' 5 1 The scheme to give him the ten years is then hatched
and accomplished on the spot without further formality. 5 2 The
decision is accepted without emotion by the Tall Convict, who
total deference to the law: "All right . . . If
simply replies, in
153
rule.'
the
that's
On the subject of the law - and due process - it is interesting to note that the second convict, who left the skiff early in
the odyssey, had been sentenced to 199 years for some unknown
crime, about which Faulkner's narrator comments:
[T]his incredible and impossible period of punishment or restraint itself carrying a vicious and fabulous quality which indicated that his
reason for being here was such that the very men, the paladins and
pillars of justice and equity who bad sent him here had during that
moment become blind apostles not of mere justice but of all human
decency, blind instruments not of equity but of all human outrage and
vengeance, acting in a savage personal concert, judge, lawyer and jury,
which certainly abrogated justice and possibly even law.'"
What the story portrays is the dramatic interplay of the
structure of law with the forces of private codes, along with natural law, (exemplified by the flood) as well as higher morality
which seems to inhere in the Tall Convict's code of honor.
The role of the law is obvious enough. The Tall Convict has
been sentenced for violating the law, despite his youthful naivete and gullibility at that point in his life, however just or unjust the imposition. He submits to the representatives of law and
strives courageously and honorably to fulfill their rescue mission.
Finally, he voluntarily returns to their custody, perhaps prefer150. Old Man, in
151. Id.
THE PORTABLE FAULKNER,
supra note 140 at 571.
THE PORTABLE FAULKNER,
supra note 140 at 483-84.
152. Id.
153. Id. at 574.
154. Old Man, in
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ring the certainty and security to the exigencies of freedom, not
the least of which-was the burdensome obligation to mother and
child.151 The law as interpreted and applied in his case has little
resemblance to truth and fairness, especially as it is expressed
through the manipulative second sentencing. Nonetheless, the
Tall Convict accepts the law and its strictures and complies
without objection, apparently in conformity to his personal code
of honor.
When the great flood occurs, however, the Tall Convict is
released by the law into a natural state (one might say, into the
state of natural law). He remains nameless throughout the story.
Other than his convict status, he has no identity in the society in
which he has been deposited. After the second convict reports
him drowned, he is officially declared dead and, although he is
not aware of that development, he is technically free of his convict identity along with any legal restrictions (indefinitely if he
chooses). In the course of his survival mission, he apparently
even leaves the State of Mississippi and, so, is actually outside
its jurisdictional reach.
In this natural state, the Tall Convict is at liberty to act as
he wishes, even to the point of total self-interest. Instead, he
acts in accordance with a code of honor which obviously has a
basis in higher morality and is more rigorous than the law. He
devotes himself to saving the woman, assuring that her child is
safely born, and then insists on returning the boat to the prison
officials. On at least one occasion, he actually declines to be rescued without assurance that the boat will be secured, as well.
The Tall Convict's sense of responsibility seems to evolve
from his personal code of honor. He does not act out of fear of
reprisal. He does not fear recapture. In fact, he attempts more
than once to surrender, but is unable to do so safely. He says at
one point, "All in the world I want is just to surrender.' 15' We
know that Faulkner did not view the private code of honor as
the sole province of the plantation class and, so, it is no surprise
that such a code would bind the Tall Convict. His determination
155. BROOKS, supra note 7, at 21. It is interesting to note that both Huck Finn and
the Tall Convict undertake to deliver "burdens" while adrift on the Mississippi River.
The Tall Convict's burden is the woman and child; Huck's is Jim, a slave in the existing
Southern society. Id.
156. Old Man, in THE PORTABLE FAULKNER, supra note 140 at 527.
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FAULKNER'S LAW
to return boat and passenger unharmed has been attributed to
the exercise of his sense of honor. 15 However, more is involved:
some sense of higher moral responsibility. That view is reinforced by Faulkner's efforts to inform us that the Tall Convict is
acting in concert with the forces of nature; he is at one with the
spirit of nature - in some kind of natural harmony.
