Colonel Sutden In William Faulkner's Wash
William Faulkner’s “Wash” illuminates the stark contrast between the southern aristocrats and the lower classes. Colonel Sutpen is the stereotypical southern veteran post Civil War era, hung up on the war and the way he believes the war should have gone. Sutpen is confined by his pride and the legacy of his name, clinging to his glory days. Colonel Sutpen has an expansive pride, ultimately leading to his death. Sutpen’s pride is his hamartia; he feels stuck in his past and worthless in his present, his pride leads to his mental breakdown. Colonel Sutpen returns from the war with nothing left; he is devastated by the South’s loss and feels worthless. He is left alone with no wife and a son lost to the war. He has no option but to become a general store owner. This job is below the lifestyle that Sutpen is accustomed to, as he works alongside Wash, a man considered to be white trash: “Even after being reduced to the position of a modest shopkeeper, the former landowner still considers Wash an inferior” (Outen 178). Sutpen clings to his …show more content…
Sutpen spends the latter part of his life focused solely on himself and not his effect on others. When he produces a female heir and not the male he wants, he makes his final remark of pride and power to Milly when he compares her to a mare. This comment leads Wash to murder the Colonel out of rage. The colonel dies because of his pride and disregard for the effects of his breakdown. Sutpen is a simple man, caring only about himself and his own desires for his life. Colonel’s negligence to move on and solve his issues cause him to haunt his own mind and drive him insane. His unhealthy behaviors are a direct antecedent to his loss of identity and alcoholism. These actions cause him to act inappropriately in response to his breakdown. Sutpen wastes his life and potential on tormenting himself with “could have beens” instead of progressing
Perseverance In Faulkner's October Sky
571 Words | 3 Pages“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do” (Pele qtd. In Soccerlens). Countless people have done amazing things through perseverance. Sonny was an average boy in a mining town, but he started building rockets and learned a valuable life lesson.
Book Review Of Co Aytch Or A Side Show Of The Big Show By Sam Watkins
572 Words | 3 PagesWatkins illustrates the history of the Civil War through the perspective most like an average, gentle man; he even writes small eulogies for those fallen before him. In addition to his outstanding use of descriptions that allow readers to visualize his experiences and share his emotions, Watkins also uses slightly humorous tactics to bring ease to the horrors of the greatest, bloodiest war in history. After the enactment of laws like the conscription act and the law allowing only those with twenty negros permission to go home, Watkins described the Civil War as “a rich man’s war, a poor man’s fight.” Watkin’s main purpose was to portray those “fellows who did the shooting and killing, the fortifying and ditching, the sweeping of the streets, the drilling, the standing guard, and who drew eleven dollars per month and rations, and drew the ramrod and tore the cartridge.” Unlike most writers, Watkins does not leave the reader questioning what or how things were during that period; he writes very descriptively and spares little to no detail about the subject,
Compare And Contrast Wilkie And Ralph Eubanks
802 Words | 4 PagesRalph Eubanks’ memoir, Ever is a Long Time: A Journey into Mississippi’s Dark Past, is a personal history of an African American family’s experience in Mississippi. Eubanks revisits a small Southern town divided by racism and violence in the midst of the Civil Rights era. Eubanks recounts burning churches, forcibly integrated schools, and the murders of numerous African Americans. Curtis Wilkie’s historical autobiography, Dixie: A Personal Odyssey Through Historic Events That Shaped the Modern South, is a political and social history of the South told through the perspective of a white man.
Impartiality In Charles Chestnut's The Marrows Of Tradition
1886 Words | 8 PagesThe Reconstruction Era was a fourteen-year period in which the South rejoined the Union after the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery. The Southern states’ dependency upon slave labor left their economy in ruins. In addition, the social constructs of The South were diminished as well; southern white society now had to interact with individuals they once oppressed. Charles Chestnut’s, “The Marrows of Tradition”, dives into southern aristocracy highlighting the unjust execution of the law and the twisted interpretations of “Impartiality”. Due to the fact the Wellington society dwelled on Impartiality, newly freed blacks had to encounter all types of prejudices, each one masked deeper by the newly constructed attitude towards African Americans.
To Kill A Men Rhetorical Analysis
294 Words | 2 PagesUnlike Adam and Eve’s battle of the sexes, Twain highlights how a group of men in a militia are a slave to their pride and naiveté. They have a preconceived idea that with war comes glory, but they do not consider the truths of it. Instead of understanding war as bloodshed and deadly, the narrator is a “naïve young man whose alliance is less with the Confederacy than with the romance of soldiering itself” (Ladd 45). As young men, they see fighting and war as a masculine act to be part of. Their guns are a phallic imagery that symbolizes their masculinity, but it is the very same object that makes them realize what war truly is when they accidentally kill a man.
Feast Of Snakes: Literary Analysis
1677 Words | 7 Pages“The “violence” that must take place in Southern literature is often a final resort of the character when all other alternatives have failed”
Southern Moral Code In William Faulkner's The Unvanquished
1864 Words | 8 PagesIntroduction The focus of this research paper is the analysis of how the Southern moral code affects the main character from the novel The Unvanquished by William Faulkner. First, there is a description of the story in which the most important events are explained. Then there is a part which contains basic information about the Southern moral code and how it is depicted in the novel. After that, the focus shifts onto the characters, especially the main protagonist and his selection of choices throughout the book and what influenced him.
