Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!: an Innovative Narrative Technique
Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!: An Innovative Narrative Technique
Shawn Montano
Guilt should be viewed through the eyes of more than one person, southern or otherwise. William Faulkner filters the story, Absalom, Absalom!, through several minds providing the reader with a dilution of its representation. Miss Rosa, frustrated, lonely, mad, is unable to answer her own questions concerning Sutpen's motivation. Mr. Compson sees much of the evil and the illusion of romanticism of the evil that turned Southern ladies into ghosts.
Charles Bon and Henry Sutpen are evaluated for their motives through Quentin
Compson and Shreve McCannon. Quentin attempt to evade his awareness, Shreve the outsider (with Quentin's help) reconstructs the story and understands the meaning of Thomas Sutpen's life. In the novel Absalom, Absalom!, a multiple consciousness technique is used to reassess the process of historical reconstruction by the narrators. Chapter one is the scene in which Miss Rosa tells Quentin about the early days in Sutpen's life. It's here that Rosa explains to Quentin why she wanted to visit old mansion on this day. She is the one narrator that is unable to view Sutpen objectively. The first chapter serves as merely an introduction to the history of Sutpen based on what Miss Rosa heard as a child and her brief personal experiences. The narration of Absalom, Absalom!, can be considered a coded activity.
Faulkner creates the complex narration beginning at chapter 2. It ironic that one of Faulkner's greatest novels is one in which the author only appears as the teller of the story in one brief section; The details of the hero's arrival,
Thomas Sutpen, into Jefferson in chapter 2. Although Faulkner sets the scene up in each section (The omniscient narrator), most of the novel is delivered through a continual flow of talk via the narrators. Quentin appears to think the material for the first half of the chapter
2. The narrator, throughout the novel, works as a
Shawn Montano
Guilt should be viewed through the eyes of more than one person, southern or otherwise. William Faulkner filters the story, Absalom, Absalom!, through several minds providing the reader with a dilution of its representation. Miss Rosa, frustrated, lonely, mad, is unable to answer her own questions concerning Sutpen's motivation. Mr. Compson sees much of the evil and the illusion of romanticism of the evil that turned Southern ladies into ghosts.
Charles Bon and Henry Sutpen are evaluated for their motives through Quentin
Compson and Shreve McCannon. Quentin attempt to evade his awareness, Shreve the outsider (with Quentin's help) reconstructs the story and understands the meaning of Thomas Sutpen's life. In the novel Absalom, Absalom!, a multiple consciousness technique is used to reassess the process of historical reconstruction by the narrators. Chapter one is the scene in which Miss Rosa tells Quentin about the early days in Sutpen's life. It's here that Rosa explains to Quentin why she wanted to visit old mansion on this day. She is the one narrator that is unable to view Sutpen objectively. The first chapter serves as merely an introduction to the history of Sutpen based on what Miss Rosa heard as a child and her brief personal experiences. The narration of Absalom, Absalom!, can be considered a coded activity.
Faulkner creates the complex narration beginning at chapter 2. It ironic that one of Faulkner's greatest novels is one in which the author only appears as the teller of the story in one brief section; The details of the hero's arrival,
Thomas Sutpen, into Jefferson in chapter 2. Although Faulkner sets the scene up in each section (The omniscient narrator), most of the novel is delivered through a continual flow of talk via the narrators. Quentin appears to think the material for the first half of the chapter
2. The narrator, throughout the novel, works as a
Cited: York: Chelsea. 1987. Connelly, Don. "The History and Truth in Absalom, Absalom!" Northwestern University, 1991. Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom! New York: Vintage, 1972 Levins, Lynn of Texas, 1971. Rollyson, Carl. "The Re-creation of the Past in Absalom, Absalom!" Mississippi Quarterly 29 (1976): 361-74