One of the most moving passages occurs just as he is about
to land with the woman, immediately before the birth:
His stroke did not falter, it neither slowed nor increased; still paddling with that spent hypnotic steadiness, he saw the swimming deer.
... he still paddling even while the paddle found no purchase save air
and still paddled even as he and the deer shot forward side by side at
arm's length, he watching the deer now, watching the deer begin to
rise out of the water bodily until it was actually running along upon
the surface, rising still, soaring clear of the water altogether .... 11
This description typifies the Tall Convict's unity with nature. In
addition to this sense of unity, there is a conspicuous absence of
any reference to community standards or other codes of conduct,
including law. As the Tall Convict watches the new-born child
being bathed he thinks:
And this is all. This is what severed me violently from all I ever knew
and did not wish to leave and cast me upon a medium I was born to
fear, to fetch up at last in a place I never saw before and where I do
do not even know where I am.186
While the Tall Convict is able to control his immediate environment, he cannot control the natural forces, neither the flooding
river nor the birth-time of the child. He, too, is a subject of
these forces.
The racial code does not have major impact on the community which is the focal point of this story - the community
composed of those subject to the great flooded Mississippi. The
Tall Convict is conscious of race differences in the people he
meets. Some of the prisoners whom he meets are white like himself; others are black. Similarly, those victimized by the flood are
of both races. Race, however, means little under the compelling
157. BROOKS, supra note 7, at 21.
158. Old Man, in THE PORTABLE
159. Id. at 532.
FAULKNER,
supra note 140 at 528-29.
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circumstances where nature, by its force, has created a new society - a new community - where everyone is on equal footing,
except insofar as they are well or poorly equipped to survive.
The most dramatic illustration of the subordination of the racial
code to other forces occurs when the Tall Convict and his en"tourage are finally extricated from the river by some people on a
crowded steamboat. Finally on board after all the conversation
and efforts to complete the rescue,"[H]e began to notice for the
first time that the other people, the other refugees who crowded
the deck ... were not white people."16 0 Neither black nor white,
they were of another race. And that racial difference was not
important in the scheme of things existing at that time. Survival
- and those human and natural occurrences that promoted it
- were important.
There are obvious parallels between "Old Man" and Mark
Twain's classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
While most critics concede that Faulkner's story is not the equal
of Twain's, it is nonetheless considered: "[T]he only other story
of the Mississippi that can be set beside Huckleberry Finn without shriveling under the comparison; it is the only other story in
American literature that gives the same impression of the power
and legendary sweep of the River."' 16' In recent years, Twain's
novel has received the critical attention of law and literature
scholars for its value as a resource in studying the development
of law. As Professor Teresa Phelps noted:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn uses a specific example, slavery,
to show us how a culture's legal vision changed. In Huck Finn, we see
the change of perception and change of heart that occurred before a
change in the law became possible, although the change in perception
62
was neither absolute nor universal.
Professor Phelps was referring to Huck's changed perception of Jim, along with the community as a whole, while adrift
on the Mississippi in the raft which became a vehicle for the
creation (for a time) of an entirely new community. Temporarily
isolated from the community in which they had been living,
Huck develops affection for Jim as a person. As a result, Huck's
160. Id. at 538.
161. Id. at 480.
162.
Phelps, supra note 43 at 905.
1992]
FAULKNER'S LAW
(and Jim's, although, significantly, the story is not developed
from his point of view) perceptions of the world begin to change
and the authority of the official legal system as well as that of
the private codes is undermined. Consequently (oversimplifying
the process, of course), action takes over, the old language fails,
163
and the stage is set for the remaking of language and the law.
In much the same way, adrift on the swollen river in the
skiff - free of the restrictions and normal patterns of daily life
the Tall Convict and the woman exist in a "new community."
The law becomes, for a time, irrelevant and immaterial. Even
the private codes have no relevance. Rather, necessity and
higher moral responsibility govern.