The Ghost Soldiers Tim O Brien Character Analysis Essay
844 Words | 4 PagesThis chapter “The Ghost Soldiers”, showed us how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were dealing with the war both physically and psychologically. It also shows us how the Tim O'Brien behaved and felt when he was shot, wounded and had a bacteria infection on his butt and how the war changed the way he thought, and viewed the other soldiers around him. This chapter also contain a lot of psychological lens. From the way Tim O’Brien felt when he was shot and separated from his unit to a new unit to when he wanted revenge on Bobby Jorgenson for almost “killing” him.
Structure And Symbolism In Elizabeth Alexander's 'Nineteen'
1297 Words | 6 PagesThe older man 's behavior contrasts with that of the persona who is young and has barely experienced life. Whereas the speaker is eager to discover life and have new experiences to escape her reality, the older man avoids his truth by focusing on mundane details of his experience in the Vietnam War. Furthermore, the older man was once a young man himself, surely eager to have new experiences, as he enrolled in the army. Instead of having these desires fulfilled, his memories of the war have caused his view of the world to greatly deviate from that of the persona and
The Soldier In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
990 Words | 4 PagesThe war forces people into situations where the pressure is too much and the environment forces a change on how one views himself. Curt Lemon and Norman Bowker held themselves to standards that they couldn’t reach. They let the war determine how they live and who they would become. The war causes the human spirit to change so vastly that it leads to a demise, so quick and drastic, that it is hard to
Silent Scream In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien
1097 Words | 5 PagesA “runaway” or a “war hero?” The psychology of a confused and depressed young man was shown and repeated. Throughout the book, “psychology of the soldier” was a topic O’Brien examined deeply by telling his memories, so this brought up the question “whether war is moral or
Analysis Of Charles Chesnutt's The Marrow Of Tradition
960 Words | 4 PagesCharles Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition, is one of the first novels to discuss racial tension in the Post-Civil War South. Even after the abolition of slavery, white citizens like Major Carteret, General Belmont, and Captain McBane will stop at nothing to maintain the superiority of the white race. Through the novel, Chesnutt closely juxtaposes certain characters, especially of the white and black race to express that the two peoples may not be as different as one would think. For the white’s perspective, they are horrified with threat that the black race is rising in social and economic power. Characters like Janet and Olivia, McBane and Josh Green, and Polly Ochiltree and Julia are all paired together by Chesnutt to express that when one
Deceit And Deception In William Shakespeare's Hamlet
1457 Words | 6 PagesIt has now become a story of the downfall of a once great, and noble man. He has become a demon almost. Nothing will stop him from doing what he needs to be done. The lies have never twisted him and those around him before. His actions have caused Ophelia to suicide and has caused his mother to be killed through her new husband’s treachery.
Change In American Literature
970 Words | 4 PagesThis poem was written with clear and distinct points of view involving a conflict and resolution. American Literature emerged into a different theme before the end of World War II due to the major changes happening in the south. This movement birthed two extraordinary writers, William Faulkner and Zora Neale Hurston that spoke of the south
Theme Of Irony In Barn Burning
448 Words | 2 PagesIn two southern short stories “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, and “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, the main characters resolve conflicts in an ironic manner. In “ Father’s and Son’s: The Spiritual Quest in Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”, Oliver Billingslea briefly discusses the irony within Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”. Irony in a persistent theme within southern gothic literature. In Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” Sarty choses to solve his problems through defiance, his rebellion can be seen as a replication of his father’s, the very thing he is resentful of.
More about Colonel Sutden In William Faulkner's Wash
Perseverance In Faulkner's October Sky
571 Words | 3 PagesBook Review Of Co Aytch Or A Side Show Of The Big Show By Sam Watkins
572 Words | 3 PagesCompare And Contrast Wilkie And Ralph Eubanks
802 Words | 4 PagesImpartiality In Charles Chestnut's The Marrows Of Tradition
1886 Words | 8 PagesTo Kill A Men Rhetorical Analysis
294 Words | 2 PagesFeast Of Snakes: Literary Analysis
1677 Words | 7 PagesSouthern Moral Code In William Faulkner's The Unvanquished
1864 Words | 8 PagesThe Ghost Soldiers Tim O Brien Character Analysis Essay
844 Words | 4 PagesStructure And Symbolism In Elizabeth Alexander's 'Nineteen'
1297 Words | 6 PagesThe Soldier In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
990 Words | 4 PagesSilent Scream In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien
1097 Words | 5 PagesAnalysis Of Charles Chesnutt's The Marrow Of Tradition
960 Words | 4 PagesDeceit And Deception In William Shakespeare's Hamlet
1457 Words | 6 PagesChange In American Literature
970 Words | 4 PagesTheme Of Irony In Barn Burning
448 Words | 2 Pages