Feng Xinping.
Yoknapatawpha is a well-known place name in William Faulkner's work, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner's hometown is located. This famous place in the history of literature has its own myths and legends, as well as a long and dark history, and the most important fiction about it is the Purse Trilogy (hereinafter referred to as the "Trilogy"), which includes: The Village (1940), The Town (1957) and The Mansion (1959). Change is a theme of Faulkner, and the stories of the Puss family that run through it are written to varying degrees in his works, early or late, long or short.
Faulkner's annotation at the beginning of The Mansion is like his life credo or the purpose of his writing, and he "wants his whole life to be part of living literature, because 'living' is movement, and 'movement' is change and change, otherwise stagnation and death." Thus, you will find differences and contradictions in this special chronicle of thirty-four years......That said, Faulkner's purpose in mixing the Purse material is the same. A detail in The Mansion can be used as a true version, but in general the factual details of the story don't have to match exactly. As he wrote to Albert Erskine: "I would say that it is these people and the nature of what they do that matters, and the facts do not matter. ”
Faulkner is good at recycling. This allows him and the reader to review and update events from different perspectives. One factor that ties Purse Trilogy together is his habit of going back to old stories and presenting them in a new light. It's easy for an immersed reader to overlook the diversity of the author's writing style. Like a craftsman who is constantly exploring, Faulkner spares no effort to innovate. No two of his works are structured in exactly the same way, and no two are exactly the same in terms of narrative. Each one is a new artistic adventure, and at the same time makes new and even surprising demands on the reader.
The "**Puth Trilogy", which is full of memories, moves forward in chronological order. From the rural world of Frenchman's Bay in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in The Village, to the county seat of Jefferson in the first 25 years of the 20th century in The Town, and finally in The Mansion in 1948. We moved from the world of farmers and sharecroppers into the age of industrialization. Cars replaced mules and horse-drawn carriages, and Memphis Airport, rather than railroads, became the link to the wider world. However, the world in The Village is still alive, connected by characters to their stories, the stories they tell, and changed by their memories, speculations, and curiosities.
Many of the stories in The Village are presented in the form of quotes from Ratlief, a sewing machine salesman and preserver of the county's history, but it also has an overarching, omniscient narrator, a collective voice. For example, in the chapter "The Long Summer", the narrator gently and even sympathetically inhabits the consciousness of Ike Purs, an idiot who is in love with a cow. Most of the time, the narrator offers a collective perspective or focuses his attention on a deeply sympathetic yet untouched figure. Sometimes, the narrator indulges himself and converses with us in a rich tone, as if the words were paint to be thrown on the canvas; Sometimes it is humorous to describe an old horse's fart as "the rich, vocal organ sound of its entrails". This technique not only enhances the intensity of the event, but also elevates the ordinary to an extraordinary level.
The Town is narrated by three voices. First up is Charles Mallison. He wasn't born halfway through the story. In the second paragraph of the first chapter, he claims to represent the collective views of Jeffersontown; followed by Gavin Stevens, a highly educated lawyer, an out-and-out talker; And his friend Ratlleaf, a patient listener. Together, the three tell the whole story, and in the process of influencing each other, they gradually become more and more like each other. And the third-person narrator in "The Mansion" is now back to participate in the narration of the three narrators in "The Town".
Obviously, the Puth Trilogy is about "storytelling". They show how stories are born and come to people. How the overlay and content of stories became our history, and how history was created. In a larger sense, the history of Yoknapatawpha County, as Faulkner planned and hoped, becomes a version of world history through actions, events, allusions, and echoes. In this sense, the stories that accumulate in one place are the stories of each place.
The narrative of the trilogy looks intricate, but the storyline is simple. It tells the story of Flem Puss's journey from poverty and obscurity to power. He first gained an aura of respect in the countryside and in the town, and later became president of a bank and a Baptist deacon. His life is a model of the American Dream, only every step is full of sin. From scamming simple and kind people to open extortion and extortion, as well as thefts large and small. No benefit is too small for the ruthless and greedy Flem, and until the end of the trilogy, he can enjoy the benefits of shamelessness unharmed.
Flam Puth deserves a trilogy in his own right, and the two women in his life, Yura Varna Puth and her daughter Linda, are equally remarkable creations, both destined tragic figures. The former is elevated to the level of myth by those who worship her, and the latter is more "real" to those around her. The only two characters in the trilogy who have difficulty grasping their inner life are Flaim and Yura. We can only learn about them from their actions, and they keep their secrets until the end. They always bring unexpected feelings to both fictional characters and real readers. Still, their enigmatic hearts open up suddenly and briefly. In "Small Town," when Jura confronts her affectionate and romantic admirer, Gavin Stevens, we instantly understand that whether she is a mythical character or not, when she thinks she has to, she is cold and pragmatic. In fact, she's a lot more complicated than people think. Fleim's vicious life in the trio is marked by success, so much so that we rarely notice his few failures, and his power to control others. However, when the two opposing blacks in "The Town" unite to fight back, it becomes clear that he is not invincible.
Faulkner shows his rich and highly creative narrative in the trilogy. He opened up new frontiers for writers of his time and beyond. He changed the way people perceive **. He has also challenged writers and readers around the world to put the best into their art as they experience it. And his ability to shape characters is just as amazing. The events that take place in **, whether bizarre or commonplace, are perfectly presented, and the timing and skill with which they are carried out are the envy of the best athletes. Flem's bow tie, Ratleaf's blue shirt, Stevens' corn cob pipe, all appeal to us with a strong physicality. The world they live in is more emotional than descriptive.
It is especially important that no matter how stupid or flawed, how ignorant or cultured, they are given equal lives, and even the humblest deserve our full attention. At the end of "The Mansion," Stevens and Ratleaf respond to the prayer of the Reverend Goody, "God, save us poor people." And Mink Puss finally saw himself truly in the midst of the dead, "himself among them, equal with all men, kind, brave, inseparable from all men, obscure like all men......"Faulkner is sometimes blamed for giving ordinary people deep thoughts and feelings. Such criticism is as cold as Flem Puss's worldview. In fact, Faulkner's inclusive, democratic gaze shines on all of his characters.