The law is challenged; the old codes are challenged. For a
time, those regulatory systems are suspended and the characters
are free to create a new community. The old language - which
identifies and characterizes people - no longer applies either.
The Tall Convict need not act like or be limited to the old community's perception of what a convict is. He most certainly does
not act according to our expectations of a convict. Faulkner portrays human action as having the power to change limits and to
create new situations which, in turn, call for new definitions and
new language.
While the Tall Convict does return to the old community
and its commensurate limits, change nevertheless has occurred.
The other prisoners' responses to the Tall Convict's revelations
suggest that the old community has been changed.
E.
"Barn Burning"
One of the most dramatic examples of courage and principle
occurs in "Barn Burning."" 4 The action in this story centers on
a twelve-year-old boy, Colonel Sartoris "Sarty" Snopes. He is
the son of Ab Snopes, a bitter, vengeful sharecropper who moves
his family around seeking work and lodging.
As the story opens, Ab is on trial, apparently in a civil damage action, before a Justice of the Peace who is holding court in
a grocery store. Confronted with the allegation that he retaliated
against the landowner for whom he was working by setting fire
163.
164.
Id. at 889-906.
BROOKS, supra note 7, at 16.
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to his barn, Ab escapes liability. The result is partly due to the
decision of the Justice to refuse to call young Sarty as a witness
against his father. Sarty, troubled that he will be expected to lie,
is relieved:
'What's your name, boy?' the Justice said. 'Colonel Sartoris Snopes,'
the boy whispered. 'Hey?' the Justice said. 'Talk louder. Colonel
Sartoris? I reckon anybody named for Colonel Sartoris in this country
can't help but tell the truth, can they?' The boy said nothing. Enemy!
Enemy! he thought; for a moment he could not even see, could not see
that the Justice's face was kindly nor discern that his voice was troubled when he spoke to the man named Harris [the accuser]: 'Do you
want me to question this boy?'. . . 'No! Harris said violently, explosively. 'Damnation! Send him out of here!" 5
Ultimately, when the Justice finds a lack of proof and closes
the case, he advises Snopes: "Leave this country and don't come
166
back to it."
Ab does leave that immediate area.1 67 He moves his family
to another location a day or two away by wagon, a plantation
owned by Major de Spain, a member of the white gentry. Ab
arrives "with a chip on his shoulder"' 6 8 and, with his hostility
and crudeness, manages to create a dispute with de Spain almost
immediately after arriving. Ab tracks manure into the landowner's home, soiling an expensive rug, and then spitefully
causes the rug to be damaged further after de Spain demands
that he clean it.
When de Spain responds to that action by unilaterally imposing a new condition on the contract between the two charging Ab an additional twenty bushels of corn against his
crop - Ab brings a civil action against de Spain. This trial also
occurs before a Justice of the Peace. The Justice is remarkably
even-handed despite almost certain community pressure. He decides against Ab, but reduces the amount of damages awarded to
ten bushels of corn, taking into account the parties' relative fi165.
166.
WILLIAM FAULKNER,
"Barn Burning",
COLLECTED STORIES,
4-5 (1976).
Id. at 5.
167. Ab Snopes has been viewed by at least one critic as an alienated man, possessing a legitimate sense of outrage at injustice he has suffered. JAMES M. Cox "On William
Faulkner and Barn Burning" in THE AMERICAN SHORT STORY, Volume 2 pp 403-05
(1976).
168. BRooKs, supra note 7,at 17.
FAULKNER'S LAW
1992]
nancial positions. The Justice rules: "I'm going to find against
you, Mr. Snopes. I'm going to find that you were responsible for
the injury to Major de Spain's rug and hold you liable for it. But
twenty bushels of corn seems a little high for a man in your circumstances to have to pay."169
After the Justice orders the damages to be paid at gathering
time in October, court is adjourned. The Snopes family does not
return to the farm until sundown, too late to resume work in the
fields. Sarty's father and older brother, who appears to share
Ab's outlook, seem to be of a common mind.
