I was very interested by the way that Faulkner uses dancing to illustrate and describe the relationships between his characters. From the first page of the short story, the mother and son are paired off together. The first description of their relationship makes that clear; "She was a widow, he the only child" (647). Both characters are given equal treatment, 5 syllables and 4 words, and it is emphasized through the use of "widow" and "only" that all the two have is one another. The exchanges (or battles) between them have a back- and- forth quality similar to that of pair dancing. Never do the exchanges consist of more than a few sentences apiece, most often, each has one sentence and then the other responds in kind. They are fighting for control, for the "lead" if you will pardon the pun.
Howard's relationship with Amy also has many similarities to dancing. They pair up for a while, but when he proves to have "little co-ordination" (650) she finds other partners who can dance in the way that she needs and their relationship comes to an end. This is a great metaphor for their relationship. Howard turns from his partnership with his mother for a more "daring" (648)pairing with Amy, but his mother ultimately has control over their relationship. Howard and Amy have to sneak around his mother to be happy. Howard cannot leave her, and Amy cannot stand the control she has over him. The characters begin their own solitary dances. The mother tries to break up the couple. Howard sneaks around without his shoes on, and Amy further implicates herself as a loose woman by sneaking around on Howard.
None of the characters seem to be able to function without a pairing. Howard and his mother are very dependant upon one another. She needs to be taken care of and he needs her money. He never really leaves her until he kills himself but he does find temporary shelter with Amy. Amy sneaks around with others even when Howard does take her dancing, making her own pairings outside of their marriage. When faced with being forced to be alone with his mother again, he kills himself instead.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Women's Roles in Faulkner
In The Sound and the Fury it is the women who are the focus of the novel. It is they who keep things together and drive the story- if you can extract one. Dilsey, the matriarch of the servant family who attend the central white family. Her family has been with the Compsons forever. It is she who raised every child the Compson family produced, while Mrs. Compson lay forever ill in bed. She brings order to the chaos that is the Compson household. When Dilsey arrives at work on Easter morning, she immediately begins to set the house in order. She notices the clock, which strikes five times, and she knows that it's eight o'clock. She is also the only person in the novel who recognizes the inevitable doom that befalls the Compson family — "I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de endin."
Caddy is the central character, all of the characters speak of her and remember her. Her actions, getting pregnant and getting married off, only to be thrown out by her new husband, affect everyone. She and Dilsey are the only ones who understand Benjy's needs (Benjy is the first speaker in the story, mentally handicapped). But she is not spoken of in the family after her sins are discovered and Dilsey becomes the family's sole peacekeeper.
Elnora, in "There Once was a Queen," is strong like these women. She is introduced as being alone in a house "unmanned" (728), and though many men are named, none exist anymore for her but a young boy. The men in the story all have the same names, thus blurring them into a masculine soup and making them less important in the movement of the story. The reader has to work to even figure out which one is being spoken of! Even the "quiet" belongs to the "womenfolk" (727). She, like Dilsey, is tied to the family of whites, because she is related to them. She is a very strong character, who talks as if she needs no one, and seems to hold her family upon her shoulders alone. "I don't need no help" (728), she boldly assures herself. She and her offspring are the ones who keep the family together. Virginia is also introduced as a strong female character, being ninety in age, and having come to Mississippi with only the clothes on her back. Both characters are described as "erect" figures.
The women drive the story, and if they didn't, who would? There are no men, save the boy and the Yankee. The boy is young and plays a minor part, and the Yankee man admits his inferiority to Virginia. Elnora is wise, like Dilsey. She sees through the "quality" act of Narcissa to the "trash" that even she cannot see. Narcissa is only worried about herself (ironic name eh?). No one sees the other characters like Elnora does. She knows something is wrong with Narcissa earlier than anyone else. She somehow knows that Virginia is dying. It is through her that the reader gains the most knowledge and it is she who comes out of the story as the strong character who does not fade, as Narcissa and Virginia do. We begin the story with her and it is she who has the final words (much like Dilsey, who narrates the final portion of The Sound and the Fury).
Caddy is the central character, all of the characters speak of her and remember her. Her actions, getting pregnant and getting married off, only to be thrown out by her new husband, affect everyone. She and Dilsey are the only ones who understand Benjy's needs (Benjy is the first speaker in the story, mentally handicapped). But she is not spoken of in the family after her sins are discovered and Dilsey becomes the family's sole peacekeeper.
Elnora, in "There Once was a Queen," is strong like these women. She is introduced as being alone in a house "unmanned" (728), and though many men are named, none exist anymore for her but a young boy. The men in the story all have the same names, thus blurring them into a masculine soup and making them less important in the movement of the story. The reader has to work to even figure out which one is being spoken of! Even the "quiet" belongs to the "womenfolk" (727). She, like Dilsey, is tied to the family of whites, because she is related to them. She is a very strong character, who talks as if she needs no one, and seems to hold her family upon her shoulders alone. "I don't need no help" (728), she boldly assures herself. She and her offspring are the ones who keep the family together. Virginia is also introduced as a strong female character, being ninety in age, and having come to Mississippi with only the clothes on her back. Both characters are described as "erect" figures.
