Requiem for a nun as reflection and expansion of the "horsethief" story in A fable

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Requiem for a nun as reflection and expansion of the "horsethief" story in A fable

著者（英） Naomi Saho

journal or

publication title

Core

number 22

page range 35‑52

year 1993‑03‑15

URL http://doi.org/10.14988/pa.2017.0000014893

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Requiem for a Nun as Reflection and Expansion 35

Requiem f o r a Nun a s R e f l e c t i o n and Expansion o f t h e H o r s e t h i e f

^円

Storyi n A F a b l e

Naomi S a h o

I

William Fau1kner wrote Requiem for a Nun¹in Ju1y 1948 to July 195 ，1 in the four‑year interruption of writing A Fable，2 the manuscript of which he started to write in Novemb日r1943品ndfinished in Apri1 1954. Thus Fau1kner wrote Requiem， as it were， in the midd1e of writing A Fable. Under such conditions around its composition， therefore， Requiem can be said to h旦γebeen influenc巴dby some ideas incorporated in A Fable.

In reality， a comparison of A Fable and Requiem suggests severa1 Slml‑ 1arities. For examp1e， both nove1s present the reader with the hidden truth， which is exposed through shocking events such as murder and mutiny. A Fable r巴vea1sthat the seeming enemy forces are not inimica1 in truth and the true inimica1 re1ation exists between officers and foot‑so1diers in one force; and Requiem且180reve昌18that seen from the true1y guilty person's viewpoint， the seeming1y innocent person is gui1ty and the seemingly gui1ty person is innocent. A1so in these nove1s some characters choose to be executed and sacrifice their own 1ives despit巴thefact that they hav巳 opportunitiesto礼voidexecution. Mor巴over，characters of u1timate authority give a death sentence on the crimina1s，品lthoughthey cou1d save them， because they judge execution to realiz巴thecriminalsラwishes.

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36 Requiem for a Nun as Reflection and Expansion

Especially in the horsethief" story of A Fable， there are not only the matic but stylistic and tonal similarities to the prose section of Requiem. In the horsethief" story and The Courthouse，" characters and events are de‑ picted as joyous and humorous， and they are dismissed with easy banter，，3

by the narrators. The narrator of the horsethief" story presents the reader with grand views of American history through the lawyer's imagination， and the narrator of the prose section of Requiem also unrolls views of the history of Yoknapatawpha county in a style and tone similar to those of the narrator of the horsethief" story. Thematically the horsethief" story reflects and d日velopsthe theme of the main mutiny‑plot and focuses it on the cultural and historical background of the southern United States. And as to the time of its composition， Faulkner wrote the horsethief" story in the spring or early summer叫 toOctober 1947 a year before he began the Requiem manuscript， and even tried to publish it separately from A Fable，5

which was not then completed. It is reasonable， then， to assume that the horsethief" story and Requiem have some themes in common

This paper intends to clarify how the conflicting conceptions of the horsethief" story are repeated and its two main issues are developed in Requiem， and furthermore， how these conceptions tighten the structure of Requiem.

E

The horsethief" story consists of the first half and second half，6 in which central events as well as main viewpoints are different. Thus the story seems to present the reader with distinctive themes sep丘rately. However， in reality， we can find each theme overlaps and complements th^巳 other， and therefore we can regard the horsethief" story as one coherent

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Requiem for a Nun as Reflection and Expansion 37 story with a single theme as a whole.

The reason the story's theme is single is that two different main view‑ points function in the same way. The narrator of the horsethief" story tells the process of events basically from the omniscient point of view， but that point of view sometimes changes into the viewpoints of the Federal deputy marshal (later， the ex‑deputy marshal， a privat巴detectivε)and the N ew Orleans lawyer. Hence the horsethief" story is divided into two parts. The deputy marshal plays his role to see events from the viewpoints of both the chased and the chaser，7 and the lawyer plays his role to se巴

events from the viewpoints both of the peopl日confininga man and the others reli巴vinghim. Thus the two viewpoints o .fthe deputy marshal and the lawyer function to represent or survey both sides of the two conflict‑ mg groups.

