The Evening Sun by William Faulkner - Research Paper Example

The Evening Sun 1 Introduction The Evening Sun by William Faulkner has the deduced from the popular spiritual song of the black Americans that has the beginning of “Lordy, how I hate see that evening sun go down.” The implication being the eminent of death once darkness falls due to the dangers that come with the night. The short story is closely linked with The Sound and the Fury novel which is written by William Faulkner too. The end of the novel shows Nancy worried over the eventuality of the night since his husband might kill her although the rest do not see a reason for her to be afraid. We suspect tat Jesus, Nancy’s husband, is waiting for her at night nearby the cabin or he is just close by and that he will definitely kill Nancy anytime. Therefore the night fall is feared by Nancy and the singer of the song alike since it means being near the imminent danger. Nancy, black American, works at the Compson family, whites. She had been impregnated by a white although she was married to Jesus. Her husband had left her for being promiscuous leading to her illicit pregnancy with a white man. The story is narrated by Quentin, who is twenty four years old is bringing it from a nine year old point of view when he was young. As a child, Quentin and his siblings, Caddy, his sister; and Jason, younger brother; do not comprehend the implications of the actions that are happening around them that had caused Nancy’ weird behaviors that were manifested with fear. Nancy had herself locked up in a prison although she was the one ho had been assaulted by Mr. Stovall, a Baptist deacon, who Nancy claimed to be the one responsible her pregnancy. She was a shamed of facing her husband because of that. Mr. Stovall knocked her to an extent of removing some of her teeth instantly and later taken as the culprit in the whole encounter. The fact that Nancy was a black American worsened her situation since she could not get fair treatment; racialism caused most of the suffering experienced in the story by Nancy. 1.2 Setting The setting of the story is at the Southern states where racial segregation had taken root with the inclusion of Jim Crow rules that discriminated the black Americans as inferior and majorly owned as slaves to work in the plantations. The constant repletion by Nancy that I am a nigger showed her resentment for being a black in a society that discriminated against the blacks. The use of orders by Mr. and Mrs. Compson when referring to Nancy shows the level at which they had assumed her to be as per the order of that time. In one instance Quentin is asked to head to the kitchen and order Nancy that she can go home now; this is a clear indication that the physical possibility to leave is only granted by Mr. Compson without it she can not leave; she obviously did not have the right to leave before being ordered to do so. This displays the relation between Nancy and Mr. Compson as one of a slave and a master respectively (Fitzgerald and Harris, 1987). 1.3.1 Segregation The unequal relationship between the whites and the Black Americans is broadly exhibited in Nancy’s reproaching of Mr. Stovall, the deacon, specifically for not paying her the service rendered three times, for getting intimate with her. He reacts through a thorough beating he gave her that led to her loosing a number of her teeth. The town marshal did nothing about simply because she was a black. Mr. Compson refers to her as a culprit in the whole incident since she should have let the white man alone. Mrs. Compson feels being looked upon when Compson decides to escort Nancy to ensure her security. She wonders why his husband is concerned about a nigger’s safety instead of taking care of her. This resenting of Mrs. Compson shows her feeling of superiority in relation to Nancy who is a black American. She at first questions whether Nancy has seen Jesus, her husband, to claim that she is afraid that he will attack her; in this case she is implying that Nancy is cheating, a clear indication of mistrust and feeling of superiority. Mrs. Compson proposes that Nancy should be handed over to the police officers to ensure her security instead of housing her, Mr. Compson confirms that she cannot be guaranteed her security at al simply because she is a black woman. The police are the one who should be providing security for all but in this case they are also part of the problem. The police are basically providing security selectively to the white population as opposed to the black Americans who were under oppression from the Jim Crow rules that were prevalent in the southern States (Cash, 1991). 1.3.2 Revolution Jesus declares that he cannot hang around a kitchen belonging to a white man while white men hang around his. He lacks a house whenever the white man comes since he is incapable of stopping a white man. This shows Jesus revolting against the white oppression although he is referring to Nancy as a metonymy of the house. Jesus’ escaping from the police shows that the revolt is quite dangerous to him. Nancy tries to revolt too by not making breakfast for the Compsons, her reproaching of Mr. Stovall for not paying her and her trial to kill herself to avoid more problems resulting from racial oppression. She however abandons her revolting ideas. 1.3.3 Resignation Nancy seems to be accepting her fate as an inferior black the same way the whites view her. Her low self opinion is seen when Quentin meets her in Kitchen claiming that she is nothing but a nigger and it is not her fault. These sentiments s come after her revolting attempts that turns futile; she must have despaired in her struggles to liberate herself. She is even unable to hold a cup of coffee offered by Disley this shows her imprisonment in her despair and black status (Faulker, 2012). 1.3.4 Economic exploitation The economic exploitation of the blacks in the south during the Jim Crow period is evident in the text in the manner in which Nancy is treated by Mr. Stovall in relation to her financial rights. Mr. Stovall is a deacon in the church but portrays a higher level of discrimination to an extent of beating Nancy. He portrays the religious hypocrisy that came with the whites in the southern states in the manner they treated the black Americans. The civil rights like a fair trial was unheard of in the southern states; Nancy gets imprisoned and yet she was the one who had been assaulted by Mr. Stovall. Her imprisonment is a clear implication of the extent to which the civil society is racial discriminative towards the black Americans. The Church is portrayed as turning a blind eye to the injustices carried out in the region; Mr. Stovall is the church deacon but he is on the front line of advocating for the use of violence against the black Americans through his act of descending on Nancy with blows and even making her lose her teeth (Taylor, 1927). 1.4 Conclusion The story ‘the Evening Sun’, puts before the reader a representation of slavery type system that seems unbreakable making the Southern States seem more of hell. The south is portrayed as quite oppressive and discriminating since the racial terms and actions are profound in the whole text. The theme of racial discrimination is clearly portrayed in the story centrally based on the way Nancy is treated by the whites in the story. Works Cited Cash, J. The Mind of the South. New York; Vintage Books. 1991. Print Taylor, Walton. Faulker’ Search for a South. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. 1927. Print. Faulker, William. A Rose for Emily and other Stories. New York: Random House. 2012. Print. Fitzgerald, Sheila and Harris, Lanzen. Short Story Criticism: Volume 1 Excepts from Critism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers. Michigan: Gale. 1987. Print Read More