Sarty is aware that de Spain is not at fault for the incident,
however, and that retaliation is not appropriate. This realization
is indicative of Sarty's connection to two separate societies.
Sarty lives in the world of the Snopses, but has emotional ties
with the de Spain world, as his name provides a bond with the
1 0 Thus,
gentry.7
Sarty is torn between two competing loyalties.
Beyond that, he seems to have a respect for law as well as an
awakened sense of higher moral values.
When he first sees de Spain's home, he observes with wonder that: "Hit's big as a courthouse. 17 1 He is impressed with the
peace and dignity of the place and hopes that the grandeur will
have an impact on his father: "Maybe he will feel it too. Maybe
it will even change him now from what maybe he couldn't help
but be.' 17 2 Sarty experiences ambivalence in "the stark contrast
between the apparently invulnerable 'peace and dignity' of the
planter's house, and his own father's world of frightening social
7 3
and economic violence and indignity.'1
Ab is not changed by the new environment and before long
he is making preparations to burn de Spain's barn in revenge.
Sarty hears his mother's voice: "Abner! No! No! Oh, God. Oh,
God. Abner!"17 4 His father, cold and harsh, orders Sarty: "Go to
the barn and get that can of oil we were oiling the wagon
with.' 75 Sarty does not move and begins to question, even
169.
170.
FAULKNER, "Barn Burning," supra note 165, at 18.
Colonel Sartoris was a prominent.member of the gentry. Id. at 24.
171. Id. at 10.
172. Id. at 11.
173. RICHARD C. MORELAND. FAULKNER AND
13 (1990).
174. FAULKNER, supra note 167, at 20.
175. Id. at 21.
MODERNISM: REREADING AND REWRITING
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taunt, his father, inquiring whether he will send someone to
warn the landowner, as before. His father grabs him and orders
his mother to hold him while the lawless deed is done."'
While his mother agrees to cooperate with Ab, Sarty's aunt
tells her to let him go so he can warn de Spain. With a struggle,
Sarty breaks loose, runs to the de Spain home, warns the landowner, and then flees - his state of mind reflecting his mixed
feelings and loyalties. Gradually, however, his mind clears and
he leaves -- permanently, we are led to assume - with a clear
sense of right, and with a sense of peace and harmony with his
natural surroundings. Like Huck Finn, Sarty departs for new
territory, having redefined his world and himself.
Once again, we cannot be certain of the outcome which ensues from the latest confrontation between de Spain and Ab
Snopes. We do know, however, from The Hamlet, a later novel,
that Ab survived and went on to other malefactions. There is no
indication, however, as to Sarty's future, but he apparently
17
never returned home. 7
This story provides an illustration of two themes important
to Faulkner - the existence of honor and self-sacrifice among
people of the Snopes' social level and the importance of internal
conflicts.17 In addition, the story provides another illustration of
the conflict between the law, private codes, and individual will.
The law, represented in each case by a Justice of the Peace, is
portrayed as being fair and just. Each time the Justice manages
to act impartially and independently of the community pressure
against Snopes, a wrongdoer and outsider.179
It seems clear, also, that the community accepted the Justice's decision at the first trial despite a clear sense that Snopes
was responsible. This response indicates the community's respect for the law, as well. 8 0
176. It is noteworthy that Abner may well have had reason to believe that the
women would not be able to restrain Sarty. Cox, supra note 167 at 404.
177. BROOKS, supra note 7 at 19.
178. On the first theme, although the name "Snopes" has become a byword for a
"sharp-trading scoundrel," it is possible to find those positive qualities in members of
that family. As to the second, as pointed out earlier, one of Faulkner's major themes was
the human heart in conflict with itself. Id.
179. The Justice also did a reasonable job of applying legal principles. FAULKNER,
"Barn Burning", supra note 165, at 5.