We can see the story as coherent thematically， because the first half and the second half deal with the same idea of conflicting groups， that is， con‑ flicting conceptions they embody

In the first haH， initially the Federal deputy marshal was the head man of the folks chasing" (F， 151)8 the horsethieves， becaus巴theyhad stolen the three‑legged racehorse worth much money from its owner， the mil勾

lionaire‑oil baron， and theft was a crime. However， the deputy marshal，a poet . . . oneofHomer's mere mute orphan godchildren" (F， 159)， suddenly finds what the whole business of his work means and finally sees the truth" (F， 159) or rather "truth" (F， 159)， and consequently he resigns from the Federal‑deputy position The truth" he finds is that the horsethi巳ves' activity is not a theft， but a passion， an immolation， an apotheosis" (F， 153)， and the immortal pageant‑piece of the tender legend" (F， 153) be‑ cause the horsethieves r巴lievedand saved the three‑legged racehorse from

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i ts destin y in a whorehouse where it wouldn't need any legs at all" (F， 163). In other words， to th^巳 ex‑Federaldeputy， the idea that theft is a crime is not the truth， but the appearance

When the horsethieves are relieved by Masons in Missouri from the jail or its destiny and disappear， the ex‑Federal deputy int色rpr巴tsthis episode in the following way:

right perhaps， justice certainly， might not have prevailed， but something more important had [prevailed]. . . . truth， love， sacri‑ fice， and something else even more important than th^巴y:some bond between or from man to his brother man stronger than even the golden shackles which coopered precariously his ramshackle earth一一^(F，165)

Here the ex‑deputy appreciates truth"旦nd somebond between or from man to his brother m叩 "rather than right" and justice，" for which he worked as Federal deputy in the judicial institution. In other words， the activities of the horsethieves and Masons in Missouri are， seen from the viewpoint of the ex‑Federal deputy，the tender legend，" that is， a kind of loving story accomplished by some bond" between human beings or a man and an animal， and on the other hand， according to right" and ]US‑

tice" that "the Federal Government" (F， 153) and the Successive state police" (F， 153) serve， they are violations of the law and crimes

In the second half， the lawyer the ex‑Federal deputy sent for thedefense of the English groom‑horsethief establishes his headquarters in the judge's chambers next the courtroom in the courthouse" (F， 166). After the old Negro preacher appears at the backdoor of a small Missouri jail"(F， 168)， the lawyer decides to make the turnkey confine him in a jail of another town under the charge of vagrancy" (F， 177) until the English

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Requiem for a Nun as Ref!ection and Expansion 39 groom‑horsethief returns to save the Negro. It means that because no man shaU be put twice in the same jeopardy" (F， 173) the old Negro is to be arrested under a disguised charge though he is innocent at that time. In this way the lawyer tries to defend a person in the courtroom so eagerly that he comes to have another person in custody.

On the other hand， in order to free the old N egro from such a deceptive restraint of the lawyer and the turnkey， the townspeople gather and enter the courtroom， where， at the dais in particular， according to the lawyer，

no mere petty right， but blind justice itse1f" (F， 172) reigns.

In reality， what the lawyer and the turnkey expect to h旦ppenare trivial things resulting from using complicated legal procedur巴orentrapping the townspeople， and what they try to do in the courthouse are using sophistry or keeping a "record" (F， 176)， both of which serve petty right" and

blind justice" finally.

In contrast with the fact that these deceptive things are done inside the courthouse， the townspeople go out of the building to free the Negro from the turnkey， who was trying to take him to another jail， and actually accomplish their end outside the courthouse^、Asex‑Federal deputy once evaluated the relief of the horsethieves by Masons， the liberation the townspeople accomplish is also based on some bond between or from man to his brother man."

In this way， the horsethief" story presents the reader with some con‑ flicting conceptions: legal facts and criminal truth; the courthouse and the jail; the appearance and the truth; justice and love; legal bond and human bond.

The courthouse is th日 placewhere records are administered and kept， and embodies the law and judicial authority. However，petty right" and

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40 Requiem fOT a Nun as Reflection and Expansion

blind justice" which the courthouse serves neglect the truth hidden under seeming， superficial events， thereby being indifferent to love， sacrifice， and brotherhood， in virtue of which the people perform liberation. N amely in the horsethief" story the events that justice" judged to be crimes are in truth loving stories of human beings却 dof a man and an animal. The jail where the horsethief‑criminals are to be confined is， therefore， the place the heroes of the loving story sojourn in. Thus the horsethief" story presents the courthouse as a place to deal with the superficial facts of the events through records and trifling legal procedure and the jail as a place to have the key persons concerned with the truth of the events in contrast with the courthouse.

