Absalom
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner is the story of a man who outraged the land that then turned and destroyed the man's family (Serafin 356). Growing up as a poor mountain white, Thomas Sutpen yearns for more than what he has ever had. He marries a young woman and fathers a son, but soon after it is revealed to him that his wife has Negro blood. Abandoning his new wife and child, Sutpen leaves to create a life for himself of wealth, family, and social acceptance. Thomas Sutpen marries a gentlewoman, Ellen Coldfield, with whom he begets two children, Henry and Judith. Although he is a man of accomplished dreams and affluence, everything that he has achieved and established crumbles around him (Magill, Magill's Survey of American Literature 675). The events transcend into a twisted plot of revelation, revenge, and murder. When Henry goes off to college, he becomes good friends with Charles Bon, the first son of Thomas. Charles meets and then falls in love with his half-sister Judith, which causes Henry to kill him because he is committing incest. As a result of this incestuous relationship and murder, the fabulous life that Sutpen has worked to maintain is torn apart by the revengeful attitudes of the family memb
ers. William Faulkner's novel Absalom, Absalom! contains an allusion to the Biblical account of King David and his family and to William Shakespeare's play Hamlet in order to develop the characters in the conflicts that revolve around four thematic ideas. In addition to the conflict among the brothers, there is also a conflict between a brother and a sister that is more clearly revealed through the allusion to the Bible (Hagan 216). Judith Sutpen is involved in a conflict that she herself has no idea she is in. Having unknowingly met her half-brother for the first time, she falls in love with him. This is the beginning of an incestuous relationship that will prevail for a time until their father reveals to their brother Henry that Charles is related to them. With the revealing of this knowledge, the two lovers are in a conflict with one another because they love yet they are related. It is not possible for them to continue in their relationship because of the strict monitoring of the two of them by Henry. When Charles puts Judith in this position where she loves her own brother, he begins a conflict between them. He has placed her in an uncomfortable situation that she does not know how to truly deal with. From the time that Charles first begins to like Judith he has caused a conflict to build up between them. Without a doubt, the use of the Biblical allusion by Faulkner conveys the importance of the brother and sister conflict. Like Hamlet, Sutpen is driven by blind psychological forces, in Sutpen's case it is ambition that controls who he is and who he becomes (Lind 890). This is another example of Faulkner's use of the allusion to the play Hamlet. In a swift manner driven by ambition, Sutpen establishes a plantation and aristocratic stature that should by rights have been preserved for those in line of succession and birth. One of the minor themes of this story is centered on the ambition that drives Thomas Sutpen to do the things that he is doing. Sutpen is a bitter and demonic figure of fleeing ambition (Marowski and Matuz 111). Having lived his entire life being driven by this fleeing ambition, he is left with nothing but a broken family and the pieces for him to pick up. Thomas Sutpen is seen as a "demon," a man so driven by ambition to build a plantation that he destroys everyone close to him (Unger 66). So quickly Sutpen establishes a life that is pleasing to him but as quickly as it is founded it falls and brings down the whole family with it. Having this ambitious drive results in Sutpen's conforming to society to achieve status rather than being an expression of his own personal beliefs and ideas (Hagopian 211). He sacrifices all that he has for so long longed for just to take a higher rank on the social ladder. The blind psychological force of ambition in Sutpen is his tragic flaw and it eventually leads to the destruction of him. By alluding to Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Faulkner gives an in depth description of the character of Thomas Sutpen. Throughout the novel of Absalom, Absalom!, there is a conflict between Thomas Sutpen and his son Charles Bon, which is described through Faulkner's use of a Biblical allusion. Charles Bon is Thomas Sutpen's first son who is abandoned with his mother by his father at an early age. When Sutpen first learns that his heir to the family name and goods has Negro-blood in him from his mother, he quickly disengages himself from his family and leaves them to live their lives on their own. The fact that his son is part Negro causes the first conflict between father and son in the story. Eventually, Charles returns to the Sutpen family when he is a roommate of Henry Sutpen's in college. Henry's and his friendship results in his meeting his half-sister and wanting to be with her. Because Charles wants to marry his own sister, he begins to have another conflict with the father that he has just gotten back in contact wi
Some common words found in the essay are:
King David, Thomas Sutpen, Charles Judith, Absalom Absalom, Charles Bon, Thomas Sutpen's, Henry Sutpen's, Henry Charles, Henry Sutpen, Hamlet Sutpen, king david, thomas sutpen, charles bon, play hamlet, henry sutpen, absalom absalom, biblical story, biblical allusion, incestuous relationship, story king david, story king, biblical story king, novel absalom absalom, king david family, play hamlet faulkner,
Approximate Word count = 4064
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