180. Aside from a taunting remark which, ironically, induces Sarty into defending
his father's honor (in an unsuccessful fist fight), no retaliation was visited on the Snopes
1992]
FAULKNER'S LAW
At the second trial, the Justice disengaged himself from any
prejudice he may have had against Snopes. He was even able to
apply his own equitable notions in the face of de Spain, who,
doubtless, was a powerful force in the community. Faulkner,
then, has elevated the law to a lofty place in this text.
Sarty, caught between two elements of society and with loyalties divided between two codes of honor, also manages to elevate the law as well as elevate higher moral responsibility. His
decisions and his determination break (at least, for a time) his
father's pattern of revenge. Sarty transcends the limits of his social class, rises above the code of honor which would have imposed a duty of loyalty to his father. Ultimately, Sarty places his
father's life in jeopardy by warning de Spain, who sets out to
stop the barn burning.""'
F. A Concluding Note
In Pharr v. State of Mississippi,"' noted above for its reliance on Faulkner's writings, Justice Robertson asserts that "....
law is the witness and external deposit of the values and culture
of our society." 183 The interaction of law with private codes, all
in the context of human action, in the narratives of William
Faulkner bears out Justice Robertson's premise. The dynamics
of the interaction have operated differently in each of the stories
which I have discussed.184 While Faulliner continually portrayed
family. Id. at 25.
181. It is worth mentioning that Sarty also transcends the private code of de
Spain's class which gave him the self-assumed privilege of unilaterally "rewriting" the
contract between himself and Snopes, this the product of "the now nostalgically idealized myth of the plantation as trickle-down source of moral and even economic blessings
to all its humble dependents." MORELAND, supra note 173, at 13.
182. 465 So. 2d 294 (1984).
183. Id. at 297, n.4.: "Cf. Holmes, The Path of the Law, 10 HARv. L. REv. 457, 459
(1857). ('The law is the witness and external deposit of our moral life. Its history is the
history of the moral development of the race.')" Id. As noted earlier, Faulkner's work
was cited in this case. Justice Robertson invoked portions of Faulkner's short story, "The
Bear," in support of legislation prohibiting deer jacklighting. Justice Robertson analyzes
the relationship between the values involved in hunting and those in preservation of
wildlife. Id.
. 184. I do not mean to suggest that there is a specific chronological development of
the law motif in Faulkner's work, other than a general increase in his use of legal themes.
It has been commented by some, however, that there is a shift in emphasis from the
concept of honor to that of integrity over the course of his work, suggesting a developmental process from code to law. BROOKS, supra note 7, at 147-48.
BRIDGEPORT LAW REVIEW
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the human heart in conflict with itself and the community, the
very nature of human life dictates that the results of the confrontation are often unpredictable.
I began by proposing to examine each of the narratives with
several key questions in mind, among them: What is the role of
law? What private codes come into play? Is there individual action which transcends the limits of the codes and, perhaps, the
law as well? What is the immediate result? What consequences
can be predicted? I want to reflect on these questions in the context of each of the narratives in order to answer a greater question: What insight into the relationship between the law and private codes has Faulkner given us in this sampling of his work? I
will then discuss the ultimate, and more complex question: What
is the relevance of this insight to American society today?
In "That Evening Sun," the community perceptions and actions were dominated by the old attitudes, embodied in the private codes of race, class and revenge. The effect of the codes was
to repress, to confine, to denigrate. Those who had power to act
beyond the confinement of the codes refused (or were not able)
to do so. Consequently, the law played a minor, subservient role,
actually reinforcing - authorizing in a real sense - the old attitudes. The result was a static, unchanging and, worse yet, repressive, insensitive and unhealthy society.
"Percy Grimm" is a more complex story, with a more devastating result, but still containing a powerful implication of hope.
The law, as symbolically represented by the manipulative (and
manipulated) Grimm, betrays its trust and gives way to vengeance. Actually, Grimm is allowed to become the law's representative by its true agent, the sheriff, who relinquishes power.