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Also in Requiem we can find a series of such conilicting conceptions as presented in the horsethief" story.9 First of all， the courthouse and the jail 1 referred to above are used for the main titles of Act One and Act Three. This suggests significance of these buildings in Requiem. In fact， as in the prose section the narrator explains， the courthouse and the jail are not much different in their oldness， which can be equated with the origin of the town; because the Y oknapatawpha County courthouse was born vir‑ tually when the jail was required in the settlement， and the town was born when the courthouse was built in reality. The courthouse and the jail which are thus indispensable for the birth of the town are pr巴sentedin contrast， in the same way as those of the horsethief" story are presented

In the prose section of The Courthouse，" the narrator emphasizes that the courthouse began as a depository for the town's records" (R， 3). In addition， the construction of the courthouse was triggered by the idea of

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Requiemfor a Nun as Reflection and Expansion 41 recording on the book" (R， 20)， and although the episode that Ratcliff having hit on booking falls into trouble as a resu1t of his own record is comical and funny， the courthouse becomes the center， the focus， the hub" (R， 40) of the county.

However， the prose section of The J ail" reveals that not the court^勾 house records" (R， 214) but the walls of the jail" (R， 214)呂reof use for perusmg in unbroken. . . continuity the history of a community" (R， 214) One example is a story of Cecilia Farmer， a daughter of a jailor， who scratched with a diamond ring her name and the date，Cecilia Farmer April 16th 1861" (R， 229)， on a windowpane of the jailor's room. Later， although it is unrecorded by the town and the county" (R， 237)， for th巴townspeo‑ ple the girl's love story becomes a historical heritage of the town as well as the center of the communal consciousness on its r巴gion.1t is because， as the narrator tells， a human being's imagination is so vast， so limi tless in capacity. . . to disperse and burn away the rubble‑dross of fact and probability， leaving only truth and dream" (R， 261): that is to say， people can imagine themselves in historical truth and regional dream through Cecilia Farmer's story and signature

In the passage quoted above，fact and probability" are contrasted as ephemeral and worthless rubble‑dross" with immutable， immortal truth and dream." As Doreen Fowler points out，disparity between fact and truth"lO is made remarkable in Requiem . 1n fact， also in th巴dramaticsec‑ tion，fact" and truth" are contrasted with each other， in more obvious connection with the jail and the courthouse

For example， while Temple tries to deal with the event of Nancy's ex‑ ecution only through the surperficial legal proc巴dure，facts，papers， docu‑ ments， sworn to， incontrovertible" (R， 89)， Gavin Stevens， th巴 defense

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42 Requiem for a Nun as Reflection and Expansion lawyer of Nancy Mannigoe， says to Temple in this way:

In the eyes of the law， she [Nancy] is already dead. (R， 82) We're not concerned with death. That's nothing: any handful of petty facts and sworn docurrients can cope with tha.t That's all finished now; we can forget i .tWhat we are trying to deal with now is injustice. Only truth can cope with that. Or love. (Italics mine: R， 88)

Like fact" and truth" in the prose section， here facts" are petty and only a matter of papers， and truth" must be revealed， because only truth" can be related to a human being' s real life， such as life of Temple as T emple Drake， not as social persona， Mrs. Gowan Stevens. In other words， what Stevens suggests here is that petty facts" deal with only the surface of events through the law，" but truth" enables people to perceive the things hidden under the superficiality and to cope not only with legal guilt but also with the essence of injustice". In the dramatic section， then， the con‑ ceptions of facts" and truth" are presented in connection with the issue of legal guilt and innocence.

