Southern Gothic Writer: William Faulkners World of the South - Term Paper Example

William Faulkner’s World of the South William Faulkner (1897-1962) is one of America’s most highlighted and most unlikely authors. Eventually producing 26 books and a difficult to count number of short stories, Faulkner’s stories were full of such artistry and character that he has become recognized as a giant in world literature. “Faulkner accomplished in a little over a decade more artistically than most writers accomplish over a lifetime of writing” (Padgett, 2005). His creation of the mythical Yoknapatawpha County, along with all the people in it, painted a precise picture of what life was like in the turn of the century American south. Rather than portraying his characters in keeping with the generally accepted and widely held view of the stereotypical farmer, for instance, Faulkner presented his characters, good and bad, with a strong degree of sensitivity and understanding (Cowley, 1977). Although Faulkner has incorporated a number of themes and issues within his writings, one of the more prevalent is his exploration of the true nature of the black man as an individual human being capable of great strength and resilience. This is significant as it was a time in which most black men (and women) were viewed as somehow subhuman, having just recently escaped the shackles of slavery yet still confined within those of ignorance, poverty and blatant oppression. This impression laid the foundation for today’s race relations as well as illustrated the degree to which American attitudes affected attitudes in other parts of the world. As these concepts become applied to other races, such as those of Middle Eastern ethnicities, it is necessary to understand America’s approach to what it considers an inferior race as well as its influence on other nations. An examination of Faulkner’s short story “Ad Astra,” supported by research from experts, enables one to understand how the American experience contaminated the perception of black men both in America, causing long-term racial tensions, and in other parts of the world by association. Understanding the contamination of the perception of the black man is perhaps best gained through the sociological studies of individuals working after the Civil War and Reformation eras, when minority groups were finally beginning to be heard. Several years after Faulkner’s death, a man named Edward Said published a book entitled Orientalism (1979). In this book, he attempts to prove how the idea of the Orient was nothing more than a creation of the Western mind in much the same way as the educated yet ‘inferior’ black man was largely a conception of the American white man regardless of his nationality or experience. The way Said presents his argument could be said to echo the ‘Africanism’ of the black man illustrated in Faulkner’s short story. The introduction to Said’s book essentially presents his argument. He starts by illustrating how the Orient has become something that is not a “free subject of thought or action” because of the more imaginary concept of Orientalism and then demonstrates how the “European culture gained in strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient as a sort of surrogate and even underground self” (Said, 1979, p. 3). Each of these ideas is further explored throughout the remainder of the chapter. Opening with an argument regarding the use of the term Orientalism, Said makes three observations. The first one centers on the idea that the term ‘Orient’ refers not to the truth of the region, but rather to an idea that has been developed in the minds of Europeans that tends to group all individuals of the Middle East and East as belonging to a single cultural and religious sector. These made-up concepts of the Orient are so pervasive, he argues, that they are invisible to the Western mind in much the same way that the different regions of Africa are given a single conception rather than recognizing differences. This argument is supported by the theory of deconstruction in which it is suggested “authors cannot fully understand what they have written: the deep ground of the ideas which underlies the text is forever invisible and inaccessible to the author” (Chandler, 1995: 228). Although not based on actual truth, the concept of Orientalism is ingrained within the Western white man’s culture in a variety of ways. Said’s second observation regarding the use of the term Orient is that this term identifies anyone of this area of the world to be automatically something ‘other.’ The concept of the ‘other’ is almost always associated with something inferior or less civilized. “It was in its encounter with Islam that the West first developed its vision of the Orient as an unfathomable, exotic and erotic place where mysteries dwell and cruel and barbaric scenes are staged” (Sardar, 1999: 2). However, as these impressions were erroneous from the start, the inferiority of the culture found was only to be found in the minds of the conquering colonizers, just as many of the conceptions formed regarding African culture were erroneous based on flawed observations of a few tribes. Said’s third observation regarding this term is the degree to which it has become an elemental part of the West’s vocabulary, imagery and thought regarding anything said or considered to be Oriental. Said concludes, “There exists here an almost unanimous consensus that politically he [the Oriental] does not exist, and when it is allowed that he does, it is either as a nuisance or as an Oriental. The web of racism, cultural stereotypes, political imperialism, dehumanizing ideology holding in the Arab or the Muslim is very strong indeed” (Said, 1979: 27). The three key features of Orientalism as a concept of constraint upon the ‘other’ emerge as definition based on appearances only, a refusal to acknowledge value and a tendency to relegate the ‘other’ to a faceless, mindless shadow. Although he wrote “Ad Astra” almost 50 years before the term Orientalism and its inherent elements were identified, many of the ideas brought forward in Said’s sociological study are present within Faulkner’s short story as it is applied to a black man. In this brief story of a group of American soldiers brought together by war, Faulkner develops an allegory for the brotherhood of men that explores the possible relationships that might exist between men of differing races. This comparison is established almost from the beginning as the story opens upon three American soldiers, one Irish soldier and a dark-skinned subadar, an Indian rank that is approximately equal to the rank of an English Captain (The British Library Board, 2006). The way in which the subadar is compared to the others in the story illustrates that the reason black and white are not brothers in America is due to the American obsession with exterior skin color rather than focusing on the true attributes of the man inside the skin. Because of his skin color, he is accepted as a kind of lesser officer than the American and Irish pilots as they drag him along on their drinking binge in keeping with the first of the three features of Orientalism identified in other studies – that the subadar is considered inferior to the others based simply on the color of his skin. Although the subadar shares a great deal of philosophical wisdom and insight with his fellow soldiers, only the German captive is capable of understanding and valuing some of what he says, meeting with the second element identified in Orientalism – most of the white men, with the exception of the prisoner, consider the subadar to have nothing of value to offer. Although Faulkner shows the subadar to be uncommonly wise against the backdrop of the drunk soldiers, he remains for much of the story merely a part of the backdrop, his darkness shadowing the story as even he acknowledges that in the face of the white man, he can do nothing to improve his people. This final element of the Orientalist concept is emphasized by the comparison Faulkner makes between the free subadar and the captured German. The German and the subadar characters are linked to each other through a similarity in their physical appearance. They are separated from the other characters in the story in every way possible from its opening lines. They are both described as being the only two individuals who are dressed in crisp, neat uniforms – the subadar in “trick major’s pips” and the German as “rigid, soldierly, with every button in place, with his unblemished bandage and fresh razor cuts” (417). This bandage is immediately linked in appearance to that of the subadar’s turban, the only two characters with anything on their heads. Later in the story, the narrator even mentions this similarity between the characters as he describes their calm serenity in the midst of a bar fight, “the both of them turbaned like prophets in the Old Testament” (426). This indicates the level of these characters’ wisdom as compared to the foolishness of their drunken fellows when seen in hindsight, but these elements of the characters had not been noticed earlier nor considered in the general understanding of who these men were. These characters, the German and the subadar, seem to appear in the story as if out of nowhere as the narrator, at one point, simply mentions their presence without any preamble explaining how they came to be a part of the party. This begins to set up the concept that both men are mere shadows to the other soldiers. Although they each come from an affluent background – the German as a Baron of the German court who has renounced his birthright and the subadar as a Prince who also turned his back on his heritage – neither character is given a unique name within the story, instead being referred to simply by how others categorize them. This is significantly different from the other characters, all of whom are referred to by a personal name with the exception of the narrator himself, who is made individual through the personal ‘I’. While the German is white, he is a prisoner and does not, therefore, need to be acknowledged by the other members of the scene. The subadar, on the other hand, is neither prisoner nor low-born, but because of the color of his skin and the preconceptions regarding black men the other soldiers have brought with them, he is not seen as a potential ‘mate’ nor do the other soldiers seem to consider that he might have something interesting to say. Although the subadar can also be compared favorably to the character