Absalom, Absalom!; An Innovative Narrative Technique
Eng. 413. Major Authors: William Faulkner
Friday, December 06, 1996
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.
Dorothy Bernard 1922
Pordenone 2011
Betty CompsonIt'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...