At the opening of the dramatic section， Nancy is sentenced to death for the crime. However， it comes to be revealed that the sentence is merely a superficial fact and is irrelevant to the whole and true aspects of the crime. The truth Temple is forced to face is that N ancy the murderess， the nigger， the dope‑fiend whore" (R， 208) casted the last gambit，her own debased and worthless life" (R， 208)， to hold Temple's little boy's normal and natural home together" (R， 208)， and that the cause of the murder lies in Temple's inclination to corruption or for evil. In other words， N ancy's motivation for the murder of Temple's baby comes from her wish that lit‑

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Requiem for a Nun as Reflection and Expansion 43 tle children， as long as they are little children， shall be intact， un‑ anguished， untorn， unterrified" (R， 211); and N ancy's murder results from the fact that Temple's taste for corruption and evil has not been extirpated by her eight‑year maritallife with Gowan Stevens， as Temple herself con‑ fesses that Nancy's journey [execution

1

started that morning eight years ago when 1 got on the train at the University" (R， 209). Therefore the true guilty person in the whole aspect of the crime is not Nancy， but Temple， although legally Nancy is guilty and Templ巴isinnocent.

It is at the county court in the courthouse，the symbolism of the ele‑ vated tribunal of justice" (R， 49)， that N ancy is judged legally to be guilty through judgment of only the superficial facts of the crime. On the other hand， it is the person kept in the jail who plays a catalystrole to reveal the true丘spectof guilty inclination latent in the seemingly innoc巴ntper‑ son. Thus， also in th巴 dramaticsection， the courthouse is depict巴das a place to deal with mere facts through the law and records， and the jail as a place to keep a person concerned in the truth of events， like the jail and the courthouse in the horsethief" story.

Furthermore， the role the lawyer， Gavin Stevens， plays in Requieni is similar to the function of the ex‑Federal deputy and the New Orleans lawyer in the horsethief" story. Stevens seems to be an unnatural and im‑ practical character，l1 who leads Temple to obtain a good fair honest chance to suffer" (R， 133)， and does not try to save N ancy from execution， in spite of his real position as the defense lawyer of Nancy. However， as the ex‑Federal deputy and the lawyer play a role to survey or represent two conflicting positions， Gavin Stevens also plays a part to interpret positions of both N ancy and Temple， and to explain about them to the reader.^1ZIn addition， the ex‑Feder呂1d巴putyand Stevens are described as

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poet.¹³They perceive and tell the truth， even though they originally work or worked for the judicial authorities

In this way， it can be said that not only the central conflicting concep‑ tions of the horsethief" story but also the characters conveying them are repeated and rearranged in Requiem.

IV

However， in Requiem， F aulkner not merely repeats the central concep‑ tions of the horsethief" story， but expands and develops its two main issues into a quite new idea. In the horsethief" story the narrator takes up an issue of two kinds of judgments based on truth and superficial facts， and presents another issue of the communal consciousness and bonds of the townspeople in Missouri. Also in Requiem， judgment and the commu‑

nal consciousness ar巴tak巴nup as main issues separately in the dramatic and prose sections of each Act.¹⁴Namely in each Act we have three varia‑ tions of judgment and the communal consciousness.

In the prose sections of The Courthouse"在nd TheGolden Dome，" th巴

n丘町atorjuxtaposes two types of communities:

J

efferson and

J

ackson. In the prose section of Act One， in the manipulation of superficial facts and records in order not to cost somebody money" (R， 3)， the residents in Jef‑ ferson obtain their communal consciousness and identity by chance and accident" (R， 4) through giving a name for the city" (R， 3). In the prose section of Act Two， the narrator does not mention that since ancient times there has been communal consciousness and identity in

J

ackson， which is settled as a capital under order and plans of the Federal authority. In the beginning" (R， 99) of the city there is no communal consciousness but only the words" (R， 99) of decree by the Federal government.

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Requiem for a Nun as Reflection and Expansion 45 The rosters do not present J ackson as a city where its residents have either communal consciousness or identity. The records kept in the court‑ house of Jefferson and the rosters of Mississippi names and cities are irrelevant to r巴allife of the communities' people， and neither help keep nor bear communal consciousness in the town or the city， even though to record is necessary for them. It can be said， th巴refore，that in the extr巴me‑

ly nonsensical and ironic品1description of facts， the rosters symbolize ab‑ sence of communal consciousness in the modern city

