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Faulkner's Narrative StylesAuthor(s): J. E. BunselmeyerReviewed work(s):Source: American Literature, Vol. 53, No. 3 (Nov., 1981), pp. 424-442Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2926229 .

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Faulkner'sNarrative tylesJ. E. BUNSELMEYER

Universityof MassachusettsT HE VISION at theheart f Faulkner'sworks s of life s a processI of accretion, f overwhelmingonnectedness. his vision sembodiednthe yntactictyle hat haracterizesaulkner's arrationand marks hrase hythmss "Faulknerian."Works s differentsTheHamletandLight nAugust hare syntactictyle hat quatesevents nd ideas, past and present, ypiling up clauses; the styletransformsn individual xperience y linking t to everythingaround it. Stylisticnalysis dentifieshe dominantfeatures fFaulkner's haracteristictyle s well as thevariationsn style hatcreatedifferencesn tone,rangingfrom comedyto thoughtfulcontemplation.pecifically,peech cttheory nd transformationalanalysis f grammatical atterns ield nsightsnto theways bywhichnarrativeyntaxreates one ndpoint fview.The communicationf point fview s, perhaps,hebasic "trans-action"of literaryanguage.' n literarynd ordinary arratives,events rerelated rom nevaluative iewpointforexample,n thetellable ales mposed pondinner uests). n Towarda SpeechActTheory fLiteraryiscourse, ratt onsiders his valuativettitudeas inherentn "the iterarypeech ituation" ecausethe author rspeakers "notonlyreportingut alsoverbally isplaying state faffairs,nviting is addressee(s)to join him in contemplatingt,evaluating t,and respondingo it. His point s to produce n hishearers otonlybelief utalso an imaginativendaffectivenvolve-mentn the tate faffairse is presentingnd an evaluative tancetoward t."2 n Faulkner's ales, heevaluative tancevariesfromcomic detachment o empathywitha character'sontemplation;

1John Searle,SpeechActs: An Essay in the Philosophy f Language (Cambridge,Eng.: Cambridge niv. Press, 969), p. I7, discusses peechas an activetransaction.2 MaryLouisePratt, oward a SpeechAct Theory f Literary iscourse Bloomington:Indiana Univ. Press, 977), p. I36.American Literature, Volume 53, Number 3, November 98I. Copyright I98I byDuke Universityress.


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Faulkner's arrativetyles 425these ifferencesntone ndpoint fview recreatedydifferentsyntactictyles.Thestylisticeatureshatmark he ontemplativeone ll inher-entlynvolvevaluationecausehey resentyntacticelationships.Narrationiffersrom hemere ecountingfevents-inntentndinstyle-as abovhaspointedut.He found hatwhen vents eremerelyeported,heywere hrasednthe imple ast ense;whenevaluation asbuiltnto henarration,twasthroughdeparturesfrom asicnarrativeyntax,"hroughyntacticransformationshat"suspendhe ction,"ntroducevaluation,ndtransformxperience

byframingt na point fview.3hus, he yntactictylen whicha tale s toldalters hewayeventsnd charactersreevaluated.Faulkner'sontemplativetyle, hich raws eadersnto he rocessof thoughtnd evaluation,s marked ymany f thesyntacticfeaturesoted yLabov nthe valuativeectionsfnatural arra-tives,iterature'slosest in.Theforegroundedeatureshat lusterinFaulkner'sontemplativeassagesre:negatives, hich efine hat sbywhatsnot nd nviteudgementf

both hroughomparison,rovidingnLabov'swords,a way fevaluat-ing events yplacing hem gainst hebackgroundf other ventswhichmightavehappened,utwhich idnot"pp. 80-8I);appositives,which reso lengthyndso numeroushat heoriginalnoun s lost ight fas itis amplifiednd absorbedyall the hingststands or nd anbeequated ith;doublemodifiers hichbringn a wider ange f imultaneousvents"(Labov,p. 388), invitingn evaluation f therelationshipetweenattributes;comparisonshat xplicitlyvaluate hatsbywhat t s like;or-clauseshat mbed heconsiderationfalternativeorms factionorperceptionnd nvitevaluationhroughuxtaposition.

These yntacticendenciesave n common "mode fordering"experience;n act s amplified,ften oubled r tripled,hroughcomparisons,egativeomparisons,r-clauses,oubledmodifiers,and appositives.4n Faulkner's arrationf contemplationhesestylisticeatureslusterogether,ormingoregroundedatterns3WilliamLabov, "The Transformationf Experiencen Narrative yntax," anguageand the nnerCity Philadelphia:Univ.ofPennsylvaniaress,972), pp. 37I-73 and 388.4 RichardOhmann n Shaw: The Style nd theMan (Middletown, onn.: WesleyanUniv. Press, 962) arguesthat "We order xperience s we order anguage...."