Bland, he does not gain the type of equal status with his fellow soldiers that he is able to establish immediately with the captured and thus already subjugated German. Bland remembers the black man from his days at Oxford, but reminds everyone that even though the subadar could “attend the schools among the gentleborn, […] he cannot hold their commission, because gentility is a matter of color and not lineage or behavior” (413). “In these stories, there is frequently a background narrator who implies that the black characters involved in the plot are at least as important and as good as the white, but because the world values color over content, the characters of color find themselves socially disadvantaged” (Martin, 1993). The subadar is reminded of this inequality frequently through the treatment he receives by the others and as he is continuously restricted from exercising his rank or knowledge in the face of white determination. This can be seen in the words of the MP, who “watched the subadar, upon his face an expression savage, restrained and cold. […] ‘When I came to this country, […] I thought niggers were niggers. But now I’ll be damned if I know what they are’” (422). While Faulkner is attempting to wipe away some of the effects of Orientalism, or perhaps for the current application the term ‘Africanism’ would be more appropriate, he nevertheless manages to demonstrate how the concepts identified by Said such as use of vocabulary and imagery are regularly employed by the most common of soldiers as a means of keeping the ‘other’ in his allotted subjugated place. Just as Said attempted to reveal the ‘truth’ regarding Orientalism and the various ways in which it blinds the West to the true value and rich cultural diversity of the East, Faulkner continuously attempted to demonstrate the value and beauty of the black man when he is able to move beyond the constraints set by the American whites. As the German and the subadar begin conversing, they appear to be the only characters with anything substantial or meaningful going on within their heads. These two characters are the only two who do not seem too traumatized by their sudden dramatic changes in status – the German is now a captive rather than a member of a mighty nation, the subadar is now a lowly servant to the whites rather than a prince of a subjugated kingdom – to discuss the larger events that are happening in the world. Part of their conversation links them immediately as they are both familiar with the geographical territory from which the German comes, share a similar taste in music and demonstrate an ability to discuss things in terms of a common brotherhood. Bland’s despair at the end of the story serves to emphasize the calm acceptance of the subadar in realizing that his people, indeed the whole world, has fallen victim to an idea that cannot be changed simply by stating the truth. Through his short stories, particularly in his characterizations, William Faulkner was able to demonstrate a sociological idea that would take many more years before it was more fully explored, studied and recognized as a source of separation. Edward Said started the discussion in revealing his insights regarding the elements of Orientalism in which individuals, based upon their physical resemblance to a particular race or concept of race, are judged as intellectually and culturally inferior by the white men that come to dominate as a result of this perception. By ignoring evidence of individualism and wisdom within these ‘inferior’ races and insisting upon grouping them all into a single mold, the white man eliminates much of the possibility for these groups to break out of the mold established not by their own culture, but by the ideas of the white man. In each case, the black man, the Oriental and the Muslim are conceived of by the white man as somehow ignorant, uncivilized and unworthy of respect. These conceptions are formed by what the white man knows of these ‘others’, knowledge gained through eyes already conditioned to find something weaker, less capable and therefore no longer requiring further attention or attempts toward better understanding. As Faulkner demonstrates in his story, though, once one is forced to the realization that this ‘knowledge’ of the ‘other’ is erroneous, perhaps through direct personal experience such as found in “Ad Astra,” the possibility exists for a more realistic and in depth understanding between groups and a greater harmony within. Works Cited British Library Board (The). “India Office Records: Family History Sources.” The British Library. (2006). December 3, 2008 Chandler, Daniel. The Act of Writing. Aberystwyth, University of Wales, (1995). Cowley, Malcolm. “Introduction.” The Portable Faulkner. New York: Penguin Books, (1977). Faulkner, William. “Ad Astra.” The Portable Faulkner. New York: Penguin Books, (1977): 411-432. Martin, Reginald. “Faulkner’s Southern Reflections: The Black on the Back of the Mirror in ‘Ad Astra’.” African American Review. (Spring 1993). Padgett, John B. “William Faulkner.” University of Mississippi English Department. (2005). December 3, 2008 Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, (1979). Sardar, Ziauddin. Orientalism. Buckingham: Open University Press, (1999). Read More