American Literature

Though William Faulkners works were well respected enough to earn him a place of its own in the world of early twentieth century literature, he is also tied close to the Southern Renaissance movement, which encapsulated literature in the region just after World War I and helped to change the perception of the South abroad. Faulkers own struggle with identity is an interesting item to behold, especially considering the fact that the author wrote on many items that related to the theme of identity in a Southern context. As James Charles Cobb wrote in his work, Away Down South A History of Southern Identity, the regions people struggled to maintain personal identity, while also adhering to the framework of societal norms. Additionally, the South itself struggled with themes of identity, often not knowing its place in a changing world where things were bound to be very different. Cobb wrote, Because it was grounded so firmly and rigidly in a carefully constructed historical narrative, the weight of New South orthodoxy fell heavily on an emerging cadre of Southern historians who faced especially strong pressure to fit their version of the regions past within the framework of the New South identity (Cobb, p. 99). Given that this struggle for identity is a very real part of many works born in the Southern Renaissance period, it figures that an author as prominent as Faulkner would have taken up the torch. In works like the Snopes Trilogy and These 13 and many more, Faulkner manages to weave in themes of Southern identity into his writing, while diligently developing meaningful dialogue. In many different types of work, Faulkner was able to effectively detail the struggles of both individuals and the South as a whole to adjust to its new subjective reality and the identity that it would take between the two World Wars. He dealt with what Cobb described as the impossible load of the past (Cobb, p. 130), unraveling that idea for the masses.

In order to understand how Faulkners works may have related to the Southern Renaissance, one must first understand that basic ideas and themes covered in that movement, as described by the people who know literature the best. According to Richard Kings A Southern Renaissance, the period was one where both writers and common people were forced to change their ways a bit. They had a new world to learn, and writers led the charge in that regard. King wrote, The writers and intellectuals of the South after the late 1920s were engaged in an attempt to come to terms with not only the inherited values of Southern tradition, but also with a certain way of perceiving and dealing with the past, what Nietzche called monumental historical consciousness (King, p. 7). Cobb described this phenomenon as the special detachment and steadfast point of view (Cobb, p. 132) that writers featured during that time. King went on to write about the actual struggle to find the perfect blend between the past and the present, which is where the theme of identity becomes so important. The South is forced to reconcile itself, while also holding on to those ideas that have become so very important over the years. He writes, It was vitally important for them to decide whether the past was of any use at all in the present and if so, in what ways (King, p. 7). This eloquent and accurate description provides a proper context for understanding some of the innate challenges faced by those individuals who wrote the South into the new era. Essentially, this is what Faulkner and others were doing, as their words led the charge and forged opinions of what the changing South would be. With that understanding, it is much easier to consider the ways in which Faulkners work related to the central theme of identity in the Southern renaissance movement at that time. One thing that Cobb is quick to mention is that Faulkner himself shows the mixed emotions that Southerners had about their own identity. He writes that Faulkner says, Some of the things I dont like at all, but I was born there and thats my home, and I will defend it even if I hate it (Cobb, p. 139). In this, one can see the conundrum that Southern writers were forced to encounter. King even opined that Faulkner missed the mark with this work, saying that he never quite gets the story right (King, p. 120).

In a way, many of the characters in Faulkners works experience a similar experience as Faulkner and his fellow writers. According to King, this includes a very important choice that these writers and all southerners had to make as the region moved from its roots to its new identity. King writes, Historically, the choices open to the white Southern writer or intellectual have been limited, though not as restricted as those imposed on Black Southerners, or, say, upon the intelligentsia of Czarist Russia. He could leave the South, perhaps under pressure, assimilate to the national culture, and forget his origins. Or he could leave, and remain a Southerner in manner and sympathies, serving as an explaner of the region to the rest of the nation (King, p. 11). What Faulkner does is effectively create characters that are forced into these unique situations in which they need to choose between one or the other. Additionally, his characters are pushed into conflicts as a result of their identity, but these conflicts are not always with other characters in the story. At times, Faulkner used his characteristic stream of consciousness writing to bring to light the internal conflicts that many individuals faced. These characters represent a breathing interpretation from Faulkner on the nature of the Southern development and how the changing cultural dynamic is forcing different people into unfamiliar spots and circumstances.