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426 Americaniteraturethat bsorbhe eaderntheprocessfthoughtndengage im nanevaluativeointfview.Faulkner'somedys free fthese tylisticeatures.he comicpassagesremarkedy very ifferentyntactictyle hat oesnotsuspendhe ction, utratherushest onward ypiling p indi-vidual vents.tackingeparatectionsntocoordinateyntacticstructuresliminatesheevaluationnherentn subordination.nFaulkner'somic assages,ctionsre ccumulated,ne ta time,sthe entencerows otheright;heright-branchingernelsmovefrom neaction othenext o rapidlyhat heres no pauseforevaluationr contemplation.his syntactictyle reates moredistancedomic erspectiventhenarratedvents.heviewpointsof comedynd contemplationiffer;reudeventhoughthatcontemplationnterferedith he omicffect.5nFaulkner'srose,thisnterferences quite iteral t the evel fsyntax,orhiscon-templativetylereaksp the low faction yembeddingvalua-tion.Hisright-branchingomic tylepeedsheflow faction; yheaping p deeds, hestyleminimizesachevent nd createsdistancedttitudeoward he ction. hese ontrastingatternsfsyntacticxpansionreatehedifferingones fcomedynd con-templation;he ualityhe wo tylesharesthe Faulknerian"enseof rowdedccumulation.

Differencesnthe one ndstylesfcomedyndcontemplationarenicelyllustratedythe peningassagesfthe wo ectionsf"Was."6 hesepassageslso llustratehat entralo both tylessakind f yntacticccretionhatuits thematiciew f ife scom-posed f nterconnectedayers frelationshipsetweenimesndpeople. hefirstectionresentshe ontemplativentroductionoIsaac andtothematicerspectivesnthepast ndpossession.appositive IsaacMcCaslin,Uncleke,' ast eventynddoubling nearerightyhan eever orroboratednymore,appositives a widower owanduncle ohalf countyndfather

5Sigmund reud, Jokes nd theComic,"trans.James trachey,n Comedy:Meaningand Form, ed. RobertW. CorriganSan Francisco:Chandler,965), p. 26I.6 WilliamFaulkner, Was," in Go Down,Moses (New York:ModernLibrary,940),PP. 3-4-


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Faulkner's arrativetyles 427negative to no one.negative thiswasnot omethingarticipatednoror-clause/neg. even eenbyhimself,utbyhis elder ousin,appositives McCaslinEdmonds, randsonf saac'sfather'ssister nd so descended ythedistaff,etnot-negative withstandinghe nheritor,nd n histime heappositive bequestor,f thatwhich omehad thought hen ndtripledj. some till houghthouldhavebeen saac's sinceclauses hiswasthename n which he itle o the andhadfirst eengranted romhe ndianpatentand which omeof thedescendantsfhis father'snegative slaves till ore nthe and.But saacwasnotappositives one ofthese-a widower hese wenty ears, honegative inallhis ifehadownedbutoneobjectmoredoubling thanhe couldwear nd carryn hispocketsndhishands t one time, nd thiswasthenarrowiron ot nd the tained eanmattress hichheused campingn thewoodsfor eer ndbearoror-clauses for ishingrsimply ecausehe loved hewoods;negatives whoownednopropertyndnever esired osinceneg./comparisonhe arthwasnoman'sbut llmen's, s light nddouble dj. cl. air andweatherwere; who ived till n thetripledj. cheapframe ungalownJeffersonhichhiswife'sclauses fatheravethem ntheirmarriagendwhichhiswifehadwilled o him t herdeath ndwhichappositive hehadpretendedoaccept, cquiesce o, ohumornegatives her, ase hergoingbutwhichwas nothis,willoror-phrases not, hanceryyingwishesmortmainossessionrappositives whatever,imselfmerely oldingt forhiswife'ssister nd her hildren ho had lived n twithdoubling him incehis wife's eath, olding imselfcomparison welcome o ive n one room f t ashe hadduringor-clauses his wife's ime r she during er ime r thesister-in-lawndher hildren uring herest fhisandafter.neg./or-phrase not omethinge had participatednor evenappositive rememberedxcept romhehearing, he istening

come o himthrough ndfrom is cousinMcCaslindoubling born n 850 and sixteen ears is enior ndhence,hisownfathereingnear eventy hen saac, nappositive only hild,was born, ather isbrotherhan


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428 AmericanLiteraturecomparisons cousin,nd atherhisfatherhan ither,ut fappositive the ldtime,he lddays.The entireastparagraphs an appositiveo the precedingne;withinachparagraphhenumerousppositivesontinuallyualifyand equate,eparatingubjectnd verb ntil ften he onnectionbetweenhe ubjectndthe ction fthe erb s lost ightf. nthefirstaragraph,heres noverb,or heresno meaningfulction orIsaac to make except o refuseo act). Appositivesavethe yntacticeffect f deleting gentspresentn the deep structurend thusdiminishingctorsand events n the surface tyle. n the deepstructure:Isaac was) "past seventy"; Isaac was) "a widower";(Isaac was) "uncle to halfa county"; Isaac was) "father o noone." McCaslinwas) "grandsonf saac'sfather'sister"; McCaslinwas) "descended y the distaff";McCaslinwas) "the nheritor";(McCaslinwas) "thebequestor."n the surfacematrix, nlyeightlines nto hepassage, oth saacandMcCaslin re transformedntoall the othernouns theirnames can be equatedwith (widower,uncle,grandson, escendant),whichall imply heir elationshipoothers. he act of appositionecreasesndividuationnd emphasizesrelationships;he appositivesmove the surface tyle venfurtherinto herealm f thepassive nd awayfrom irect, ctive tatementssuch as "McCaslin bequeathed." n Faulkner's surfacesyntax,McCaslin'saction of bequeathings transformednto McCaslin'sidentitys inheritornd bequestor; he syntacticppositionbsorbsMcCaslin'spotential or ndividualction nto network fequatedrelationships.he over-all tructuref the passagehas the sameeffect: he ndividual ections ave no individual xistence,or achdependsformeaningupon its relationshipo what comesbeforeand after. he last paragraphs an appositiveo theprecedingne,and the secondparagraph eginswith pronoun hathasno ante-cedent: thiswasnotsomething."uchpronouns sually efer ackto something, ut here the only referents Isaac's appositionalidentity.uch syntactictructuresllowfor nconclusive aragraphstructurend punctuation, hich reinforce he thematic ointofview hat hererenoclear eginningsrendingsoevents. hus, hevastnumber f appositivesstablisheshrough tyle, wo themes:that here refew solated ctions r actorsn life's egends,nd thatlegends row, bit at a time, ntil heynundate onsciousness.


