Southern Academic Review

64 Pages·2002·3.9 MB·English

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Southern Review
A
Student Journal of Scholarship
Volume Sixty-Nine, Number Fifteen
Dan Groover, Editor-in-Chief
J.
Erin Elizabeth Robbins, Associate Editor
Dr. Matthew A. Levey, Advisor
Layout, BSC Office of Communications
Southern Academic Review (SAR) is published every spring by students of
Birmingham-Southern College. It is funded by the Student Government
Association and operates under the supervisionofthe Student Publications Board.
SAR seeks to publish material of scholarly interest to the students and faculty of
Birmingham-Southern College, and the editorial scope encompasses all disci-
plines. Fully annotated research papers and shorter essays receive equal consider-
ation for publication. SAR accepts submissions from any currently enrolled stu-
dent or alumnus of the college. No submission will be considered if it has been
previously submitted for academic credit at an institution other than
Birmingham-Southern. Although most ofSARs content consists ofstudent work,
submissions from Birmingham-Southern faculty and guest lecturers will also be
considered for publication. Manuscripts should be sent to Editor, Southern
:
Academic Review, Box 549046, Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham,
Alabama 35254.
Copyright 2002 by Southern Academic Review and Birmngham-Southern College
Printed by EBSCO, Birmingham, Alabama
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation
http://www.archive.org/details/southernacademic2002unse
Contents
1
A
"Outside the Cabin": Study ofthe Black Unspoken
in WiUiam Faulkner's "That Evening Sun"
Nick GaskiU
8
Art Therapy: An Overview
As Seen In An Alternative Education School
Celia Green
16
An Introduction to the Choral Works of
KrzysztofPenderecki
Matthew Thomas Caine
23
A
Slippery Seesaw: Early Soviet Efforts to Promote Class Equality
Elisabeth Beaudrie
28
The Once and Future King: An Analysis
ofSocial Commentary in Arthurian Literature
from Le Morte d'Arthur to The Mists ofAvalon
Scott McClellan
38
Evaluating Spatial Memory in Rats Using an S-Arm Radial Maze
Michelle Hilgeman
45
Issues ofDeath and Irony in the Films ofStanley Kubrick
John Spencer
48
Symbols ofDefiance: An Analysis ofthe Role ofSymbolic
Protest in the Tiananmen Massacre
Matt Parrish

^^Outside the Cahin^^:
A
Study of the Black Unspoken
in William Faulkner^s
u
That Evening Sun^^
Nick Gaskill
In his short story, "That EveningSun," William Faulknerpulls together racial issues and concerns
about the inadequacy oflanguage, two themes that run throughout his work, and expresses the complex
linguisticposition ofNancy, a black laundress in the ante-bellum South. Through an analysis ofthe
speech acts in the narrative, with afocus on the non-verbalfactors, I show how Nancy cannot
sufficiently represent her thoughts andfeelings within the hegemonic white language and howJesus,
her absent husband, embodies the "black unspoken," or the very words that Nancy cannot articulate.
In arguingmy position, I draw heavilyfrom a close readingofthe story's symbolism andfrom the
instances ofcommunication (orattempted communication) between the characters.
In an essay analyzing speech act theory in the hegemonic method ofspeaking. After
Faulkner's work, Paula Sunderman claims addressing the ways in which the white char-
that "literary discourse in 'That Evening acters in the text use language to suppress the
Sun' provides the medium for the meaning of black characters, 1 will develop an analysis of
the story" (306). In agreeing with Sunder- Nancy andJesus, maintaining that the former
man's comments, I stress the unspoken aspects cannot function efficiently within white lan-
ofthe discourse over the spoken^what is guage and that the latter represents what I will
unable to be said above what is said—and lay call the "black unspoken," or African-
emphasis on the way in which race plays into American feelings outside ofthe available dis-
the language ofWilliam Faulkner's short story. course.
