The key points we went over Monday:
- The title "That Evening Sun" is from a blues-gospel song.
- Gospel incorporates call and response.
- Jesus is the "Trickster" or outsider.
- Ritual/common acts are passed through culture: the type of work you do, clothes you wear, whether or not you brush your teeth.
The following are the Lyrics from Van Morrison's Version of "When That Evening Sun Go Down"
I want you, be around
When that evening sun goes down
I want you, be around
Keep my both feet on the ground
When that evening sun goes down
I want you, understand
Little girl, take me by my hand
I want you, understand
I wanna be your loving man
When that evening sun goes down
If it's nice, we'll go for a walk, a stroll in the clear moonlight
Singing a song, won't take long
Everything gonna be alright
And I wanna hold you oh so near
Keep you, darling from all fear
I wanna hold you oh so near
Nibble on your little ear
When that evening sun goes down
If it's nice, go for a walk, stroll in the clear moonlight
Sing you a song, won't take long
Everything gonna be alright
And I wanna hold you oh so near
Keep you, darling from all fear
I wanna hold you oh so near
Nibble on your little ear
When that evening sun goes down
When that evening sun goes down
When that evening sun goes down..
10 comments:
I wasn't sure about the appropriate length and composition of this first comment, so here is a brief point about Monday's lecture. I do not think that the boys' throwing of rocks at the house is necessarily racist. Even now in countryside homes, kids will alert a neighbor to their presence by throwing rocks at the walls or on the roof. I think the boys were simply following their father's advice about staying away from Mr. Jesus. Were they to approach the house to knock on the door, they would have been disobeying. They chose instead to toss rocks at the house as their way of announcing their presence. If they would have meant to do harm, there's no doubt they could have broken windows, etc. with the rocks, but they didn't. That's not to say that the boys were not prejudice, but the act of throwing rocks at the building was not.
Well since there doesn't seem to be an appropriate length to the comments. I would like to add the way the William Faulkner uses context to make the dialogue and uses words that you would actually hear and spelled the same way. It creates a symbolism that leads you to feel that you are actually in the story. It seems that he would have had to be around slaves in order to hear the dialogue and interpret it.
That Evening Sun- William Faulkner
Faulkner's writing included a wide range of literature, including poetry, prose, fiction, short stories and even novels. His fame grew after he had been writing for several years and is now said to be one of Americas greatest writers.
"Our toes curled away from it while we listened to the sound. It was like singing and it wasn't singing, like the sounds that Negroes make."
Nancy begins to sing because she thinks Jesus, her husband, is looking for her. What I think is interesting is the lyrics to the actual song, That Evening Sun, are about someone singing to their lover. They're telling that person that they want to be with them and at one point says "Keep you darling, from all fear" showing that they want to protect their loved one. Through the story Nancy gives several hints that she is in need of protection from Jesus. This feeling of wanting to be protected and taken care of is a universal trait for all people, be they black or white.
The tragedy in this story is the fact that Nancy is scared for her life and that she experiences first hand the brutality of racism (when she is in jail).
I'm not sure how this story could be changed into a comedy but it does have many comedic points. For instance the children argue several times about stupid things such being scared.
I guess that a cause of joy in this story might be that even though Nancy is scared and fears her life, the family still helps her even during those tough and trying times for African Americans.
That Evening Sun - William Faulkner
Although William Faulkner was an important American writer, his work was not recognized until later in his life; he received the Nobel Prize in 1949, after many of his pieces were already completed. Faulkner traveled extensively, but the majority of his works were based in a fictional county in Mississippi called Yoknaptawpha. Many aspects of this county are very similar to his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi. Like another great American writer, Walt Whitman, William Faulkner used great detail and description in his writing.
The central meaing of "That Evening Sun" can be seen in the following lines: "If Jesus is hid here, he can see us, can't he?..."He's not there" father said, "He went away a long time ago". Theses lines show us the correlation between the physical Jesus(the black man) and Jesus (biblical) leaving. Nancy must face her death alone, with no hope of salvation and no comfort for her fear of dying.