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Faulkner's arrativetyles 429The overwhelmingazeofrelationshipss reinforcedyotherelementsf tyle-by umerousr-phrasesndadjectivelauses ndbytheredefinitionfthings ytheir pposites,hrough egation.Likethe ppositives,he djectivelausesre kind fdoubling,orthey eepgiving urthernformationbout heprecedinglause:"thatwhichomehad thoughthen nd some till houghthouldhavebeen saac's incehiswasthename n which hetitle othelandhadfirsteen rantedrom he ndian atentnd which omeofthedescendantsfhisfather'slaves till ore nthe and." saacand hishome requalified ymany uch lauses: who n all his

life,"who wned oproperty,"who ived till,"which iswife'sfatheradgiven,"which iswife adwilled,"andwhich ehadpretendedo ccept."heclausesontinuallyedefinehat asgonebeforen ight fthe ast. heor-constructionslsoexpand escrip-tionnanevaluativeirection:which eused ampingn thewoodsfordeer ndbearor forfishingr simply ecause e lovedthewoods"; holding imself elcome o ive noneroom f tas hehadduringiswife's ime r heduringer ime rthe ister-in-lawandher hildrenuring he est f hisand after." ike the pposi-tives,his yntacticonstructioneadsfurtherwayfrom he nitialstartingoint o all the hingshatmight esubstitutedort, ndthus resentshepoint fview hat ctionsndpeople anand doreplaceach ther. heprocessfdefininghingsy ther,urround-ing thingss extendedy Faulkner'sse ofnegativeso identify.Isaac"owned opropertyndnever esired o since he arthwasno man's." saac'srepeated elationshipo hishouse s thathe willnotown t;the mportanthingbouthisrelationshipo the toryhetells s that e doesnot wn teitherince e didnotparticipatein t.Definitionfrealityrrelationshipsywhat hey renotpullsinto hereader'sonsciousnesswice s many hings t once: not ustIsaacwhoownsno land,but thosewho thinkhe should, nd thosewhodonot;not ustMcCaslin wned he and ndparticipatedntheannualrace,butalso Isaac whorefuseswnershipndwhoprovidesnarrativerameor storyboutmenwhowould ossessandowneachother. hisredefinitionynegation,ikethe tringsof djectivelauses,tretcheshe eader'sonsciousnessy he yntax,whichmbedsll the ddeddetailsnto hemiddle f the entence,betweenubjectnd verb-iftheprocess f apposition as not


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430 AmericanLiteratureeliminatedhe ubjectnd verb ltogether.he heavy mbeddingreaches he imits fwhat hemind an contain nd makes hereadereel,hroughyntax,henumbingense f world nwhichnumerousonnectionsnd nterrelationshipsreat least s realasaction.

Incontrastothe ontemplativeone hat pens he irstectionf"Was," he econdectioneginswith he omic reationfaction.The tylef he arrationhiftsramatically:2

WhenheandUncleBuckranback o thehouse rom iscoveringhatTommy's urlhad runagain, heyheardUncleBuddy ursingndbellowingn thekitchen,henthefox nd anddogs cameout of thekitchennd crossed hehall nto hedogs'room nd they eard hemrun hroughhedogs'room ntohis nd UncleBuck's oom,hentheysaw themross hehall gain ntoUncleBuddy's oomnd heard hemrunthroughncleBuddy's oomnto hekitchengain nd thistimeit soundedikethewholekitchenhimneyad comedown nd UncleBuddy ellowingike steamboatlowingnd this imethe ox nd thedogs ndfive rsix ticksffirewoodllcame utofthekitchenogetherwithUncleBuddy n themiddle fthem ittingteverythingn sightwithnothertick.t was good ace.Thesyntaxreateshe hythmshichmove he eaderhroughhebizarreace round hehouse; t alsocreateshepoint fview hattherace nd the haractersnvolvedn it arebizarre.he lengthysentences clearbecause hekindoftransformationmployedojoinelementss right-branching.s thereadermoves hroughhesentenceachclausefollows,n time nd logic,whatever recededit:"WhenheandUncleBuckranback . . . they eardUncleBuddycursing. . . then the fox and the dogs came out . . . and theyheardthemrun . . . thenthey aw themcrossthe hall." The percep-tionofthis eries fseparate,ast ctions s dueto thesyntax, hichgrows towardthe right, ather han embedding ppositives ndadjective lauses between ubjects nd verbs.The fewparticipialphrases ass unnoticed n thegeneralforegroundingf theright-branching yntactictyle. he separate ctions re equatedby theseparate ndependent lauses of nearlyequal length.The right-branchingchieves rhythmicower uitableoa race nd sappro-