In the text, Faulkner presents the struggles of According to Sunderman, the racial identity
Nancy, a black maid-servant for the Compson and socio-economic factors ofthose involved
family, to express herselfadequately within the in linguistic discourse "interact with the ver-
parameters ofsouthern antebellum English, a bal message and contribute to the meaning" of
language created and perpetuated by white the words (306). Appropriately, the way in
males. Within the narrative, Faulkner which the whites, both adults and children,
explores the inability oflanguage to convey address Nancy perpetuates racial stereotypes
meaning, as he does in more elaborate works and asserts an assumed authority. First, Mr.
such as The Sound and the Fury and Absolom, Compson and the jailer address Nancy as a
Absolom'., yet he focuses his study by paying member ofa lesser race. For example, in an
special attention to issues ofrace. Quentin attempt to console his nervous maid-servant,
Compson narrates Nancy's story fifteen years Mr. Compson tells Nancy that she will "be the
after the fact, weaving together the innocence first thing [he'll] see in the kitchen" the follow-
ofa child and the guilt ofan adult to relate ing morning (Faulkner 258, italics mine). By
the breakdown ofa person pushed outside of referring to Nancy as a "thing," Mr. Compson
2 SouthernAcademic Review
casually objectifies her (Brown 355). ence to themselves. Equally disconcerting,
Furthermore, Nancy and the other black char- the children become accustomed to it and,
acters in the text refer to Nancy's residence as probably unbeknownst to them, contribute to
a "house," while Mr. Compson and other the suppression ofa culture through their use
white characters refer to it as a "cabin," thus ofit. By having his characters, especially the
emphasizing the inferiority ofthe building to young ones, say the word so often and so casu-
the Compson home (Skei 193). The jailer ally, Faulkner ensures that the modern reader
presents similarly biased assumptions when he does not overlook its pervasive commentary
reasons that Nancy must have been on on racial themes. In the voices ofthe
cocaine when she tried to hang herselfsince Compson children, Faulkner addresses the
no black person, according to his logic, would constructed nature ofracial difference and the
have the courage to take his or her own lite acquisition ofsuch stereotypes by new genera-
while sober. Since, the jailer assumes, "a nig- tions.
ger full ofcocaine wasn't a nigger any longer," Although it does not fit into the category of
then Nancy had to be on cocaine when she verbal address towards Nancy, Quentin's open-
attempted suicide (Faulkner 235; Perrine 299). ing description ofthe laundresses and his
One should note, however, that many ofthe repeated mention ofNancy's black hat empha-
verbal slights directed towards Nancy, espe- size the arbitrary nature ofmany racial stereo-
cially those from Mr. Compson, do not carry types. For instance, by mentioning that the
overtly malicious intents; rather, they display servants carried the laundry between "the
the products ofthe pervading racist mindset ot kitchen door ofthe white house and the black-
the time and its equally biased linguistic prac- ened washpot beside the cabin door in Negro
tices. Hollow," Quentin sets up the distinction
Faulkner shows the children in the story between the "white" residence and the "black-
developing similar attitudes towards Nancy ened" area for the servants (Faulkner 2158,
and Dilsey in their speech, perpetuating the italics mine). Notice how the washpot next
linguistic construction ofracial priveledge. to Negro Hollow is "blackened" and not
For instance, in opposition to southern codes "black." Faulkner implies that racial construc-
ofaddress, the children refer to Nancy and the tion is a process by which we come to assign
other servants by their first names, a gesture certain attributes to people without concern
that exhibits a lack ofrespect and an assertion for their individuality. Quentin then goes on
ofsuperiority (Sunderman 307). In addition, to mention the black hat that Nancy wears on
Jason's somewhat jarring comments that wind top ofthe laundry pile on her head. The
their way throughout various sections ofthe notion ofa hat that is put on, or assumed,
narrative show him forming a conception of reiterates the idea that Nancy's blackness is
the term "nigger" by placing Nancy and Dilsey something she has been forced to wear.
