The Sound and the Fury

[Anonymous No.11960603]

>It's not when you realize that nothing can help you - religion, pride, anything - it's when you realize that you don't need any aid.
How does Quentin's dad live with his own nihilist philosophy? It seems to me that his train of thought is the most depressing, void, empty way to view life and yet Quentin's dad not only lives with it for a number of years but even preaches it to his own son (and in doing so ultimately contributes to his suicide)

reposting this thread cause I didn't see any of the replies of the last one

[Anonymous No.11960624]

I don't think he'd called it nihilistic. He probably considers it a form of "resilience" or stoicism.

During the Reconstruction Era, rich southern crackers had the rare opportunity to watch their value system and predicates be destroyed in real time. It may be that the experience pushed him toward an avoidance which he mistook for strength. Faulkner seems to regard the South as fundamentally corrupt, though, so it's equally possible that he just never stood for anything in the first place.

Not very helpful, though, especially to an adolescent.

[Anonymous No.11960660]

>>11960603
>>11960624
Bear in mind that even the best professors of literature consider Faulkner's stuff to be opaque, so achieving a consensus on a particular theme is easier said than done.

[Anonymous No.11961116]

>>11960624
>>11960660
Is Quentin's father a self-insert for Faulkner? And did he believe his philosophy to give him strength? I suppose it definitely allowed him to live life his own sort of way apart from the horror that tore the South apart at the time, but ultimately whatever strength it gave him was facile considering his fate. But why isn't he able to see that for himself, and why does he then pass it on to his son? Perhaps because, as I believe Faulkner explores in other novel, critical introspection is possibly the most difficult and avoided and neglected process that can be thought of?

In the appendix, Jason III is described as a guy who used to drink in his office all day and read Greek and Roman texts, so stoicism is a pretty great parallel actually.

[Anonymous No.11961128]

>>11961116
>self-insert
All writing is an expression of the self, you fucking ideologue

[Anonymous No.11961170]

>>11960624
Avoidance isn't something that I've thought of before and it's interesting to think about. But if it was avoidance, would he have taught his kid (Quentin) the values and beliefs of the system whose absolute destruction he was witnessing? Surely Quentin got them from somewhere. I've always assumed his father sort of came to terms with what he lived through, especially considering he himself was born immediately after the War, and that he comforted himself with the idea that it's simply what happens to everyone in one way or another, in varying degrees. It's been far too long since I've read Absalom for me to remember the nuances of Quentin's father's story there. But he does confront Quentin pretty straightforwardly about whole situation, probably on numerous occasions at the same time he insists Quentin leave the South basically as soon as possible.

I'll have to reread Quentin's section through that lens.

[Anonymous No.11961203]

>>11960603
Any contemporary author reccs if you like Faulkner, Joyce, and Conrad?

[Anonymous No.11961244]

>>11961203
McCarthy writes like Faulkner and is sort of similar to Conrad in his idiosyncrasies, but there usually isn't as much in his works thematically as either of them.

Roth is definitely similar to Joyce and Faulkner in the way he explores individuals and families (Sabbath's Theater, American Pastoral, Operation Shylock). IMO he's not as great of a writer as either of them, but Sabbath's Theater is especially reminiscent of Faulkner's desolate and brutal tone.

[Anonymous No.11961311]

>>11961244
I hate McCarthy. Haven't read Roth though. Thanks

[Anonymous No.11961624]

bumping falkner

[Anonymous No.11962476]

>nobody about karate

[Anonymous No.11963049]

There are so many memorable quotes in this book. It's really like the Bible kinda. Wonder. Go on and wonder.

[Anonymous No.11963153]

>>11961244
>McCarthy writes like Faulkner
Not at all

[Anonymous No.11963634]

>>11963153
He does though anon, ie in syntax

[Anonymous No.11964850]

Kill me