Reverence For Nature

William Faulkner is one of the most eminent modern writers in the world. Go Down, Moses is his thirteenth novel which consist of seven sections, three of which, "The Old People", "The Bear"and "Delta Autumn", are closely interrelated, dealing with the same topic—hunting in the wilderness, and are usually discussed together as the "Wilderness Trilogy". Though many critics notice Faulkner's extraordinary depiction of the wilderness and forests in Mississippi Delta region, most of them take the description merely as the background of the grand narrative, rather than examine the writing carefully to discover the underlying meanings. However, this thesis attempts to analyze the functions and meanings of the wilderness to human beings and reexamine the complicate relationships between man and nature, which will provide an alternative perspective in study of William Faulkner. The theory of ecocritism is one of the literary approaches newly sprung and popular in the 1990s, although it initiated its gradual development from 1930s and 1940s. According to Wang Nuo, one of the Chinese ecocritics, the main viewpoints of ecocriticism could be summarized as follows: 1) criticism of the attitudes of conquering nature by exposing the devastating consequences of vanquishment; 2) criticism of the destroying effects of industrialization and science to nature; 3) criticism of human rapacity; 4) emphasis on human responsibilities to nature; 5) ecological holism, or views of the world as a network or community; and 6) reconciliation with nature and return to nature. Based on these, this thesis is devoted to the study of William Faulkner's views of nature that exists implicitly in his narrative of Southern genealogies. First, the historical backgrounds, which are closely related with Faulkner's ecological views, are examined to show that the historical roots are crucial in Faulkner's formation of ecological ideas. Aldo Leopold is one of most influential founders of ecological studies in 1940s. He asserts that human beings have to give up the notion of taking nature as the prey and are supposed to reexamine the nature-human relationships and rediscover the inherent values in nature. Go Down, Moses written in 1942 was inevitably affected in themes by the discussions of the age, which are illustrative in Faulkner's compelling depiction of various attitudes toward the Mississippi landscape. Furthermore, Faulkner criticizes the cruelty of slavery and contends that the possession of the blacks as slaves are derived from human's rapacity and avarice that result in the control and ownership of land, which is coherent with one important viewpoint of criticizing human rapacity in ecocriticism. In addition, the destructive effects of industrialization are observed in the ecological perspective. The disappearance of the wilderness and the loss of the ancient values inherent in it are lamented in "Delta Autumn". Finally, the intimateness with land and wilderness in Southern culture is another aspect that influences the formation of Faulkner's ecological consciousness in his writings. Secondly, Faulkner's themes are the most apparent evidences of his ecological consciousness. The themes that appear in the stories are the skeptical views of nature as commodity, the inherent values in wilderness ,and hunters and hunted relating to the wilderness. The three stories offer either direct or subtle evidence of skeptical view of a commodified approach either to land or to the methods of production. To the central character Ike, the Southwas cursed because of man's rapacity or possession of land and slavery or possession of human beings. In addition to questioning the concept of land ownership, "Wilderness Trilogy"values highly wilderness. Wilderness is valuable not only in and of itself but also for the sort of enriching experiences it offers to responsive human beings. What the wilderness taught might be summed up as the virtues in life: bravery, strength, endurance, honor, pride, dignity, humility, pity, love of life, of justice, and of liberty. The old bear "Old Ben"is the embodiment of the virtues. Hunting and pursuit are another motif in the "Wilderness Trilogy", even in Go Down, Moses. Faulkner spoke in more or less positive terms about hunting, and it can be seen that the wilderness is viewed as a place where an ancient, natural rather than man-made rules exist and that through hunting, differences between races become irrelevant. Finally, Faulkner's employment of new techniques, such as his characterization of contrasting characters, "innocent point view"and web-like structure, is illustrative and consistent with the ways of thinking of ecologists. Faulkner created in his "Wilderness Trilogy"two kinds of people—Ike and Sam Fathers, Carothers McCaslin and his descendent Carothers Edmonds of "Delta Autumn". Sam is, like the Old Ben, a symbol of the wilderness; Ike McCaslin is the child of the wilderness and gets educated from Sam and the Old Ben. Carothers McCaslin and Carothers Edmonds are the representatives of rapacity. In "Wilderness Trilogy", Faulkner, by using the point of view of a child, effectively suggests that an innocent viewpoint, which does not understand such things as ownership and distinctions between races, may nevertheless appreciate some deeper truths in the wilderness and life. From the perspective of a child, he provides another way of re-assessment of the...