The tragedy in this story is that Nancy must face her fear of dying alone. Even when begging Mr. Jason to help her, she is brushed off and left to fend for herself because he believes there is no actual threat to Nancy's safety. The treating of Nancy as if she were nothing worth anyone's time shows the thoughts of black people in this time period, illustrated in Faulkner's repetition of the word "nigger" throughout the story.
The only points of comedy in "That Evening Sun" are the absurd arguments the children have. Throughout the story, they bicker about completely ridiculous things while Nancy is fearing for her life.
That Evening Sun by William Faulkner
Will Faulkner, born in Mississippi, is considered the eptiome of the Southern writer. The central theme of his writing was, in his words, "the problems of the human heart in confliuct with himself." Unsuccessful as a pet he move on to write prose, short stories, and novels.
"Hush," father said, "Lock the door and put out the lamp and go to bed." "I scared of the dark," Nacy said. "I scared for it to happen in the dark." "You mean you're going to sit right here with the lamp lighted?" father said. Then Nacy began to make the sound again, sitting before the fire, her long hands between her knees. "Ah damnation," father said. "Come along, chillen. It's past bedtime."
At this point in the story the elder Jason has done alot to help out Nancy with her fears which are seemingly unfounded. He has walked her home every night, let her stay at his own home on certain occasaions, and even sacrificed his wife's safety to some degree by leaving her alone at the house at night. In the excerpt above Jason has just come to the point where he feels he has done all that he can do to help Nancy. It reminds me of a family member headed down a troubling path who needed help. We tried to help but she would not heed our advice and would even attack us. She abviously needed help but didn't want it therfore advice fell on deaf ears. So you get to the point of why bother and I belive this is where jason is at the end of the story. Eventually my family member realized she needed our help and only then were our efforts recieved. Attempts at help will not be fruitful until help is wanted.
He cause of suffering in this story is fear. The scripture says that fear brings torment and Nacy is a tormented soul. What Nancy needs is love cuz it gets rid of fear.
This story could be turned into a comedy if instead of Nancy being afraid of the black man jesus she was scared of bear but only it wasnt a real bear it was jesus is a bear suit and he went around trying to scare his wife Nancy. And jesus would be a sweet lovable man with a head full of curly grey hair who gave pepermints to all the children in the town who affectionatley call him Mr. Jesus. Yeah and anyway Jesus would go "fishing" at night but he would go put his bear suit on at Quentin, Caddy, and lil Jason's house. Then one night the sheriff would cath jesus outside of Nancy's house and he would catch jesus with a net. The whole town wouyld then come with pitch forks etc. to kill the bear but then Jesus would pull the bear head off (gasps from the towns people etc.) Nancy would say, "Jesus you old fool! You near bout scared me to death! Wheres my fish!?" The town would burst into an uproar of laughter, jesus would be an ass, and the town would laugh about for years and years to come.
I'd like to comment on Maggaly0326's response and make a point on the central meaning section. I think Faulkner does an incredible job of correlating both Jesus the man and Jesus the Savior's leaving. The reason is that if Mr. Jesus leaves, Nancy is safe. However, apparently either Nancy is unaware of his departure or does not believe it because she still fears. I'm amazed by Faulkner because it seems an impossible task to draw the metaphor between the two men leaving and to still keep the fear in Nancy, because to keep the fear means Mr. Jesus is present, which the father establishes is not the case. I completely agree with Maggaly's assessment of the writing and gain new respect for Faulkner for being able to write this way.
"That Evening Sun" by William Faulkner
Faulkner is most known for his works located in the fictional Yoknapatawpha county, but our textbook tells of many of his other works, including some screen writing in Hollywood. It also tells of "Absalom, Absalom!" which came out about five years after "That Evening Sun" and is thought to be Faulkner's masterpiece. "Absalom", like alot of Faulkner's works, is about "an individual, abouth the South, and about itself as a work of fiction".