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Faulkner's arrativetyles 43Ipriatelyroken y heronic,taccatoeneralization:Itwasa goodrace."Suchvariationn phrase hythmocusesttentionn theshortentence,hich srepeatedttheveryndof the tory,s akind frefrain,pplyingatiricallyotonly othebumblinguntof thefox nddogsbut lsoto the qually umblingemi-annualhuntsfBuck ndBuddy or url ndofSophonisbaor husband.The pilingup ofseparatections,hroughight-branchingnde-pendent lauses, reates galloping hythmhatreduces achindividualeedto blurrednsignificance.Thedifferencen tonebetweenhefirstnd second ectionsf"Was"-between hecontemplativentroductionnd thecomictale-isdueto thedifferenceetweenhe valuativembeddingfappositives,egatives,nd adjectivelauses nd theaccretionfquick, ight-branchingctions. etboth yntaxatternshare he"Faulknerian"uality f accumulatinghings f equal weight:neitheryntaxatternrants rammaticalriorityocertainndi-vidualctionsver thers.naction rcontemplationhe haracters'andreaders'mindsmust ort hroughn accumulationfrelated,ratherquatedventsorignificance.Thesense fconnectednessfallactions,ast ndpresent,hichisconveyedy he yntactictyles,s alsoexpressedythe ircular,repetitivetructuref"Was."Thehunt sa recurrentitualnactedtoconfirmsocial ode hat soutdated;he torysended s itwasbegun. usts the yntaxarallelsndequates vents,o doesthepatterningf theparallel unts: uck's orTurlandSophonisba'sfor husband-bothuck ndTurlhead or hewoods. hehunterand hunted refurtherquatedby thesimilarityf theanimalmetaphorshatexpresshedehumanizationnd entrapmentfboth-forxample,henUncleBuck'sgnarledeck hrustorwardlike cooter's"s hebegano flush,"circle,"nd bay" url p.8).Their ntrapmenty odes rom he ast sfurtheruggestedy hesettings:uck ndBuddy avegiven ver heunfinishedighouseto thenumerouslaveshey retendopossessndhavenorealusefor; ophonisbaretendsodignityy nsistinghat thersalltheramshacklelantation arwick:when heywouldn'tall t War-wick,hewouldn'tven eem oknowwhat hey ere alkingboutand twould ound s if sheand Mr.Hubert wned wo eparateplantationsoveringhesame rea ofground,ne on topof the


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432 AmericanLiteratureother"p. 9). A similariscrepancyxistsetweenhenames fthecharactersndtheir eality.uck ndBuddy schewheir nach-ronisticirth ames, heophilusndAmodeus; ophonisbariestoliveup tohers nd fails. ommy's url s named,ike a racehorse,s hismother'sssue;his bsencef sir-names the emanticsymbolf hisenslavement.e proves wice year hathisownenslavementlso nslaveshosewhopretendoown ndnamehim.In theframetorysaacrejects retensionst ownership,hichothersresumeis astname ntitlesim o.Even he rchaictageprops othe itual untfor xample,ophonisba'sendinguck hered ibbon romround er hroat)nderlinehe bsurdityf ivingby social odes f thepast,which anctionossessionndwhichcategorizeTomey'surl's rms hatwere upposedobeblack utwere ot uitewhite"p. 29) differentlyrom uck's ndBuddy's.Obviously,Was"examineshesemanticsfracism, heways nwhichwords rom worldwhich was"continueo determineperceptions,nfluencections,ndenslave eople. heencodingfpresenteality yanachronisticerbal maps"7 rom hepast sreflectednthe etting,henames, he itle,ndthe tructureftheaction f "Was,"as well as in itssyntactictyles.Whetherhenarrativeyntaxf"Was" scomic rcontemplative,tconveysheentrapmentfman nanaccretionf elationships.The comicand contemplativetyles re presenthroughoutFaulkner'sorks,s the ollowingnalysisfpassagesromightnAugust,TheBear," heSound ndthe ury, s LayDying, heHamlet,ndTheReiversllustrates.s n"Was" henarrativetylesmay emixedna givenwork: hererecontemplativeassagesncomic ovelsuch sTheReiversndcomic assagesnnovelsboutsubjectsuch sdyingndburyinghatrenot rdinarilyonsideredcomic. hedifferenceetweenarrativetylesndtoness due toadifferencen thedegree f concentrationf stylisticeatures;sDolezelpointsut nStatisticsndStyle: The overallharacterfstylescalled orthy he egreefpresenceorabsence)f certain

modeofexpression,atherhanby tsexclusivese (or complete7 S. I. Hayakawa coined the terms "maps" and "territories" n Language and Thoughtin Action (New York: Harcourt, Brace, I939), esp. ch. 2 on "Symbols."


