"Nowhere in this sinful world can a honest, hardworking man profit. It takes them that runs the stores in the towns, doing no sweating, living off them that sweats. It ain't the hardworking man, the farmer. Sometimes I wonder why we keep at it. It's because there is a reward for us above, where they cant take their autos and such."
This quote drove me to think deeply about why Faulkner put an apostrophe in "it's" but not in "cant." Some of his other misspellings exist to produce a dialectic "sound" to the reading, but this one seems senseless??!!
Although I would delight in dwelling further on this issue, I fear it might not meet the standard of "particularly significant" (darn the added qualifier), and I should instead develop my theory that this quote succinctly encapsulates Faulkner's effort to depict southerners as hopeless and crazed traditionalists who stifle individual expression in favor of God and convention and God's convention.
Noah edicted that we make these short essays concise, so I'll end by simply divulging that I am in love with Addie. It's not simply her superior swimming skills or those cute dimples that turn me on; I love how she stands out. Her characterization seems different (neologism spared) than the other characters in several ways. Her defiance of capitalized pronouns and her hatred for her children (I grew up hating close family and know intimately how liberating it can be) are both strikingly forward-thinking. Faulkner and I have found a solution to the South. If only we can bring her back to life. Or maybe that happens. I'm only page 176.
No comments:
Post a Comment