William Faulkner's "Uncle Willy"
"I know what they said. They said I didn't run away from home but that I was tolled away by a crazy man, who, if I hadn't killed him first, would have killed me inside another week. But if they had said that the women, the good women in Jefferson had driven Uncle Willy out of town and I followed him and did what I did because I knew that Uncle Willy was on his last go-round and this time when they got him again it would be for good and forever, they would have been right. Because I wasn't tolled away and Uncle Willy wasn't crazy, not even afterall they had done to him. I didn't have to go; I didn't have to go anymore than Uncle Willy had to invite me instead of just taking it for granted that I wanted to come. I went because Uncle Willy was the finest man I ever knew, because even women couldn't beat him, because in spite of them he wound up his life getting fun out of being alive and he died doing the thing that was most fun of all because I was there to help him. And that's something that most men and even most women don't get to do, not even the women that call meddling with other folks' lives fun."
These lines vividly open William Faulkner's "Uncle Willy," a short story which is an ironic take on the well-known phrase "Carpe Diem." This paragraph opens the story by telling its conclusion and glossing over a number of facts, which will later become integral parts of the story's theme. The story, narrated by a fourteen-year-old boy, tells of a clever man named Uncle Willy who outsmarts the people in the small town of Jefferson. Although Faulkner's story is at times dramatic, its ironic theme and jabs at Southern life serve to make it incredibly humorous.
As in many Southern...
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..., yet it also describes the story's conclusion. The subtle hints about the people and mindset of the town are also important in illustrating the theme. Faulkner seems to be characterizing Southern life and also poking fun at it. By highlighting gossip, religion, feelings of family, and the obvious definition of the way Jefferson feels life should be, Faulkner makes the point that this lifestyle cannot be altered or toyed with. Uncle Willy did not conform or fit into the confines of the town's way of life and the narrator realizes that no one will understand him or what he did. By having Uncle Willy "seize the day" and die "doing the thing that was most fun of all," Faulkner seems to poke fun at the obvious labels and characterizations of Southern culture and suggests that people follow these obvious traditions. Otherwise, someone will always be there to "save" them.
Willy’s father, a “very great” and “wildhearted man,” made a living traveling and selling flutes, making “more in a week than a man like [Willy] could make in a lifetime” (Miller 34). Even though Willy barely knew his dad, he built him up in his head as an amazing person and role model, striving to be as “well liked” as him (Miller 34). Willy also idealizes his brother, Ben, as evidenced by his constant one-way conversations with him.... ... middle of paper ...
Throughout the play, Willy can be seen as a failure. When he looks back on all his past decisions, he can only blame himself for his failures as a father, provider, and as a salesman (Abbotson 43). Slowly, Willy unintentionally reveals to us his moral limitations that frustrates him which hold him back from achieving the good father figure and a successful business man, showing us a sense of failure (Moss 46). For instance, even though Willy wants so badly to be successful, he wants to bring back the love and respect that he has lost from his family, showing us that in the process of wanting to be successful he failed to keep his family in mind (Centola On-line). This can be shown when Willy is talking to Ben and he says, “He’ll call you a coward…and a damned fool” (Miller 100-101). Willy responds in a frightful manner because he doesn’t want his family, es...
"Spotted Horses" and "Mule in the Yard" are two short stories by William Faulkner that deal with comedic animal chases. Although both provide entertaining examples of Faulkner's work in very similar settings, on the scale of literary value, "Spotted Horses" rises above "Mule in the Yard" in depth and insight. This superiority is result of both it's narrative style and character development, which causes "Spotted Horses" to produce an overall more powerful effect than "Mule in the Yard".
Miller’s use of personification and symbolism in the book shows the situational irony that surrounds Willy. This highlights the overall message of blind faith towards the American Dream. The major case of irony in the book is Willy’s blind faith in the American Dream. This belief is that if one is well-liked, they will become successful. The truth is actually completely opposite. The real belief is that if one works hard, with no regard to how well liked they are, they will be successful. This relationship is shown between Willy and his neighbor Charley. While Willy believes likability is the only way to success, Charley works hard and does not care how people think of him. Through his hard work, Charley started his own business, and is now very successful. Willy, however, ends up getti...
Faulkner portrays the townspeople and Emily in the southern town of Jefferson during the late 1800's to early 1900's. The town is more than just the setting in the story; it takes on its own characterization alongside Emily the main character. It is the main reasoning behind Emily's attitude and actions. It gives the reader an easier understanding into why Emily makes the decisions she does as the story unwinds.