The women drive the story, and if they didn't, who would? There are no men, save the boy and the Yankee. The boy is young and plays a minor part, and the Yankee man admits his inferiority to Virginia. Elnora is wise, like Dilsey. She sees through the "quality" act of Narcissa to the "trash" that even she cannot see. Narcissa is only worried about herself (ironic name eh?). No one sees the other characters like Elnora does. She knows something is wrong with Narcissa earlier than anyone else. She somehow knows that Virginia is dying. It is through her that the reader gains the most knowledge and it is she who comes out of the story as the strong character who does not fade, as Narcissa and Virginia do. We begin the story with her and it is she who has the final words (much like Dilsey, who narrates the final portion of The Sound and the Fury).
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Power Struggles in the "Young Housewife"
Who has the power?
The men in the poem seem to have the power. Barry Ahearn said "The poem focuses attention on various tangible barriers and containers, as if the poet were mulling over the structures that physically restrain the young housewife. The "wooden walls," for example, "of her husband's house" are the major physical barriers that hide her from the view of patrolling males, though it seems that this doctor's view has the advantage of x-ray vision, for he discerns her moving "in negligee" behind those walls. When she finally emerges, further physical limitations appear. The "curb" seems to be one barrier that marks the boundary between herself and delivery men. Another constraint is prominent by virtue of its absence: she is "uncorseted." Furthermore, the adjective beginning line 8, "stray," suggests her possible predilection for escaping orderly confines, whether in terms of hair arrangement or in terms of more serious transgressions. The poet, too, exists in a physical container--his car."
The wife lives in her "husband's house;" it is expressly stated that the house belongs to him and not her. The housewife is restrained by the "man made" things of the world in which she lives. The "curb," the "wooden walls," and the car in which the narrator drives by all separate him from her, and her from the world. The narrator speaks of her as a "fallen leaf" and then two lines later crushes leaves beneath his tires as he drives away, but he can only overcome her figuratively, as he does the leaf. Her husband can only restrain her physically, and she is pushing those boundaries by being "uncorseted." Even her hair seems to be fighting to be free of its restraints. When re-reading this it seems that she is spiritually free, that her body may conform to the restraints of the masculine influences and power in her world but spiritually she is free and beautiful.
The image of a fallen leaf does not have to be a sad image. The leaf is free of its protection, but it is also separated from the structures and confines of the tree. Natural imagery is often used in literature to describe the feminine presence as something unable to be tamed, something wild that cannot be put down by masculinity's dominance. John Milton sets up a direct correlation between the first woman, Eve, and the Garden of Eden from his introduction of her in his work Paradise Lost and though a famous example, it is certainly not the only one. I think that the image of the leaf used to represent the young housewife works in this way, as an image of freedom and an untamed and untamable nature.
The men in the poem seem to have the power. Barry Ahearn said "The poem focuses attention on various tangible barriers and containers, as if the poet were mulling over the structures that physically restrain the young housewife. The "wooden walls," for example, "of her husband's house" are the major physical barriers that hide her from the view of patrolling males, though it seems that this doctor's view has the advantage of x-ray vision, for he discerns her moving "in negligee" behind those walls. When she finally emerges, further physical limitations appear. The "curb" seems to be one barrier that marks the boundary between herself and delivery men. Another constraint is prominent by virtue of its absence: she is "uncorseted." Furthermore, the adjective beginning line 8, "stray," suggests her possible predilection for escaping orderly confines, whether in terms of hair arrangement or in terms of more serious transgressions. The poet, too, exists in a physical container--his car."
The wife lives in her "husband's house;" it is expressly stated that the house belongs to him and not her. The housewife is restrained by the "man made" things of the world in which she lives. The "curb," the "wooden walls," and the car in which the narrator drives by all separate him from her, and her from the world. The narrator speaks of her as a "fallen leaf" and then two lines later crushes leaves beneath his tires as he drives away, but he can only overcome her figuratively, as he does the leaf. Her husband can only restrain her physically, and she is pushing those boundaries by being "uncorseted." Even her hair seems to be fighting to be free of its restraints. When re-reading this it seems that she is spiritually free, that her body may conform to the restraints of the masculine influences and power in her world but spiritually she is free and beautiful.
The image of a fallen leaf does not have to be a sad image. The leaf is free of its protection, but it is also separated from the structures and confines of the tree. Natural imagery is often used in literature to describe the feminine presence as something unable to be tamed, something wild that cannot be put down by masculinity's dominance. John Milton sets up a direct correlation between the first woman, Eve, and the Garden of Eden from his introduction of her in his work Paradise Lost and though a famous example, it is certainly not the only one. I think that the image of the leaf used to represent the young housewife works in this way, as an image of freedom and an untamed and untamable nature.
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