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Faulkner's arrativetyles 433suppression)."8hedegree fembeddedvaluationr thedegreeofforegroundingfright-branchingctionsreates ifferencesnnarrativeone.Of course,hereremixed ones etweenomedyandcontemplation.his omewhatinaryistinctionfthe nds fFaulkner'sarrativeontinuumsintendedoclarifyowvariationinsyntactictyleontributesovarietiesf tone nddifferencesnpoint fview.InLight nAugust,TheBear,"ndTheSound nd theFury,the rocessfevaluationspresentednthe ame yntactictylehatbeginshe irstectionf Was" ndfromhe ame mpatheticointof view.Themanymbeddingsotonly eflecthe ontemplativestylef mind ractas a "mirrorf themind,"o useChomsky'sphrase;9heylso nvolvehe eadernsortinghroughelationshipsbetweenhe lementsmbeddedhroughpposition,egation,r-clauses, ouble djectives,nd explicitomparison.he effectftheseransformationsnthenarrativeyntaxs toengagehe eaderinthe ct f valuation,orxample,nthe houghtsfJoe hristmasas heweighshe trangenessfhis xperience:

Thatnightstrangehingame nto ismind.neg./doubling He layready or leep,withoutleeping, ithoutcomparison seemingoneedthe leep, s hewouldplacehisnegative stomachcquiescentor oodwhich tdidnotor-clause seem odesire rneed. twasstrangenthenegatives sense hathe coulddiscover either erivation ordoubling/neg. motivationor xplanationort.He found hathewas tryingocalculate hedayoftheweek.comparison Itwasas though owandat asthehad an actualdouble dj. andurgent eedtostrike ff he ccomplishedappositive/neg. ays oward omepurpose ract,withoutitheror-phrases fallinghort rovershooting."Thewords escribeheprocesss wellas thecontentfthought.The syntactictyle efinestatesfthinkingndfeeling y whattheyackthroughheforegroundingfnegatives,hichmplyn

8 LubomirDolezel, "A Framework or the Statistical nalysis f Style," n Statisticsand Style, d. LubomirDolezel and RichardBailey New York:American lsevier,969),pp. IO-II.9Noam Chomsky, eflectionson Language (New York: Pantheon, 975), p. 4.10 Light in August (New York:Modern ibrary,932), p. 3I7.


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434 AmericanLiteratureevaluationf he houghtsby lacinghem gainsthe ackground"(Labov, .380) of bsent ualities:erivation,otivation,xplana-tion. hroughhenegatives,hepassage resentshepoint fviewthat uch xplicitonnectionsre absentregardlessf themotiva-tionsnd explanationshatmightegiven fterward).ybringinginto onsciousnessothwhats and snotpresentn theprocessfthought,he yntactictylenvites point fview owardontem-plation.heor-clauses,omparisons,nddoublingf djectivesndnounslso bringn a wider ange f imultaneousvents"Labov,p. 388) and invite omparativevaluationsf sleep ndhunger,desirendneed, aysnd cts,ndof he ensef imelessnessnd tsinherentpposite-the eedto order ime.The viewpointhatthoughts a processfrelatingndconnectings built ntothesyntactictyle.The samenarrativetylemarks ther assageshat resenton-templationnd createshe ame ffectfengaginghe eadernanevaluativetance, point fview. or example,he ontemplationof hemeaningf hewildernessndof he earnvolvesnattitudetoward oth heprocessndthe bject fcontemplation.negative Hehad lreadynherited,hen, ithoutver avingdoubledj. seent, he ig ldbearwith ne rap-ruinedootthatnanarea lmosthundred ilesquare adappositive earned or imselfname, definiteesignationcomparison like livingman:-theong egendf orn-cribsappositives broken own ndrifledf hoatsndgrownigsdoubling and ven alves arriedodilynto hewoods ndappositive devoured . .-a corridorfwreckagend destruc-doubling tion eginningackbeforee wasborn...Syntactically,hebear stransformednto legendhroughpposi-tion;byfurtherpposition,he egendfhis ctionss transformedinto corridorfwreckagend destruction.hebear scontinuallydefinedy llthe hingse standsor ndcanbe equated ith: e s"an anachronism,ndomitablend invincibleutofan old deadtime, phantom,pitomendapotheosisf theoldwild ifethe ldbear, olitary,ndomitable,ndalone;widoweredhildlessandabsolved fmortality-oldriam eft fhisoldwife ndout-

11 "The Bear," nGo Down, Moses, pp. I92-93.


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Faulkner's arrativetyles 435lived llhis sons." heappositivesxtendherelationshipetweenthe ear ndthe ast ack oPriam. hebear nd ts egendre lsoexpandeds they re defined ynegation:thasnotbeen een; tspeeds not ast ut ather ith he uthlessnd rresistibleelibera-tion f locomotive";tis"notmalevolentut ust oobig, oobigfor hedogswhich ried obay t . . . toobigfor hevery ountrywhichwas tsconstrictingcope"; t is "not ven mortal east."Thenegationxtendshe warenessfwhat hebearmight avebeen, ut s not not fast, otmalevolent,otmortal) nd thusimpliesnevaluationfwhat t s.Like he ppositives,henegativesbringdditionalayers fmeaningnto onsciousness;oth yntaxpatternseparateubjectsnd verbs,nd obscureirect onnectionsbetweengentsndevents. ften heorder fsubjectndverb sreversed,urtherbscuringonventionalyntacticonnectionsndinvolvinghe reader n the process f sortinghroughhe partsof he entenceor ignificance:a corridorfwreckagenddestruc-tion eginningackbeforeheboywasborn, hroughhich ped,not ast ut ather ith he uthlessnd rresistibleeliberationflocomotive,heshaggy remendoushape."The bear's ction sintroduceds a clause escribingurtherhe ppositivecorridor);the ctor omes ast.Other entencesre patterned ith hesameinvertedyntax: thedoomedwilderness. . through hich an. . . the ldbear." ike he haracters,he eaderenses utdoesnotknow he ause or ventsthe ubjectfthe entence)ntil ast.Asyntactictyle hichminimizesubjectsr absorbshem y pposi-tion sthe erfecttyle or stablishinghenarrativeerspectivehattheprocessf ife s less processf ndividualction han fthecontemplationf ntricateelationshipsnd nterconnections.Quentin'sontemplationf time nd itsrelationshipo actionconcludes ith nexplicittatementf a point f view hat s alsolatentnthe yntaxatternshat ransformxperiencento valuation.