inside its parameters and separating himself Moreover, Quentin tells us that the hat "never
from it. Basically, he works to define his own bobbed or wavered," and these descriptions of
identity in terms ofthe distinction between rigidity suggest the concrete-ness ofmany
himselfand the Other, in this case African stereotypes. Later, Quentin's seemingly need-
Americans, and in the end he represents the less mention ofthe hat in other places in the
transference ofprejudice from one generation narrative supports the idea that the hat does
to the next. The sheer number ofrepetitions indeed hold significance beyond that ofan
of"nigger" within the text signals the impor- article ofclothing. Interestingly, despite the
tance ofthe word in the concept ofracist lan- "blackening" ofNancy's character, her skin
guage. The phrase carries obvious racist con- color is described only as "brown" (Slabey
notations, yet we see the black characters of 409). The clash between these two terms of
the story internalizing it and using it in refer- characterization, emphasizes the basically
—
GaskiU 3
inaccurate nature ofracial stereotypes. a bank cashier and local church deacon.
Thus, Quentin's child-like narration furthers Obviously, losing teeth would impair one's
Faulkner's study ofrace construction. ability to form words and communicate, so
While various critics have concerned them- immediately we see hints ofNancy's verbal
selves with examining the implications and disadvantage. One should note that she
illocutionary effects ofthe speech acts in acquires this impairment when she violates
Faulkner's short story, as shown above, most verbal social conventions by referring to Mr.
have overlooked the importance ofwhat can- Stovall in terms ofhis race ("white man") and
not be said and therefore does not appear in using language, specifically a shift from second
the speech acts. To begin, we should note to third person, to publicly expose their sexual
that people cannot effectively communicate if relations (Sunderman 309). The story, from
they do not share certain common experiences its beginning paragraphs, prepares the reader
(Larsen 20). As a result, according to Eric for the marginalization and discrimination to
Larsen, "literal or absolute meaning, verbal which Nancy falls victim.
statement ofmeaning, does not exist" (20). As the story develops, Nancy exhibits a kind
Few would argue against the idea that blacks ofrupture in her being that reflects the separa-
and whites experience the world in different tion between her intended meanings in com-
ways. Fewer still would claim that the experi- munication and the media available for their
ences ofblacks and whites in theJim Crow expression. First, when Nancy holds the cof-
era South were at all comparable. fee cup and sits with the children in the
Consequently, they cannot share adequate kitchen, she seems to split into two people:
communication through language in an envi- one who looks at the children and another
ronment where racial stereotypes and preju- who makes the odd sound (Faulkner 244).
dices pervade their interactions, especially Moreover, Quentin tells us that her eyes
when the language used was created by white looked "emptied" and that "she talked like her
males and based solely on their experiences. eyes looked, like her eyes watching us and her
Nancy does not share common experiences voice talking to us did not belong to her"
with the Compsons and therefore she cannot (Faulkner 250). Her words are empty; they
truly communicate with them; she is outside fail to encompass any meaning, and they have
oftheir language. Pulling from Faulkner's been separated from their intended purpose.
characterization ofNancy andJesus I will now In addition, her speech is described as existing
show how Nancy needs more than the lan- as if"nobody had made it, like it came from
guage ofthe Compsons to express herselfand nowhere and went nowhere, until it was like
howJesus embodies what is lacking in that Nancy was not there at all" (Faulkner 242).
language. Next, Quentin portrays her words as going out
In "That Evening Sun," Faulkner's charac- and fading like a candle (Faulkner 242).