But, while Grimm debases the law in a personal sense, Faulkner
gives us a powerful message that the human spirit transcends
this act.
In addition to Hightower, who finally approaches the higher
moral responsibility which he has been seeking, Joe Christmas
murderer and victim, both - transcends Grimm's brutal vengeance.18 5 Faulkner tells us that the lives of the witnesses to
185.
ALFRED KAZIN, THE STILLNESS OF LIGHT
IN AUGUST
147,
159 (1958). Hight-
ower's role in the novel is not fully evident on the basis of this one chapter: In addition
to attempting to provide Joe Christmas with an alibi, Hightower, like the Tall Convict in
"Old Man", delivers a baby for Lena, the other protagonist. Id.
FAULKNER'S LAW
19921
Grimm's outrageous act (the representatives Of the community)
will never be the same. They are sickened by his action and are
forever affected.
"The Odor of Verbena" contains a strong message of the
prominence of law and high moral authority. Young Bayard
transcends the old attitudes and dictates of the private code of
honor in adhering to his sense of the law, as well as his personal
morality and integrity. That he does so despite nearly universal
community pressure is especially significant. That his choice is
understood and accepted is attributable partly to the fact that
he has acted courageously, maintaining his honor, and partly to
recognition of a new standard of human action. The town of Jefferson will never be the same after Bayard's transcendence of
the code of honor and his elevation of the rule of law. The lives
affected -
indeed, the life of the community itself -
are
changed permanently. The new standard adopted by Bayard has
been accepted by the community; the representatives of the old
tradition -
Bayard's father and Redmond -
are gone forever.
The community is permanently changed as the communities
portrayed in "Old Man" and "Percy Grimm" are changed.
Bayard's action is a high point in the life of Jefferson. Even
Drusilla, in Faulkner's words, "the priestess of a succinct and
formal violence,"186 accepts Bayard's decision. Law, in concert
with high moral principle, has prevailed. The community is
changed, prepared to encounter future events.
While the ultimate outcome of "Old Man" is less satisfying I 7 the fact that human action was able to attain a high standard of moral and legal responsibility in a "new community" is
cause for optimism. Regardless of the outcome, change occurred.
In a state of natural law, the old attitudes, indeed, the old language, did not apply to restrict the thought or action of the pro186.
CLEANTH
BROOKS, FAULKNER AND
THE COMMUNITY,
29, 43 (1975).
187. The Tall Convict, despite his extraordinary moral and physical courage, is betrayed by the law. On the subject of "disappointing" endings, Melville said, with particular reference to "Billy Budd":
The symmetry of form attainable in pure fiction cannot so readily be achieved
in a narration essentially having to do less with fable than with fact. Truth
uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges: hence the conclusion
of such a narration is apt to be less finished than an architectural finial.
HERMAN MELVILLE. BILLY BUDD
PHELPS, supra note 44 at 904.
405 (University of Chicago, Press, ed. 1962) cited in
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tagonist. Surely, Faulkner meant us to understand the Tall Convict's delivery of the child to be a symbol of positive change.
Finally, in "Barn Burning," Faulkner has portrayed law as having a powerful role in the community. The Justice's decisions,
combined with Sarty's highly moral and ethical choices, create
an environment of positive change. Sarty, himself, experiences a
true "epiphany," a heightened realization and understanding of
human action and its consequences. As he heads off, in peace
and harmony with nature into a "new territory," he does not
look back. Like Bayard, Sarty adheres to the law. As the Tall
Convict did, Sarty responds to the demands of a higher moral
duty and experiences a sense of harmony with nature.
What is the relevance of Faulkner's insight, as reflected in
his stories, to American society as it approaches the twenty-first
century, thirty years after his death? Nearly everyone would
agree that law plays a central role in our society today. Frequently it appears even to dominate American culture, defining
and shaping both individual and community action. Law - activated by lawyers and judges who apply, enforce and interpret it
has a conspicuous and prominent role in all institutions of
this society.