One work where this is most evident is Light of August, Faulkners work about a mixed man who struggles with his own personal identity. The reason why this work is such a powerful one in relation to the Southern Renaissance is that it includes themes of both cultural and individual identity. It speaks to the fact that the South is still trying to figure out its stance on multi-cultural people, and through the inner dialogue of Joe Christmas, it speaks to the individual struggles that undoubtedly took place during that time. A critical review by Janet Zhan speaks to this fact, and perfectly illustrates the way that this particular story traces the lead characters identity from start to finish. In her review, Zhan writes, Throughout Light in August, Joe Christmas struggles with his identity. He is partially black, and he is partially white, something that wasnt socially acceptable in the twenties and thirties, when ever a little black blood would cause others to consider you as being completely black. Joe doesnt know how to act, because he does not know if he should act white or black its impossible to act both white and black simultaneously. In the end, however, after killing Ms. Burden, Joe somewhat makes peace with his identity (Zhan, p. 1). This is a perfect example of one of the issues that the Southern Renaissance touched on. Not only did it throw the focus on identity, but also how that identity was impacted by racial relations. This is something that Cobb touched on in his work when he described Joe Christmas as a tragic mulatto figure (Cobb, p. 141).  Because of the nature of the South at the time, race was still a very important idea and people were still being defined by their color. For individuals like Christmas, not having a single color could be worse during that time than having one color, since neither group was accepting of multi-cultural individuals. In one instance, this comes to fruition, as the character is referred to in the story as a white nigger (Faulkner, p.321). Cobb describes the struggle as something that could have been avoided for the character, except that he wanted to push the social envelope (Cobb, p. 142). This singular struggle was something that the movement touched on at length, and it serves as a very important theme that pervaded much of Faulkners work through the period. In that work, Faulkner writes of Christmass struggle, But there was too much running with him years, acts, deeds, omitted and committed, keeping pace with him stride for stride, breath for breath, thud for thud of the heart, using a single heart (Faulkner, p. 448). Additionally, Faulkner seeks to separate himself and take a step back from the character, as indicated in the article by Zhan. She writes, It is important to recognize that Faulkner writes about Joes last moments in quotation marks, almost as if to separate himself from the viewpoint that hed like us readers to understand from the passage (Zhan, p. 1). She goes on to write, While describing Christmass identity struggle, the character narrates (Zhan, p. 1). This is different from the rest of the story, where Faulkner relies on a distant narrator that may be his own voice. This struggle was something that caused the character to run from who he was, and to run to something new, even if he did not exactly know what was waiting for him. Zhan described this as a tug of war (Zhan, p. 3) that the character was forced to deal with. Additionally, this work suspends the character in limbo over his lineage, as he does not know his parents exactly. This was another point where identity came into play, as indicated by Zhan. She writes, Part of Christmass struggle involves not only his determination to be either black or white, but also involves not knowing his parentage (Zhan, p. 3). Eventually, the character made peace with the mixed blood (Zhan, p. 3), but it was not until after much strife and trouble. This is what the Southern Renaissance wrote about primarily. The writers, including Faulkner, discussed the personal development of characters suspended in time, moving from a familiar era to an unfamiliar one, trying to fit in during a changing period in American history.

Cobb denotes that Faulkner also touches on these themes in his work, Sartoris. This is Faulkners chance to touch on identity from the other side of the fence, taking a look at how more wealthy and affluent Southerners had to deal with it. For it was not just the blacks and brow-beaten individuals that struggled with identity instead, it was everyone. Cobb writes, In Sartoris, Faulkner drew heavily on both personal feelings and family experiences to present the ineffectual struggle of a venerable Southern family (Cobb, p. 140). Additionally, he touches on the fact that individuals of different generations are having a hard time reconciling their viewpoints to create an identity. He writes, More revealing still is the inability of his grandfather, a former Confederate officer who represents the Lost Cause ethos in which his grandson has been thoroughly immersed, to be of much assistance (Cobb, p. 141).