In the prose section of Act Three， it is paradoxically made known through the unrecorded story about Cecilia Farmer that even in modern times， people can have communal consciousn巴ssby learning th巴truthof the individual; in other words， that the people never obtain communal con‑ sciousness by reading the record kept in the courthouse

Progress" (R， 225) has changed the town， J efferson， and a new way of thinking" (R， 240) and of acting and behaving" (R， 240) pervad白 overthe townspeople. In time， the cultura ，lregional， and national boundaries dis‑ appear， as the narrator deplores

the country's hollow inverted air one resonant boom and ululance of the radio: and thus no more Yoknapatawpha's airnor even Mason and Dixon's air， but American's. . . one air， one n品tion.(R， 244)

One nation， one world: young men who had never been farther from Yoknapatawpha County than Memphis or N ew Orleans (and that not often)， now talked glibly of street intersections in Asiatic and European capitals， returning no more to inherit the long monotonous endl白s unendable furrows of Mississippi cotton fields， living now. . . in automobile trailers or G. 1. barracks on

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46 Requiem for a Nun as Reflection and Expansion the outskirts of liberal arts col1eges. (R， 246)

Progress" has caused communities everywhere in the United States to lose their regional and cultural identities.

However， although there are new people. . . strangers， outlanders" (R， 249) now in J efferson， the old irreconcilables" (R， 252) are actual1y in‑ creasing in number" (R， 252); it is because the old citizens have inherited Cecilia Farmer's signature and story as the town' s composite heritage"

(R，255).

The communal consciousness the townspeople have inherited is not the same kind of communal consciousness the founding fathers happened to be given by a name of the city in Aet One. 1t is not the kind of communal consciousness that is meant when people s且ythey are from

J

efferson. On the contrary， it is what makes them proudly say that they live in

J

efferson where Cecilia Farmer lived and left her signature as a witness of the Civil War

1n contrast with the speed， direction， and noise of progress， the town's heritage is her way of living dependent on a meditation that rooted， that durable， that veteran" (R，235) in which Cecilia Farmer had been standing sti11 in silence for many years until， following her meditation， finally she left for the farm in Alabama with the former soldier¹⁵That is to say， she rooted meditation in her life，呂ndthat meditation became the basis of h巳r mental identity; and it is that maiden muse" (R， 259) that drew a man out of a cavalry battle and made him relinquish the charger and sabre

Here， in spite of the huge power of progress which swept innumerable things， one fragmental record of the gir 1 on the windowpane and her un‑ recorded love story give the communal consciousness even to outlanders

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Requiemfor a Nun as Reflection and Expansion 47 through their imagination， since paradoxically her personal story and sig‑ nature include the universal truth which moves th巴irminds and giv巴sthem vivid feeling of her actuallife. Cecilia Farmer's signature， which symbol‑ izes her strong identity with that time and that place， leads even outland

ers to identify themselves with members of the community at that time， and finally to realize that there is no time: no space: no distance" (R， 261). Thus th巴townspeoplehave inherited， and even outlanders obtain， the regional， communal， and historical identity which， in Act Three， does not imply any narrow regionalism but the identity with an ideal mode of actions and meditation， namely， the mental identity; and at the same time both of them experience universality beyond time， space， and distance， by learning the community's heritage of the universal truth inherent in the in‑ dividual's personal， particular experience.

In the dramatic section of each Act， the n呂rratortakes up the issue of the judgment of a sin or a crime

In the dramatic section of Act One， the reader is presented with the judgment about the pr巴sent，superficial facts of the crime， that is， N ancy as a murderer， Temple as a mother of a victim， but later in Act Two， the reader learns the truth of the murder through Temple's confession about her corruption， which she got a taste for eight years ago. In addition， at first Temple only deals with her superficial seH， which corresponds to her own persona as a good lady of high social standing， and an unfortunate mother of a victim. However， later she is forced by Stevens to face her in‑ ner true corrupt self昌ndrecognize herself in the past as a part of her true seH. Temple， through suffering， then， obtains the sens巴ofidentity. In other words， in the dramatic section of Act Two， the governor of thεlegal‑ ly highest authority passed the judgment to Temple， which makes Tem‑

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48 Requiem for a Nun as Reflection and Expansion ple's guilt and suffering decisiv巴throughNancy's execution.

The suffering she cannot escape after she realizes her own guilt leads her to face another issue of salvation.