When he hadowf he ash ppearedn the urtainsitwasbetweenevennd ight'clocknd henwasintimegain, earinghewatch.t wasGrand-father'sndwhen atheravet omehe aid,comparison Quentin,giveyou hemausoleumf llhope nddoubling desire;t's atherxcruciating-lypt hat ouwilluse ttogain he eductobsurdumf llhumanxperiencehichanfit ourndividual


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436 AmericanLiteratureneg. omparisoneeds obetterhantfittedis rhis ather's.or-phrase/neg.give ttoyou otthat oumay ememberime,negative but hat oumightorgettnow nd hen ornegative momentndnot pend llyour reathryingonegative conquert.Because obattleseverwonhe aid.negative They renot ven ought.hefieldnly evealsodoubling manhis wnfollynddespair,ndvictorysandoubling illusionfphilosophersndfools.12The explicit omparisons, egatives, r-phrase,nd doublingofnounsand modifiersll havethesameeffect:f transformingheevent, hegift fthewatch,ntoan evaluation flife.The syntaxemphasizeswhatcannotbe won,conquered, ought, emembered,possessed,nd establisheshepointofviewthat s stated xplicitlyin theconcludingoda: life's ctions eveal toman"only hisownfolly nd despair." he closeness fthisvision f ife othepassageinMacbeth hat ontainshenovel's itlesreinforcedy he losenessof Faulkner's yntactictyle nd thestyle fMacbeth's peech ndespair:negative/appositiveife's ut walkinghadow,poor layerdoubling That trutsndfrets ishour pon he tageappositive And hensheard omore.t s a taledoubling Toldby n diot,ull f oundndfury,negative Signifyingothing.

(V, v,24-8)This isnottosaythatFaulkner oundhisstyle s wellas histitlenMacbeth,utmerelyhat he ontemplativeonenboth sestablishedthrough nearlydentical yntactictyle hat uits hevision flifeasa successionf hadows ignifyingothing.This vision s reinforcedotonlybythesyntactictructuresfFaulkner'snarrativetyle,but also by the over-all, rchitecturalstructureftheseworks.The four-parttructurefThe SoundandtheFuryis an extended pposition hatequateseach character'sevaluation fthe ignificancef events. herelationshipetweenhefour oints fview sparallel; hey ileontopofeachother,reatinglayersof consciousness. he recurrentunts n "The Bear" and"Was" arealso parallel;theactionprogressesn a cyclical ashion.

12 The Sound and theFturyI929; rpt. New York: Random,Vintage, 946), p. 93.


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Faulkner's arrativetyles 437Just s theover-all tructuref"Was" moves n a circle,o doesthestructurefLight n August,whichendsas it beginswith Lena'smeandering.aulkner'sarger arrativetructuresre ofa piecewiththe yntactictructuresfhis narrativetyle. oth tructuresmbodya repetitiveision f ife's ventswhich s consistent ithQuentin'scontemplativevaluation,nherited romhisfather nd his father'sfather-"that o battle s everwon" and that victorys an illusionofphilosophersndfools."This vision s sharedby Faulkner'scomic novels,which alsopresentife s movementn a circle. he differences in thefocus:the comicpassages ocuson the foolishnessf the momentswhenmenbelieve heir ctions an result n victory.n thesemoments,charactersirect heir ctions n a linearfashion oward goal thatis never eached; he inear, ight-branchingyntactictyle apturesboth the direction f the actionsand the insignificancef eachindividualmotion. hepiling pofparallel ctions quates hedeedsand creates senseof accretion nd speed. n short, he narrativesyntaxreates comic erspective.

Thehorse uction n TheHamlet contains he ncient omic on-test etween reed ndgullibility.romthepoint fviewofvictimsand losers, uch events re not funny;fromthe more distancedperspectivef thespectator,hey re.As in the secondsection f"Was,"Faulkner ngageshisaudiencenthedistanced omic tancethrough he syntactictyleof the narration.n The Hamlet thecavorting f theuncaught, utbought-and-paid-for,orses s pre-sented n a right-branchingtylethatcontrastswith the highlyembedded, valuative tyleof contemplation. ecause the comicstyle as ittlembedding,heright-branchingfclauses ndphrasesofequalweight llowsone action osupplant nother apidly."Get tohelloutofhere,Wall!" Eck roared. e dropped o thefloor,coveringis headwithhisarms.The boydidnotmove,nd for hethird ime hehorse oared bove heunwinkingyes nd theunbowedanduntouchedead nd onto he ront erandagainust sRatliff,tillcarryinghe ock, an roundhe orner f thehouse nd up the teps.Thehorsewhirled ithoutreakingrpausing.tgalloped othe ndoftheverandand tooktherailingnd soared utward,obgoblinndfloating,n themoon. tlanded nthe ot till unningnd crossedhe otandgallopedhroughhewreckedate ndamong he verturnedagons


