Banality of Evil in William Faulkners Works - Research Paper Example

Examine how the concept of the banality of evil is used in the works of William Faulkner The idea of the banality of evil gained prominence following Hannah Arendt’s publication of Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil in the year 1963. The book centered on Adolf Eichmann’s trial, which took place in Jerusalem (Binggeli 72). According to Arendt, people who participate in unspeakably despicable crimes are not necessarily fanatics but rather normal people. These normal people simply choose to give a positive response to the premises of their state and act towards an ongoing enterprise with the energy of honorable people. In essence, this means that the banality of evil posits that ordinary people have the capacity to normalize the unthinkable. Therefore, the conduct of unspeakably terrible things in a systematic or organized manner rests solely on normalization. The banality of evil allows acts that are ugly, murderous; degrading and unspeakable to become routine and acceptable as normal or the norm. William Faulkner wrote a massive quantity of works, some of which encompass the concept of the banality of evil. Faulkner sought to portray humans as having the wiliness to consider unspeakable actions as normal. This paper will examine the concept of the banality of evil in William Faulkner’s works. His works show that such normalization is the root of evil in the society and not the unspeakable acts. The banality of evil depends solely on a division of labor in which certain people perform unspeakable acts while others rationalize these actions. In Sanctuary, Faulkner constructs the story on the framework of crime and detective work, which influences the story’s progression. The framework of the work’s genre also influences the ultimate violence enacted on characters throughout the novel, specifically Temple Drake. Faulkner used the genre of horror to exemplify the banality of evil existent in the story. The description of violence within the novel, as well as its implications of such violence on characters, portrays the normalization of unspeakable acts, which is inherent in human societies. Certain human beings in Sanctuary appear to romanticize violence, which is primarily meted on females by males, thereby rationalizing acts of violence as normal human actions. Sanctuary encompassed numerous horror scenes characterized by mutilation and violations through sharp objects such as razors and knives. Perhaps one of the mortifying acts of violence encompassed in the novel is the horrific human violation through a blunt, phallic corn cob. Bloodshed, in Sanctuary, is normalized and perceived as meaningful as it raises questions regarding racial purity, as well as masculine/feminine constructions within the society (Faulkner 216). Sanctuary gives flesh to beings nearly too depraved or sick to fit the description of human beings. Notably, characters in Sanctuary transgressed all boundaries of human normalcy although the characters do not consider their actions as depraved. These characters rationalize and normalize their actions allowing the consideration of such violent, depraved acts as normal human behaviors. Faulkner shows, through characters such as Popeye, how humans tend to rationalize the evilest actions considering them as normal. For instance, since Popeye was impotent and considered the act of rape a normal human action, he proceeded to rape Temple using a corn cob. The townspeople, on the other hand, also exemplify the banality of evil when they castrate and lynch Goodwin who was innocent of the purported crimes. In this case, the townspeople normalized the acts of castration and lynching as proper punishments for crimes committed. Temple also shows how the society normalized the act of poking fun at other people’s inabilities as she laughs at Popeye’s impotence. The characters in Sanctuary also consider sexual immorality normal human behavior. After the rape ordeal, Temple has sexual intercourse with another boy she had known for a brief period (Faulkner 221). Although Absalom, Absalom! is relatively less violent than Sanctuary but still encompasses a variety of human acts that are evil yet normalized. The novel focuses on the evil side of modernity, for instance, acts of fornication, racism and abandonment. For instance, Thomas Sutpet married Eulalia Bon who bore him a son. However, after learning that Eulalia was not white but rather of mixed race, Thomas renounced their marriage and abandoned his wife and child. Although Thomas’ actions are quite monstrous, he rationalized and normalized them with the proclamation that he was not aware that his wife was of mixed race. He also normalized the abandonment by giving Eulalia a portion of his wealth. Thomas based his actions on his view that the worth of human beings is measureable in terms of material possessions (Faulkner 102). He learned this in his childhood thereby exemplifying the way the society wrongfully assigns people’s worth to material possessions. Faulkner seeks to portray how the modern society continually puts material values on human beings. The modern society rationalized and normalized this evil act, which is currently the norm. In Absalom, Absalom! Faulkner also portrays the modern society as incestuous and sexually evil as Henry exhibits potentially incestuous feelings towards his sister, as well as quasi-romantic feelings towards Charles. Although Henry is aware that Charles is his half-brother, he fails to understand why Judith and Charles cannot get married. In essence, Henry normalizes incest and therefore, sees nothing wrong in Judith marrying her half-brother. Faulkner shows that, in addition to normalizing incest, the modern society has also normalized racism. Firstly, Thomas abandoned Eulalia after learning she was part black. Secondly, Henry denounces Judith’s intended marriage to Charles after learning that the latter was partly black. Father and son exhibit the normalization of racism in the modern society portrayed in Absalom, Absalom! (Faulkner 92). In The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner shows how people normalize discrimination, specifically towards mentally handicapped individuals. In the novel, a majority of the characters considered mentally handicapped individuals such as Benji as worthless because they cannot communicate like the rest. This form of discrimination is so normalized that characters in the novel deemed it proper to act violently against Benji who had no cognitive capacity to comprehend his own behaviors or their implications. Benji’s narration of how the townspeople castrated him exemplifies the banality of evil inherent in people and the entire society (Faulkner 53). The townspeople considered Benji as less than a human being thereby warranting their inhumane actions towards him. Although Benji constantly tried to connect with other people in a normal way, the people repaid such desire for human connection with brutal emasculation. Notably, although Benji was not ordinary, he did not deserve to be treated as depraved or sick. Lastly, Faulkner exhibits the banality of evil in Light in August as characters consider lust and murder as normal occurrences. When Joanna Burden was found dead, townspeople speculated that the entire Negro community was responsible for Joanna’s death. The townspeople showed no degree of compassion for the dead girl but instead spent their time speculating on whether or not the murderer had ravished Joanna before and after slitting her throat (Faulkner: 288). The society in Light in August also normalized racism choosing to make references to people on the basis of their skin color. In the novel, blood, as well as its racial connotations, conjured images of violence, sex and lust, all of which the society considered normal and permissible. The novel shows how the characters considered being black as pollution of the blood, which warranted instant brutality. The characters considered death as a viable punishment for abnormal actions such as having sexual intercourse with a person of an inferior race; black. Christmas was unable to escape the consequences of such actions as he was repaid by a brutal murder. The townspeople condoned the murder of Joanna because of the latter’s involvement with a black man. Works Cited Binggeli, Elisabeth. “Worse than Bad: Sanctuary, the Hays Office and the Genre of Abjection.”  Arizona Quarterly 65.3 (2009). Print. Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom! New York: Vintage International, Random House Incorporation, 1936. Print. Faulkner, William. Light in August. New York: Random House Incorporation, 1932. Print. Faulkner, William. Sanctuary. New York: Random House Incorporation, 1931. Print. Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury. New York: Random House Incorporation, 1929. Print. Read More