Though it was not certain that William could support a family, he did have a child with his wife and supported the daughter from his wife’s first marriage. It was not a happy family, as most southern families have been portrayed. Faulkner drank and continued to internalize himself from the rest of the family, as he had always internalized himself from society. The drinking was not and everyday thing, but his family said that it would happen for long periods at a time. He would drink for a few weeks until he wanted to sober himself up. A southern gentleman is to be the father figure in his family, to teach his children right from wrong, but William seemed to be concerned with only himself. When he drank, he was not there for his family. When his daughter asked him not to start drinking because her birthday was coming up, Faulkner said to her “no one remembers Shakespeare’s daughter.” Tradition in the southern family did encompass “tough love”, but a southern gentleman is to be an example to his children, with characteristics embodying responsibility and honor. William Faulkner was neither responsible nor honorable.
the battle in business. Willy's character is full of pride he doesn't really care about. anything else. If he has his pride, he is happy. He has pride in his sons and pride in being independent.
Although it is never actually said verbatim, it is obvious that Willy has some kind of mental problem that needs attention. Yet even in his own home, he can't get any help because his family can't bring it upon themselves to help him. This instance depicts the way society would rather "let someone else handle it" than take action and go against what is popular. This example is probably the saddest and most heartbreaking part of the play. A final instance of Willy Loman's alienation is the way he excludes himself from society.
In many of Faulkner’s stories, he tells about an imaginary county in Mississippi named Yoknapatawpha. He uses this county as the setting for his story “Barn Burning” and it is also thought that the town of Jefferson from “A Rose for Emily” is located in Yoknapatawpha County. The story of a boy’s struggle between being loyal to his family or to his community makes “Barn Burning” exciting and dramatic, but a sense of awkwardness and unpleasantness arrives from the story of how the fictional town of Jefferson discovers that its long time resident, Emily Grierson, has been sleeping with the corpse of her long-dead friend with whom she has had a relationship with.
... Willy says to Charlie: "Funny you know? After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive.3" This statement is a sad reflection on the state of mind that Willy is in due the unfortunate combination of his ideals and the change which has occurred in his society.
In brief, it is apparent that Willy’s own actions led to not only his own demise, but his children’s as well. The salesman tragically misinterpreted the American Dream for only the superficial qualities of beauty, likeability and prosperity. Perhaps if Willy had been more focused on the truth of a person’s character, rather than purely physical aspects, his family’s struggles and his own suicide could have been avoided. On the whole, Arthur Miller’s play is evidence that the search for any dream or goal is not as easy and the end result may seem. The only way to realize the objective without any despair is the opposite of Willy Loman’s methods: genuineness, perseverance and humility.
Foremost, Willy has a problem with his inability to grasp reality. As he grows older his mind is starting to slip. For example, when he talks to the woman and his brother Ben. Throughout the story, Willy dreams of talking to the woman, because the woman is a person that he was dating in when he went to Boston. He was cheating behind his wife’s back. Willy basically uses her as a scapegoat when he’s hallucinating about her. He blames all of his problems on the woman. For instance Willy says, “ Cause you do… There’s so much I want to make for.” (38) This is the evidence right here. Also he dreams about his brother Ben. Willy wishes could be more like his brother who has just passed away a couple of months previously to the story. He also wishes he didn’t have to work and could be rich like Ben. He respects Ben for not really working and making a lot of money. Another example of Willy’s hallucinations are when he says,“ How are you all?” (45) This occurs when Willy is talking with Charley and he starts thinking about Ben. Willy’s inability to grasp reality never changed throughout the story.
Willy is a man who does not know how to make the most of what he has. He sets himself up for...
In conclusion, the play represents the collapse of the “American Dream” for a typical lower-middle class family in Brooklyn during an economic depression. The story represents “the brutality of the system toward man” (Kroll). Willy, with his illusions of living the present with the mementos of the past represents the unwanted desire to accept reality. Therefore, he decides to commit suicide in a coward way and leave the insurance money to the family. Moreover, his wife sees the whole process of Willy’s death without interference in order to not hurt his pride. His sons, Biff and Happy, always had a constant pressure to achieve luxuries and comforts of the American Dream and due to that pressure they were unable to attain it. Willy dies believing in a dream that his family did not believe because they were seeing reality a little bite closer than him.
Faulkner utilizes his theme by creating a setting, which has interrelation with history context revolving around the idea of compelling change. The main aspect of setting is the Old South after the Civil War. Before the Civil War, Southern society consisted of a group of aristocracy and slaves. Onward to a post- Civil War period, forceful changes in the society arose. Many Southerners refused to accept that their conditions had change. They tended to cling to old values and customs. Death of Emily’s father marked the end of the old lifestyle. In contrary, entrance of Homer Barron represents the progress of civilization: "The town had just let the contracts for paving the sidewalks, and in the summer after her father's death they began the work. The construction company came with riggers and mules and machinery, and a foreman named Homer Barron” (31). Here, Faulkner illustrates that the new progress of changing era is destroying the old traditions of a dying age. The pr...