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438 AmericanLiteratureand the till ntact ne nwhichHenry's ife till at, nd on down helane nd nto he oad.13The dominanttylisticeaturesthe epetitionf and," nequatingconjunctionhat oesnot nvite valuationnthe ameway s sub-ordinatingonjunctions,hich xpresselationshipsncausalityrtime.And . . and . . . and . . ."-the horse uns n as themenran on in "Was."The foregroundingf theright-branchings soheavy hat he ew mbeddedlementso notdeter he low ftheaction:the two participial hrases replacedtoward heright; heoneadjective lause s insignificant.he stylesdistinguishedythehigh"degree" f right-branching;statisticalount s notnecessaryto understandinghat hecomic tone s conveyed ya cohesion fsyntacticeaturesf a distinctlyifferentind thanthose ssociatedwith contemplation. he same comic tone and style dominateRatliff'se-tellingf theepisode t thegeneral tore: It was in myroom nd it was on thefront orch nd I could hearMrs.Littlejohnhittingtoverthehead withthatwashboard n thebackyard ll atthe ame ime. nd itwasstillmissing verybodyverytime.reckonthat'swhat thatTexas man meantby calling hembargains: hatmanwould need to be powerful nlucky o everget close enoughto one of them to get hurt" p. 314). Ratliff's oncluding odaprovides he pointof view he wisheshis auditors o adopt,but thecomicstance s implicit n the preceding entences escribing herepetitive ovementsf thehorse.The principle f repetitions thecomic principleunderlying lapstickhumor such as the Marxbrothers';n Bergson's erms, uchrepetitions comicbecause tsmechanicalnatureremindsman of the limitations laced on hisvitality y mechanicalndbodily orces. he repetitivetylemaybefunnymerely ecause repetitionverdone r notgoing anywherebelongsto comedy, orlaughters partly reflex nd like otherreflexestcan be conditionedya simple epeated attern,"s Fryepoints ut.'4The repeated atternsfthis yntactictyle arallel hepatterningf theaction;the rapid,mechanical epetitionemindsRatliffndthe eader fthe bsence fthoughthat etsmengulled.

The comic ccasion n Faulkner's ovels soften n occasionwhen13 The Hamlet 193I; rpt.NewYork: Random, intage, 958), p. 308.14 NorthropFrye, "The Mythos of Spring: Comedy" from Anatomyof Criticism

(I957; rpt.New York:Atheneum,970), p. i68.


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Faulkner's arrativetyles 439actionstaken ithoutontemplation.n the ontemplativeassages,charactersealizehat ogoal s everchieved;n the omic assagescharactersctwithouthinkingfultimateutilities.n TheReiversthellusiveoal swinningrace; he omic erspectiveowardhishope spresenthemomenthehorses-whenMillie nnounces:"Man standingn thebackyardholleringMr. BoonHogganbeck t thebackwall ofthehouse.He got omething igwithhim."We ran, following oon, through he kitchen nd out into thebackgallery.t was quite darknow; the moonwas not high enoughyet o doanygood. Two dimthings, little ne anda bigone,were tandingn themiddle of the back yard,the littleone bawling"Boon Hogganbeck!MisterBoonHogganbeck!Hellaw.Hellaw" toward heupstairswindowsuntilBoonoverrode imby imple olume:"Shutup! Shutup! Shutup!"ItwasNed. Whathehad withhimwas a horse.15The amusing oint fview s due to someextent o theverbalexcess:he epetitionf"BoonHogganbeck! ister oonHoggan-beck!Hellaw.Hellaw" nd"Shut p! Shut p! Shut p!"conveysthe xcitementfthe haracters,he motionalxcess hat verridescontemplation.herepetitionfsimilarhrasingt thebeginningandending fthe assage einforceshis erspective:He got ome-thing igwith im"-"What e hadwithhimwasa horse." hissyntactictyles theperfecttyle orraces-ofmen and horses-because he yntaxaptureshe ense fmotion;or xample,nthetwo acesnTheReivers:I cuthimas hard as I could. He broke, altered,prang gain; we had

alreadymadeMcWillie a present ftwo lengths o I cut him again; wewent nto the second ap two lengthsback and traveling ow on thepeeled switchuntilthe gap betweenhimand AcheronreplacedNed inwhatLightning alled his mind, nd he closedit again until his headwasoncemore tMcWillie'sknee . . . (p. 272-73).. . . McWilliewhipping uriouslyow and Lightning espondingikeacharm, xactly ne neckback; ifAcheronhad knownany way to runsixtymiles nhour,wewould too-one neckback; fAcheron addecidedtostoptenfeet efore he wire, o wouldwe-one neckback (p. 297).Theright-branchingyntactictyle apturesheactualmovementof theaction as in "Was" and The Hamlet; therepetitiveness f the15 TheReivers New York: Random, intage,962), p. II5.


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440 American Literaturepassagesuggestshat earlyll races rerepetitivenddoomedobe ost y head.The comic imitationsrenodifferentromhoserecognizedn contemplation,ut uch aces re comic ecauseheactors eepmovingoward merellusionfvictory.This llusions also at theheart f the bsurdistomedyfthebizarreuneralrocessionnAs LayDying. eath ndburyinganonly ecomeubjectsor omedy hen hey rovidehe ccasionorthe iving o ssert hat anger alls the ital eeling"-theumantendencyo "seize n opportunities,"o grab littlemore f ife.16However,he opportunism"ecomesbsurd hen tsgoals ecomeunworthyfthe xpenditurefenergy-merelyogoto town rtogetnewteeth. he opportunismfFaulkner'sbsurdistomedysless brainy"han he opportunism"angerhinksnderliesomicgreed.n fact, he ackof thoughts whatmakes he pportunismabsurd s the haracters,hemules,nd themother'soffinll swirloffnthe lood:Cash ried ut hefell ffndDarl umped oing nder ewent nderandCashholleringo catch er nd holleringndDeweyDell hollering

atme Vardaman ouVardaman ouvardamanndVernon assedmebecause e was seeing er ome pandshe umped nto hewater gainandDarlhadn't aught eryet. ..Themules ived p againdivingheiregs tiffheirtiffegsrollingslow nd then arl again nd holleringatch erdarl atch erheadher nto hebankdarl ndVernonwouldn't elp nd then arldodgedpast hemules. .."Wheres ma,Darl?" said. You never other.Youknew he s afish utyou etherget way.""17The syntactictylemakes he actions wirl round ach other,inundatingpportunityor hought.he piling p ofthe epetitiveactionss highlightedy the repetitionf "and" and of specificwords. ardaman,honarrateshis izarrearodyf rossingo heotherworld,s,ofcourse,imitedncontemplativebilitiesyhisage. His perceptionf this ccretionf separatectionss not sodifferentrom enjy'snTheSound ndtheFury: They ook heflag ut,nd hey ere itting.hen hey ut he lag ack ndthey

16 Suzanne Langer, "The Great Dramatic Forms: Comic Rhythm," from Feeling andForm (1953), as reprinted n Comedy, ed. Marvin Felheim (New York: Harcourt, Brace,Jovanovich, 962), pp. 248 and 243.17,AS I Lay Dying 1930; rpt. New York: Random, Vintage, 1957), pp. 143-44.


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Faulkner'sNarrative Styles 44Iwent othe able, ndhehit nd the ther it.Then heywent n,and wentlong he ence"p. 23). Therepetitivenessfthe ctionsdescribeds emphasizedythe tylenwhich heyre described.Of course, enjy'syntaxepresentshe pitomen lackofcontem-plation; e literallyannot onnect,elate,nd evaluatevents,ndwhile his s not omic n an acknowledgeddiot,t sinmenwhopretendoreason ut hare enjy'stylefmind. enjynd Varda-man repatheticecausehey recaughty ge and nheritancenthe ccretionf actionshey id not ause nd cannot nderstand.The patheticuality bout hem s directlyonnectedo theirackof bilityothink. s Freud emindss,human atureaughs t thepathetic-athildrennd diots nd hump acks"-perhapsecause"we seean unncessaryxpenditurefmovementhichwe shouldspare urselvesfwe were arryingutthe ame ctivity"nd "ourlaughterxpressespleasurableense f he uperiorityhich efeelinrelation"o anotherpp.254-55). In this ense, ardaman ndBenjy re expansionsf thecomic uality f other aulkneriancharactersho are nvolvednactivitieshey o notfully ompre-hend, he utilityfwhich hey ave ot ontemplated.Many fthe ctions hat ccupy he omic cenesnFaulkner'snovelsmight ecome ragicf thecharactersnvolvedngagedncontemplationftheirnsignificance,fthe tylen whichhey erepresentednvolvedvaluation.s Richard ewallpoints ut,onecriticalspect f tragedys contemplation,raduationfrom heconditionfpain ndfearo he onditionf uffering-whichs theconditionf pain nd fear ontemplated."18aulkner'somic tyleembodieshe ack of contemplationn its rapid, ight-branchingaccumulationf actions. he morecontemplativeassages remarked ya syntactictyle hatmposesontinualvaluationfwhat s by ll that srelatedo t-byall that recedest, tandsnoppositiono it,orcanbe equatedwith t.The contemplativercomic ointfview rows rom he tylef henarration,egardlessofwhetherhe uthorra characters doing henarrating.hisconsistencyetween tyle nd toneaccountsor theconsistencybetween assageswith differentormal arrativetructuresndforhe ersistencef he Faulknerian"oicenthe oicesfdifferent

18RichardB. Sewall, The Visionof Tragedy New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press,I959), p. 6.


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442 American Literaturecharacters. furtherenseof consistencyn Faulkner'snarrativestyle erives rom ualities haredby the contemplativend comi'cstyles,which both present n inundationof consciousness-bythoughtrbyaction.The syntacticccretionhatmarks aulkner'snarrativetyles ransformsndividual xperienceshroughyntacticconnectionshat reate world n which verythingsrelated. oththe contemplativend comic styles onveyrelationshipsetweenlayers f experience,einforcinghrough tyle he persistentaulk-nerian hemes f the nterconnectednessf all times, eoples, ndactions.

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