Narrative Recollection in Faulkner’s The Unvanquished :: Unvanquished Essays

Narrative Recollection in Faulkner’s The Unvanquished The narrator in William Faulkner’s â€Å"The Unvanquished† is an adult looking back on his childhood experiences. This is a powerful technique, because the reader can receive two sets of images through one voice – in this case both the impressions of the young Bayard Sartoris as well as his older (and perhaps wiser) adult self. There are several ways in which the author makes this known, the first being Faulkner’s use of first person, but in the past tense. In the opening scene of the book Bayard and Ringo are playing behind the smokehouse. The past tense of the verbs make it apparent that the action has already been done, (ex.: â€Å"†¦Ringo and I had a living map†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , and â€Å"To Ringo and me it lived†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Bayard indicates several times that this narrative is a recollection. One example is in the first chapter, â€Å"†¦even though you do look bigger (to twelve, at least, to me and Ringo at twelve, at least.† (p.12). Then later, â€Å"But we were just twelve; we didn’t listen to that.† (p.15). These passages contain a rueful quality that implies that Bayard knows better in retrospect. Like memory, the narrative moves in skips and jumps, rather than an exactly linear plot. The next time the reader is told Bayard’s age is in the second chapter, but the he is near fourteen now. Uncle Buck asks him, â€Å"How old are you, boy?† to which he replies, â€Å"Fourteen,† and Ringo interjects, â€Å"We ain’t fourteen yit,† (54). Then later, when Bayard’s grandmother becomes ill Faulkner writes, â€Å"I would be sixteen years old before another year was out, yet I sat there in the wagon, crying.† (152). So how does this narrative strategy affect the representation of southern masculinities? It allows the reader a glimpse of how this particular southern male – Bayard Sartoris – becomes the man that he is. It allows the reader to see this process in action. It visualizes the relationships with other southern men, including and especially his father. It actualizes the disillusionment that can so often shape childhood, but is often easier seen in retrospect that at the time of occurrence. A poignant example of this is in the third chapter when Bayard is questioning the veracity of his elder’s war stories : †¦old men had been telling young men and boys about wars and fighting before they discovered how to write it down: