Faulkner, William - Linda J. Holland-Toll (essay date summer 1998)

Linda J. Holland-Toll (essay date summer 1998)

SOURCE: Holland-Toll, Linda J. “Absence Absolute: The Recurring Pattern of Faulknerian Tragedy.” Mississippi Quarterly 51, no. 3 (summer 1998): 435-52.

[In the following essay, Holland-Toll explores the pattern of alienation and absence in Faulkner's tragic novels.]

Between the conception
          and the creation
Between the emotion
          and the response
          Falls the Shadow
                    Life is very long(1)

At the heart of Faulknerian tragedy lies the Shadow, the absolute absence of any other and complete alienation from the communion through which life and love flourish. In many Faulknerian tragedies, a character, at times a seemingly marginalized character, lies at the center of an abnegation of humanity so widespread that this corrupting condition defines the Void as the heart of tragedy. This...

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