The more influential the role, the more important it becomes to understand the interaction of law with human activity
and the process of change that results. Faulkner's knowledgeable
and perceptive insights dramatically reveal those processes.
From his fiction, we can see how the law sometimes (perhaps
frequently) reinforces and authorizes those forces that confine,
repress and prevent change. As a consequence, society remains
static. We can understand the necessity for a society to be open
to the possibility of change and, in turn, to be willing to change
the law when human action advances beyond the established
framework. We recognize from Faulkner's insights that tension
between the forces in society - individual and community; private role and social role; tradition and change - is inevitably an
integral part of human life. That tension is especially noticeable
in American society, where individual rights are highly valued,
but where, increasingly, community values receive high
priority. 188
188. PHELPS, supra note 44, at 905. Environmental policy is an example. Reportedly, the legal philosophy of "communitarianism" is emerging in some quarters of Amer-
FAULKNER'S LAW
19921
The tension is essentially a healthy sign of a vital and dynamic society. But, of course, it can be destructive if the inevitable confrontations occur without a reasonable degree of mutual
respect and tolerance. In an atmosphere where respect and willingness to seek cohstructive change exist, the tension can be
fruitful and can lead to advances in society.
"A static being," Melvin Rader comments," cannot be moral
because he is not confronted by choice. It is the temporal and
ongoing character of life that poses problems: our existence is
charged with concern because we must look before and after."'' 8 9
We must not be discouraged by the failure to achieve perfection
in society, but, rather, must learn to identify the need for change
as well as the human action which is worthy of stimulating positive change. As we have seen in the narratives, positive results
usually occur on a small scale - within the lives of individuals
or within individual relationships. 190 Community-wide changes
are rare, although occasionally individual actions have far-reaching effects.
So, too, changes in the law generally occur in small increments: "The law does not change in an unflinchingly linear way,
nor does it change easily. The law changes by fits and starts,
zigzags from new to old, temporarily fails, and reverts to the old
order in the process"' 19 In Faulkner's novel, Go Down Moses,
one of the main characters considers the "threads frail as truth
and impalpable as equators yet cable-strong to bind for life."' 92
ican society. See, e.g., David Schuman, Taking Law Seriously: Communitarian Search
and Seizure, 27 A. Cim. L. REv. 583 (1990).
189.
M. RADER, ETHICS AND SocmTy: AN APPRAISAL OF SOCIAL IDEALS, 1950, cited in
Davis, supra note 5, at 318.
190.
PHELPS, supra note 44, at 905.
191. The critical role played by language in the process of changing the law must
be noted. Phelps, supra note 49 at 905. Literature can play an important role in jurisprudence. Professors Page and Weisberg have described law and literature as "the study of
values and human rights from literary perspectives." Literature can provide authority in
the decision-making process. J. Allen Smith and John Paul Langbein, Afterword: Law,
Literature and Ethics, 4 Miss. C. L. REv. 2, 328-29 (1975).
192. Professor Davis points out that the phrase "threads frail as truth . . . yet
cable-strong to bind" which recurs in "The Bear" suggests language of Jeremy Bentham
in Principlesof The Civil Code (1802): "That which in the natural state was an almost
invisible thread, in the social state becomes a cable. Property and law are born together.
Before laws were made there was no property; take away laws and property ceases." 2
WILLIAM TAIT, THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM 297 (1843). Ike McCaslin, a major character, in the quoted text, is referring to a set of ledgers, records of the plantation com-
758
7 BRIDGEPORT LAW REVIEW
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The intricate fabric of our society is partly made of such
threads. Informed and enlightened by the experience so well illuminated by William Faulkner, we can understand more clearly
and fully the individual rights and social values which exist in
our complex society. The legal and moral decisions, so identified
and illuminated, come into sharper focus. The potential for
making choices which reflect insight, integrity and courage will
be enhanced.
missary, in which Ike discovers the truth about his grandfather's values and power. Id.