One of the most widely studied of Faulkners works is one called Absalom, Absalom, which takes a different look at identity in the Southern context. One of the prevailing themes of Southern life was the struggle between power and identity. Because of the old, traditional nature of the proceedings down South, individuals brokered power and passed it down from generation to generation. It was something that came as a result of family reputation, land ownership, and other societal conventions. This book also speaks to the lost identity and what King calls the declining Southern aristocracy (King, p. 111). The book itself takes a long, hard look at the idea of power and identity, which is one of the central themes of the Southern Renaissance movement. The author centrally questions, through his unique use of narrative, why individuals have power and what can be done to act out against this system of power brokerage. Additionally, he looks at guilt over slavery and the oppression of blacks (King, p. 112), as brought to light by King.  Fred C. Hobson studied this book at length, writing his own case study on the work. He essentially took a hard-line view on exactly what the author was trying to get across, and he also took the time to consider how identity played a key role in shaping the action throughout the work. In his review, he wrote, Sutpen wants revenge not against the injustice of that mastery which the powerful have over the powerless, but against those artificial standards or circumstances that determine who are the powerful and who are the powerless, against the artificial standard of inherited wealth and the circumstances of ones birth. Faulkner says that Sutpen in his quest for revenge violated all the rules of decency and honor and pity and compassion (Hobson, p. 51). This is something important to note, as the review shows that Faulkner is once again taking a shot at breaking down how identity is determined in Southern society. One of the key ideas of the Southern Renaissance is not only telling the story of how the South is run, but being somewhat critical of the old approaches. In this work, the lead character sees the societal conventions in the South as being somewhat silly, as they do not truly show who is the most worthy of power. Instead of being earned, power is actually bestowed upon people by no means of their own doing, which is something that seems to put off the author and appears to hold back Southern society at the time. Additionally, this touches upon a theme from the Southern Renaissance that must be highlighted. That is that the authors continually show those characters to be in conflict with society when they make their decisions. Characters are continually forced to make difficult choices and to have to face what society tells them about identity. These characters make significant strides both for themselves and for society at large, but it comes at a cost. They endure certain hardships as a direct result of the undertaking that they are attempting to complete.

Additionally, this work is one where the reader can see the supposed importance of the movement itself. As noted by Hobson, Faulkner once went so far as to call this work the best novel yet written by an American (Hobson, p. 3). This speaks to the identity struggle and just how important it was for Faulkners work to uncover many of the themes surrounding the South at the time. The work deals with the racial burden (Hobson, p. 4) of Southern history, which is a difficult and complicated topic. It does, however, show Faulkners relation to identity and the Southern Renaissance.

Additionally, one can see in the short stories of Faulkner a prevailing theme. He uses these stories to highlight the identity struggle that the South as a whole has to undertake in order to move from one point to another. Flem Snopes, in the Snopes Triology, is constantly searching for something. This has long been noted as one of the most complex and interesting characters in all of Faulkners literature, and that has a lot to do with the fact that the character struggles to find a place, while living in a society that is struggling to find its place. In these stories, there is a feeling that the South as a whole is looking to understand what is going on around it. There are some questions about how the region will be able to reconcile the history of slavery and develop a new identity from that. For the longest time, writers and individuals in the South had been clinging to the old war chant, not wanting to let go of the old picture of the South. Though the phrase, The South will rise again is something that is typically used in joking fashion, this was the actual viewpoint of many of the writers leading up to World War I. After that, writers like Faulkner started to write about societies where the identity was much more undefined. Without their old war cry and forced to move into the next generation, societies like the South had trouble with definition. What were they going to be known for What would make them special This is what characters in Faulkners short stories look to figure out, and it is what society around them is moving toward.

In all, the work of Faulkner is interesting because it provides an absolutely perfect picture of what the Southern literary movement was all about just after World War I. Calling it a renaissance was truly the right phrase, as the movement was one that saw a complete re-birth of ideas and a new direction for both the writers and society at large. Specifically, Faulkner touches on the Southern Renaissance theme of identity, and he does so in a number of ways. Individual identity struggles and societal identity issues were both central to what made the movement important, and Faulkner was a leader in writing about that. He did so with a characteristic style, allowing the individual characters to struggle enough that their struggles told the story of what was happening in the South at the time. More aptly, it told the story of the South that certain authors envisioned, and helped to usher in through their works.