terization ofNancy through Quentin's descrip- Nancy's attempt at using language to express
tions and her own comments reveal her as a herselfhas disappeared in a sense and left her
black woman ostracized by white language. without a voice. She has become separated
For instance, Quentin initially presents Nancy from an adequate mode ofexpression and
at the beginning ofthe story in terms ofher finds herself, as Quentin later describes her,
job and servant positi—on to the Compsons "outside the cabin" oflanguage. Iflanguage is
namely, as a laundress thus, immediately the structure in which we interact with others,
characterizing her as inferior and outside of Nancy has been forced outside ofit by the
white society (Sunderman 306). In addition, white community (Faulkner 250). As the
one ofthe first physical descriptions ofNancy characterization ofNancy reveals, the inade-
is the mention ofher missing teeth, which we quacy ofthe available verbal tools to margin-
later discover were kicked out by Mr. Stovall, alized peoples ultimately causes the disappear-
4 SouthernAcademic Review
ance ofthe subject from methods ofdiscourse. the jail cell. Moreover, they seem impervious
Throughout the depiction ofNancy, to heat when Nancy absentmindedly places
Faulkner stresses the separation ofthe protag- them on lamps and fires or spills coffee on
onist's selfand her hands, another recurring them, and once they are described as looking
example ofNancy's detachment. In analyzing like they were "tied to her wrist with a string"
this aspect ofFaulkner's character, we should (Faulkner 252). Her hands go against her will
keep in mind the connection between hands and appear disconnected to the rest ofher
and linguistic signs. On the most basic level, body, symbolizing the way in which language
both hands and signs work to point to other is destined to go against Nancy's will and
objects in an attempt to convey meaning. We detach itselffrom her. As long as she remains
use linguistic signs to point to various signi- confined, yet pushed away, by the hegemonic
fieds, and we use our hands to direct attention language, she will not be able to make proper
towards other objects. This function ofhands use ofher hands.
finds its way into the process oflanguage The effects ofNancy's inability to find true
acquisition when a parent, or one learned in meaning in expression extend to her own
linguistic discourse, explains to a child how comments and speech patterns. Nancy speaks
certain objects in the world are referenced by differently than the white characters in the
using the sign and pointing at the object. As story in an attempt to build an adequate lin-
a result, a connection forms in the learner's guistic "house" for herself. Other characters
mind between the word and its corresponding often misunderstand her, as in the case when
object, or at least one manifestation ofthat Quentin tells us that she says "oh or no, I
object. In addition, gesturing (as opposed to don't know which" (Faulkner 242). Faulkner
pointing) often accompanies speaking in a relates one verbal exchange between Nancy
way that, for many, connects the hands and and the Compson children as follows:
the tongue. It now becomes obvious that if "'Was itJesus?' Caddy said. 'Did he try to
one loses control over one's hands, then the come into the kitchen?'
link between intended meaning, housed in the 'Jesus,' Nancy said. Like this:
mind, and available methods ofcommunica- Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesus" (Faulkner 242).
tion, for these purposes located in the hands, In this case, Nancy's language deviates so
falls apart. In the end, such a person would far from the norm that Quentin has to
have trouble expressing herselfas a result of describe it in his own narration, because it
the detachment. cannot be represented inside ofquotation
An analysis ofonly a few ofthe many marks in the story (i.e. within white lan-
instances in "That Evening Sun" in which guage).^ Next, even Nancy's attempts at non-
Nancy's hands become the point offocus verbal "speech acts" in the "sounds that
reveals such a separation between mind and Negroes make" fall short ofsufficiency.
body, between comprehensive thought and Quentin describes the noises as "not singing
limited expression. In the exposition ofthe and not unsinging," and none ofthe other
story, we see Nancy carrying laundry without characters in the story can even begin to
the use ofher hands, and later we see that her understand what Nancy means (247).
hands prevent her from taking her own life in Frustrated by the lack ofwords to suit her pur-
'This technique in describing Nancy's speech becomes ofinterest when one considers that,
according to The Sound and the Fury published two years prior to "That Evening Sun," Quentin
committed suicide six years before he narrates this story. In other words, one could say that he
has moved beyond language and can therefore relate the strange way in which Nancy says
"Jesus."