I didn't choose a passage so much as an idea that runs throughout the story. The mother shows it best when she complains "I must wait here alone in this big house while you take a Negro woman home". Today, we would (hopefully) recognize this as a lack of any humanity or compassion for those less fortunate on the part of the mother. However, this story was written around the time of the Great Depression, so we know everyone had tough times, and racism was a way of life. Everyone (as portrayed in the story) had to be strong and almost self-sufficient to survive, but really everyone had some form of protection, some buffer to keep them safe or sane. Father has his responsibility to his family, mother had the family, the children had all the adults in the story, but who did Nancy have? Granted, her fears may have been ridiculous if Jesus wasn't there, but she still didn't have anyone to comfort her. She did take the children back to her home, but did she have a choice in the matter? Mother wouldn't let father take her home, and she couldn't stay there. Even if she did, the presence or the thought of Jesus would make it an undesirable situation. She also knows that the times and the attitudes of the other Negros will not offer her any protection. She is utterly alone near insanity or death.
The cause of human suffering is the unwillingness of those who should protect others to act. In hard times, people should pull together, not abandon each other because it is the socially acceptable thing to do. "She brought it on herself" is never a reason to give up on someone. The only way I can see any form of comedy or happiness in this story is the fact that the children who had to live with this could write or tell about what they have seen or experienced. They could fight to change their society, and maybe people could realize all the harm that was done back then.
To comment on musicman's post... I didnt really see at first what the connection was between the song and Faulkner's story but thanks to your post i see the correlation. nancy quite possibly did want to be loved deep down by her husband jesus as the song suggests.
"That Evening Sun"
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Falkner was born in New Alabany, Mississippi in 1897. He began his literary career as a poet, but decided to write stories instead. He received a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. He died in 1962.
"It was like singing, and it wasn't like singing, like the sounds that Negroes make." (Pg 1534)
This relates to the title because "That Evening Sun" is also a blues song and some people are unsure blues could be completely classified as singing when they first hear it.
"Nancy whispered something. It was oh or no, I don't know which. Like nobody had made it, like it came from nowhere and went nowhere, until it was like Nancy was not there at all;" (pg 1534)
I think that this passage shows the way most characters in the story view Nancy...as nothing. It also shows how she sees herself and her situation. First, Nancy doesn't see herself as important enough to speak up and answer Caddy's question. She mumbles her answer. She also is terrified of being killed and is trying to deal with her situation by willing herself into nonexistence. I can relate to that feeling. I often don't speak up and try to avoid foreboding events by staying still and quiet in hopes of being unnoticed.
1. The tragedy in this story is that no one will provide Nancy the protection she is crying out for.
2. This tragedy could be turned into a comedy if someone would protect Nancy and everything turn out alright.
The first time I read this story, I was confused as to why one of the children would ask their father who would do their laundry when Nancy's voice could still be heard. I didn't understand why the child would assume Nancy would be killed and not be upset. The children seem so close to Nancy throughout the story then it hit me, the meaning of the story: Nancy is nothing to the other characters.
That Evening Sun- William Faulkner
William Faulkner was born in 1897. He was from New Albany, MS. Although he traveled around the world, it was his home state that inspired his writing.
"Our toes curled away from it while we listened to the sound. It was like singing and it wasn't singing, like the sounds that Negroes make."
This passage relates to the title in that when your in a rural area, like I assume that this story takes place, when the sun goes down and all is quiet.. the sounds you do hear from things such as crickets sound like music even though it is not music at all.
"Negroes" were looked down upon by whites during this period. The passage indicates that no matter what they did it was of no importance. So even if they were to sing it probably was not considered to be done well by them.
This passage also shows how the cries for help were ignored much like Nancy's cries for help were ignored in the story.
This story was obviously a tragedy in that Nancy had to live her life in fear.
This story could have been made into a comedy by making Jesus a figment of her imagination because of her fear of the dark.
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