In The J ail，" Temple presents a question of whether or not the soul of the individual who realizes one's own inclination for evil and obtains a

chance to suffer" is saved. For Temple， suffering is mere suffering which lasts tomorrow and tomorrow" (R， 283) and does not mean anything more than suffering for expiation; for N ancy， on the contrary，the salvation of the world is in man's suffering" (R， 276). While Temple thinks suffering is merely personal， N ancy understands that suffering le丘ds a11poor sinning"

(R， 276) human beings to salvation， that is the universal aspect.

Just before she exits， Nancy says to Temple，Believe" (R， 283) and she does not give an answer to Temple's question of Believe what?" (R， 283). It suggests that salvation depends on an act of belief and it is a personal， subjective experience of the individual. In other words， the short dialogue between N ancy and Temple leads to the simple proposition that salvation does not exist in objective facts， but in one's personal belief in salvation Thus， Temple， who does not believe in salvation， is doomed" (R， 286) to endure everlasting personal suffering.

In other words， it is paradoxically presented in Act Three that one's soul has a higher authority to judge one's own soul than the legally high‑ est authority of the governor. Temple judges her own soul by her own dis‑ belief in salvation， thereby giving herself the punishment of everlasting personal suffering， while N ancy places herself in suffering with the univer‑ sal meaning.

And although in Act Two， T emple discovered her own personal identity in her corrupt self in the past， it is revealed in Act Three that in an ulti‑

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Requiem for a Nun as Refiection and Expansion 49 mate sense， Temple is still severed from the connection with something universal or the universal meaning.

In the modem world presented in Requiem， human beings， except for the old residents in ]efferson， are like floating weeds which do not have root in the earth. Modem Americans have lost the communal， regional， and cultural identity， and also the mental identity inherit日dwith that， much less the identity with their inner selves. And even when they fortunately recover their identity with their inner. selves， they呂restill severed from the universal meaning or something universal^町 Templeis， as it were， the symbolical character who signifies a modern being living in such mentally critical circumstances.¹⁶Therefore， it can be said that the voice addressed from Cecilia Farmer's sign^且ture，"Listen， Stranger; this was myself" this was I" (R， 262)， is a message or a warning of Cecilia Farmer with mental roots in her own meditation given to Temple， a floating weed， and to the modern readers.

The prose sections and the dramatic sections seem to deal with mutual‑ ly unrelated issues separately， but the conflicting conceptions relate them to each other and give thematic coherence to both groups of the sections， as the first half and the second half of the horsethief" story are united thematically by the central conceptions

These distinctive issues are presented in the same way in each Act Both in the prose and dramatic sections in Act One， the narrator presents the communal consciousness and the judgment as what is bom or passed through superficial facts^、whichboth the courthouses administer. In Act Two， the problems veiled by the superficial facts are revealed through the extreme revelation of facts on records and Temple's confession of the sur‑ prising truth. In Act Three， the problems more radicalin nature are re‑

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50 Requiem for a Nun as Reflection and Expansion vea1ed through the manifestation of the truth in the jails.

In this way， conflicting conceptions such as the courthouse and the jail， the truth and facts， play a role to make the structure tight thematically and lead the reader to find the clues for understanding what the entire work tries to present， through which readers can heighten and deepen their cognizance of the two main issues

Thus in Requiem， using the central conflicting conceptions of the horsethief" story as a basis of the structure， F乱ulknerfurther quests for its two issues in connection with the critical circumstances of modern hu‑ man beings一一 thatis to say， absence of the individual's mental identity and of relation with the universal meaning

Requiem was written as a sequel to Sanctuary， as Faulkner himself said: 1 began to think what would be the future of that girl? and then 1 thought， what could a marriage come to which was founded on the vanity of a weak man? What would be the outcome of that? And suddenly that seemed to me dr且maticand worthwhile. 17

However， in view of the entire work including the prose section， we can see that Requiem is not mere sequel to Sanctuary， but presents the author's new world which reflects some ideas of A Fable， that is to say， in Requiem， Faulkner reveals the critical aspects of people in modern America目

Notes

1. William Faulkner， Requiem for a Nun (New York: Random House， 1951). All references to this edition and page numbers will be given in the text in pa‑ rentheses，且ndRequiem for a Nun will be abbreviated to Requiem.

