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"Go Down, Moses" is a complex narrative by William Faulkner, woven within his Yoknapatawpha County universe. This collection of interconnected stories centers on the McCaslin family, scrutinizing themes of slavery, racial identity, and masculinity. Key elements include the fragmented narrative style, the significance of storytelling, and the exploration of the "color line" that shapes familial relationships. With characters like Isaac McCaslin at the forefront, Faulkner's work serves as a critical commentary on Southern society and the intertwined legacies of race and gender.
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Faulkner, History, Narrative Remembering Slavery in Go Down, Moses
Go Down, Moses • Collected in 1942 • Part of Faulkner’s larger collection of fiction set in “Yoknapatawpha County” – where most of his important novels and stories are set from 1929-1962 • Tips for reading: • Keep a “family tree” going in your notes • Watch out for spoilers – major plot shift in “The Bear”
Go Down, Moses • There is some debate on whether this is a novel or a collection of short stories • Unified (to some extent) by the “voice” of Isaac McCaslin; circles around the McCaslin family and their property in all of its stories • Otherwise a fragmented, dispersed narrative
“Was” • We need to bring both our “formalist” and our “ideology critique” lenses to bear on Faulkner’s novel • Let’s start with a close reading of the first section of “Was” (pp 3-4). This section serves as an intro the story and the novel itself. • In a close reading free-write, • Make as many observations as you can, both formal and content-based. • See if you can’t link them in your analysis of the text. What is this section about and why is it written the way it is? • What are we learning about: • Isaac McCaslin and his role in the novel? • What is the novel saying about “storytelling”? • What other major thematics can you pick out?
Family & Racial Formation • In “Was”… (slavery) • White masculinity is produced as a dominant category (patriarchy) in the meanings associated with “the hunt” • The hunt is given as a space for the performance of masculine identity and homo-social bonding and competition • Fugitive slave is “the hunted” • Southern Chivalry (distorted here) where white women’s hand in marriage is “the prize” • The story highlights how “the color line” divides up the family tree into “hunters” and “hunted”
Family & Racial Formation • In “The Fire and the Hearth”… (post-slavery) • Domesticity and marriage become the “site” of racial conflict • Once again masculinity is central, both in the way that it is privileged and endangered • Lucas’ ideas about social hierarchy are centered on the idea of male lineage, as a way of challenging race lines • White prejudice is considered “emasculating” and the prime example is Zack Edmonds taking Lucas’ wife • Battle over who gets the woman at their “hearth” is set to represent white/black race struggle in general
Family & Racial Formation • As the social and political “meanings” of racial difference change, we can see how the meaning of family, gender changes along with it. • Through it all, masculinity remains a dominant paradigm, though in different ways for different reasons • What happens to women? (pay attention to the ladies – always somewhat in the background of this novel, but with central roles)
Back to “Fire and the Hearth” • With this question in mind, I’d like to focus on Chapter 3 of “Fire” (page 96). • What are the connections between race and gender, marriage, family here? • Find a quote and jot down a few ideas about it for our discussion.
