Faulkner Style in Two Novels
Comparison/Contrast of Faulkner’s Use of Stream of Consciousness
Dec 13, 2008
Much like he does in his novel The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner uses stream of consciousness and multiple viewpoints to create his portrait of a particular Southern family in his novel Go Down, Moses. While Go Down, Moses, is considered a novel, the seven interrelated stories that comprise the book, can be read independently. However, to read the stories independently would mean missing the depth and fullness of character and place that is created by reading them as a whole.
Stream of Consciousness as Cubism
In the better-known The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner uses the stream of conscious impressions of four very different members of the Compson household to relate the events of their life as a family. He leaves the reader to piece together a family portrait and history of what actually happened based on these various impressions of Compson family life. The effect is similar to that of Cubist art where we see a portrait from all viewpoints at the same time. It would be nice to think that by seeing all sides of something at the same time people would be presented with the most impartial and most accurate way of viewing it. However, the result is actually more confusing and less clear than if we were only exposed to one viewpoint.
Stream of Consciousness Applied to Go Down, Moses
In Go Down, Moses, Faulkner takes the stream of consciousness technique to a new place by adding the twist that the characters who narrate events surrounding the lives of the McCaslins and their plantation are not only separated by identity but also by a span of generations and the complexities racial identity and experience. The result is more fragmented than that of multiple viewpoints within the framework of a contemporaneous lifespan and place. However, the result seems more coherent because while we see various sides of the story, we also get the perspective of distance created by the passage of time.
Stream of Consciousness as Photographic Mosaic
If the effect in The Sound and the Fury is Cubist, the effect in Go Down, Moses is more like a photographic mosaic. Each image is more or less complete in itself and while the amplifying viewpoints do not necessarily exist in the same framework, we get the perspective of different places and different times. Each image/perspective is complete although not necessarily accurate. However, when all the complete images are combined and viewed from the distance and perspective of a reader, we see an image that is more comprehensive and more recognizable (although not necessarily more correct) than the Cubist image.
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