2. William Faulkner， A Fable (New York: Random House， 1954).

3. See Doreen Fowler，寸heChance to Suffer: Requiem for a Nun，" Faulkner's Changi托:gVisions from

ω

trageωAffirmation (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press，

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Requiem for a N.ω~ as Reflection and Expansion 51 1983)， p. 58.

4. See Keen Butterworth， A Critical and T.αt叩 1Stud.旨ofFaulkner's "A Fable"

(Ann Arbor: UM1 Research Press， 1971)， p6

5. 1 bid.， ppβ‑8. According to Keen Butterworth， after the horsethief" story was rejected in December 1947， Faulkner intermitted the writing of A Fable. 1t is February 1951 that Notes on a Horsethi更，fwaspublished by the Levee Press. 6. See William Faulkner， A Fable. The horsethief" story， pages 151‑89， can

be considered in two parts: (1) 151‑63; (2) 163‑89.

7. 1t is the old N egro that tells the horsethief" story to the runner in the stream of the sentry‑runner plot. However， in reality， the practical narrator of the horsethief" story is且otthe old Negro， but the omniscient‑viewpoint narra‑ tor. The story is arranged品ccordingto tlie runner' s req uest: ''A protagonist. ' If I初torun with the hare and be the ho捌 dsω0，I must have a protagonist" (151). The old Negro's grandson gives an answer to the runner:出Itwas the deputy mar‑ shal that sent the New Or1eans lawyer'" (151)

8. A Fable and Requiem which are given in parentheses wi1l be each abbrevi‑ ated to F and R

9. See Noel Polk， Faulkner 'sR勾uiemfor a Nun: A Critical Stua砂(Bloomington: lndiana University Press， 1981)， p. 53. He points out as follows: The story is developed thematically in terms of a number of dualities‑‑ change/stasis， civilization/Eden， courthous巴/jail，good/evil， present/past."

10. See Doreen Fowler， p. 57.

11. See Noel Polk， p. 159 there is a real sense in which he [Stevens] has emasculated himself by his love of abstruction and his dist^品ncefrom the real world"; and also see Hugh M. Ruppersburg， Voice and Eye in Faulkners' Fiction (Athens: the University of Georgia Press， 1983)， p. 145: His [Stevens'] prating self‑righteousness， his seeming omniscience about Temple's motives and her past， his solicitude‑‑these should incline the reader to view him skeptically."

12. See Warren Beck， Faulkner (Madison: th巴Universityof Wisconsin Press， 1976)， p. 623

13. See William Faulkner， Requiem， p. 43 He [Stevens]looks like a poet than a lawyer and actually is."

14. See Hugh M Ruppersburg， p. 134 1ndividual citizens of J efferson may emerge briefly as focal characters， but the narrator concentrates primarily upon the community昌sa whole.

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15. See William Faulkner， A Fable， p. 187. In the horsethief" story， the mob in Missouri who is walking on for the liberation of the old Negro is also depicted as the people of meditation in silence and actions [the lawyerJ thinking with pride and awe too， how threatful only in locomotion and dangerous only in si‑ lence; neither in lust nor appetite nor greed lay wombed the potency of his [man'sl threat， but in silence昌ndmeditation: his abi1ity to move en masse at his own impulse， and silence in which to fall into thought and then action as into an open manhole."

16. In fact， Temple is not one of the people who have inherited the mental id巴ntityrooted in Cecilia Farmer's story， even though Jefferson is her native land. The mental identity cannot be obtained by the residents only through their habituation in the town， in Act Three. Even outlanders can identify them‑ selves with the mental world Cecila Farmer lived in. The mental identity in cludes something universal， but it is nourished in the particular jail of the par ticular town， and so C巴cili且 Farmer' s story is th巴centerof the communal identity. Therefore Temple is also sev巴redfrom the communal identity. 17. See Frederick L. Gwynn and Joseph L. Blotner， (eds.)， Faulkner in the Uni‑

ve聞か:Class Conferen口巴苫atthe University of Virginia 1957‑1958 (Charlottesvil‑ le: The University of Virginia Press， 1959)， p. 96