Stream of Consciousness in Faulkner\'s

Stream of Consciousness in Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!

Faulkner's novel Absalom, Absalom is a representation of the South's story following the Civil War. The novel is Faulkner's attempt at selling the idea of what effect the Civil War had on an average family living in the Jefferson County, Mississippi. Faulkner tells this story by the use of narrative stories offered by the main characters, vinets that are extolled by the characters to the reader as a way of expressing their thoughts regarding their counterparts within the novel and as a method for Faulkner to humanize his creations and give them life.

Faulkner's use of the stream of consciousness technique is at the core of Faulkner's novel (Yamaguchi, 2004). The story centers around two main characters, a woman named Miss Rosa Coldfield a woman whose life and family have been left in shambles as a product of both the Civil War and interactions with certain members of the community, namely a Mr. Thomas Stuben and a Mr. Quentin Compson, the grandson of a Civil War general who was friends with Stuben (Cagle, 2005).

The novel represents more than just a narrative told by one character to express the events of their lives in relation to others; rather, it is Faulkner's way of expressing a metaphor for southern history. The attitudes of the main characters to each other and to the outcome of the Civil War are representations of the culture of the South and the attitude of Southerners regarding the triumph of the Union at the end of the Civil War. It is through Faulkner's use of "Stream of Consciousness" that this metaphor takes shape.

The purpose of this brief analysis is to review the use of Stream of Consciousness within Faulkner's novel. The scenes wherein this technique manifests itself will be highlighted and discussed in relation to the overall theme of the novel. Narrations fitting within this construct will also be analyzed in conjunction with the metaphor that Faulkner is attempting to construct. Finally, this analysis will end with an overview of the broad thematic representations Faulkner uses in his novel.

Discussion

The first chapter of the novel essentially sets the stage of the rest of the plot line in Faulkner's work (Anshen, 2008). Throughout the first chapter, the events recounted by Miss Coldfield are examined more in depth and in greater distance between the subsequent characters in later parts of the novel. This sort of linkage is Faulkner's way of using a stream of consciousness rather than a narrative of a series of events. Throughout the first chapter, it becomes clear that Miss Coldfield's relationship to her own past is tense and filled with bitterness and this allows for the other characters to react internally to her sense of strife as she comes to terms with the feelings regarding her youth that she has held internally for the past several decades (Spillers, 2004).

During Chapter 1, Miss Coldfield portrays certain characters, that will be examined later in the novel has having certain characteristics. Specifically, Miss Coldfield refers to Thomas Stupen as a "demon, an ogre, a man whose slaves were mindless savages," Miss Coldfield is making more of a comment about Stupen's relationship with her past and his behavior toward other individuals within it, than a comment on Stupen's character, although it can be argued that Miss Coldfield is essentially engaging in both (Spillers, 2004). During this expose into Stupen's relationship with Miss Coldfield's past, is where the heavy introduction of the "stream of consciousness" tactic comes forth.

This model permeates the entire Faulkner work, however it is extremely prevalent within the first several chapters. Indeed, Faulkner sets up the integration of this model by the use of Quentin's "consciousness" throughout the description of Miss Coldfield's past. Quentin, incorporates Miss Coldfield's "historic narrative" with his own perceived notions of Southern culture and relates, the presentation of Thomas Stupen's interaction with individuals as an explanation for the entire culture of the South and more importantly, Quentin's "conscious" thoughts express a linkage that the South lost the war because of men like Stupen, men who had shrewd and calculating natures but lacked compassion and therefore drew the ire and wrath of God, therein preventing the South from attaining victory (Burton, 2006).

As the novel progresses through the remaining chapters and Quentin speaks to other individuals who are part of the Coldfield narrative, it becomes clear to Quentin that Miss Coldfield's narrative discourse is not simply a rendering of incidences from her past but rather a social commentary on the role certain individuals played in crafting the environment in the South. Quentin, indeed finds himself dealing with larger questions and broader issues within the context of the novel. There are instances when he is discussing parts of the narrative with his father, Mr. Compson (Blotner, 2006).

Mr. Compson deviates from the narrative and tells the story from an outside perspective as it relates to the experiences Miss Coldfield had during her youth on the Stupen plantation. During this expository session with his father, the reader is introduced to Quentin's "consciousness" as he attempts to reconcile the experiences of Miss Coldfield's youth with the type of man Thomas Stupen appears to be- in deed the reader is brought into the fore when Quentin's own thoughts turn to equating Mr. Stupen with having a level of supernatural evil; one that is devoid of all logic, rational and compassion (Blotner, 2006).