William Faulkner's literary works and themes

William Faulkner

Haunting:

Stream of Consciousness, Flashbacks, and Reminiscence as Emphasis of William Faulkner's Theme of the Presence of the Past in Three Works of Fiction

Whether it is the stinking body of Addie Bundren drug through fire and flood, the nightshirt clad bones of Homer Baron "in the attitude of an embrace" (a Rose V), or the ghost of Abner Snopes's once stable economic status, the presence of the past haunts much of William Faulkner's fiction. Often, the presence of the past is so strong that it causes a sort of delusion among Faulkner's characters and the society that surrounds them. In as I Lay Dying, Addie Bundren's children operate under some confusion as to whether she is dead or alive. They assign her human characteristics, worry about her ability to breath, and act as if she can hear them. As her body is taken from town to town, however, society is confused and disgusted that Anse Bundren would dare to keep his promise, which society calls an "outrage" (Wadlington 25). In "A Rose for Emily," Emily lives under the delusion that she has love, although all she has is a rotting corpse, while society pities a woman who is really a killer. Finally, Abner Snopes believes that, somehow, burning barns will help him gain his vengeance, and society is deluded by thinking that he can be cured or stopped.

Regardless of how it manifests itself, then, the presence of the past is evident in many of Faulkner's works. That the presence of the past would be an integral part of Faulkner's fiction, however, is not surprising. Indeed, the author himself was haunted by the presence of his own past. Faulkner's own Southern military lineage and connection to both his ancestry and the south may have motivated the theme. It is not through the author's personal experiences, however, but through his style that his theme of the presence of the past is emphasized. This becomes abundantly clear when three of Faulkner's works are studied -- his novel as I Lay Dying and two short stories -- "A Rose for Emily" and "Barn Burning." Indeed, Faulkner uses two techniques -- stream of consciousness and flashbacks and reminiscence, to emphasize the past in these works of fiction.

In order to emphasize his theme of the presence of the past, Faulkner uses a famous but often difficult to comprehend literary technique, stream of consciousness. Although elements of stream of consciousness are evident in many of his works, as I Lay Dying is the best example of this literary technique. Renown Faulkner scholar Joseph Blotner writes that Faulkner wrote the novel in six weeks, on breaks from his night job shoveling coal (113-115). The text reflects that it was written in a single gulp, presenting an affective stream of consciousness style. Each of the Bundrens' four children, some members of society, including a minister, a doctor, and neighbors, Anse, and even Addie, have anywhere from one to multiple chapters. Addie, whose body is the story's centerpiece, has only one chapter. Darl, the second youngest boy who is eventually committed for insanity, has the most. In each of these chapters, the characters are not interpreted through an omniscient narrator, though Darl tends to know more than he should, nor do they present a polished story. Instead, the reader enters each character's head, and follows his or her thoughts throughout the chapter. For this reason, the story is out of order, and versions of events are different. Together, the chapters present a beautiful glimpse into the minds' of Faulkner's characters, as well as a peek at the author's own stream of consciousness, his process of getting a fully formed story from his mind to the paper.

Other than as I Lay Dying, Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning," contains elements of stream of consciousness. This can be best realized through segments of the story in which the narrator allows the reader into the mind of young Colonel Sartoris Snopes (Sarty), a young boy named for an important military man. For instance, as the judge prepares to call the boy to testify for his father, the boy's internal though process is depicted by the following stream of consciousness:

Enemy! Enemy! he thought; for a moment he could not even see, could not see that the justice's face was kindly nor discern that his voice was troubled when he spoke to the man named Harris: "Do you want me to question this boy?" But he could hear, and during those subsequent long seconds while there was absolutely no sound in the crowded little room save that of quiet and intent breathing it was as if he had swung outward at the end of a grape vine, over a ravine, and at the top of the swing had been caught in a prolonged instant of mesmerized gravity, weightless in time (Barn 10).

Further episodes of stream of consciousness in the story depict the boy's thoughts as he is abused, considers his father's barn burning, and thinks about family ties.