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Paradox
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—The South :
Through the figure of Shreve, one of Quentin's fellow students at Harvard, Faulkner satirizes what he regards as the condescending attitudes toward the South held by those who live in the North of the United States. In the later chapters of the novel, Quentin recounts what he has learned about the events surrounding the deaths of Thomas Sutpen and Charles Bon, and Shreve takes a morbid interest in his classmate's tale, repeatedly and incorrectly assuming that Rosa is Quentin's aunt or cousin:
“You mean she was no kin to you, no kin to you at all, that there was actually one Southern Bayard or Guinevere who was no kin to you? then what did she die for?” and that not Shreve’s first time, nobody’s first time in Cambridge since September: Tell about the South. What’s it like there. What do they do there. Why do they live there. Why do they live at all)—"
Here, Shreve expresses his surprise that "there was actually one Southern Bayard or Guinevere" who was not related to Quentin. Here, he alludes first to Bayard, a legendary horse that plays an important role in European folklore, and Guinevere, queen of Great Britain and wife of King Arthur in Arthurian legends. These allusions suggest that Shreve somewhat mockingly regards Quentin's tales as the stuff of old legend, and possibly merely folk tales rather than events that actually happened. Faulkner notes that this was not the "first time" Shreve has asked Quentin such questions and provides a list of questions typical of those that Quentin has received since attending college in the North, starting with questions about life in the South and ending with two particularly rude questions: "Why do they live there. Why do they live at all?"
Through the character of Quentin, then, Faulkner satirizes those Northerners who, he believes, hold stereotypical beliefs about life in the South and cannot imagine why anyone continues to live there. The final question Faulkner provides, which asks why Southerners "live at all," a question that suggests that those whom Quentin has met at Harvard see little to no value in the lives of those who live in the South. Though Faulkner is, throughout the novel, critical of the American South, he also satirizes the ignorance of those living in the North.
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