Delta Autumn centers around a man
named McCaslin and his life experiences concerning hunting, the environment and
racism in America. Faulkner utilizes metaphor and diction and to convey the
thematic intent that time brings about change, even in those set in their ways.
Specifically we see how McCaslin, who is an elderly man raised in times of
extreme racism, struggles with the idea of inter racial relationships, but
ultimately appears to become a bit more understanding.
The story begins with how times
have changed since McCaslin began hunting. Not only has the forest been
severely cut down, but the line “There had been bear then, and a man shot a doe
or a fawn as quickly as he did a buck” speaks to the changes in racism. It is
not totally apparent yet, but the words doe and fawn are not being used to
refer to animals, instead however, they refer to black women and men. When
McCaslin was much younger, racism was very prominent, and it was not unusual
for people to simply shoot down an African-American person.
While driving to the hunting
ground, the younger men in the group speak in code about a black girl one of
their friends have been fooling around with. They say “But he’s got a doe in
here. On two legs - when she’s standing up. Pretty light-colored too.” This quote
ties together the first line quoted, and connects the word doe to a black
female. The fact that the younger men in the group understand this slang and
McCasin does not exemplifies how times have changed. Not only in terms of the
words being used, but in McCasin’s days, it would be unthinkable to carry on a
relationship with someone who was not white.
Although McCasin is slightly
racist, he is a product of the environment he grew up in, and is not completely
racist. For instance, Old Sam Fathers is a half Indian, half Negro man who took
McCasin under his tutelage and taught him how to hunt and track in the
wilderness. McCasin recalls him with fond memories, thus exemplifying his
delicate sense of innate racism.
While McCasin contemplates the
changing landscape of the forest, he thinks “he knew why he had never wanted to
own any of it, arrest at least that much of what people called progress.” In
this situation, Faulkner is using the environment as a metaphor for racism and
the changing times. The way people view cutting down the forest and promoting
urbanization as progress is being coupled with how relaxed views on racism and
interracial relationships is considered progress. McCasin is an old man, stuck
in his ways, and views neither as progress.
When Boyd’s forbidden lover
approaches McCasin, he is initially unaware that she is black since she is very
pale skinned. “Now he understood what it was she had brought in with her – the
lips and skin pallid and colorless yet not ill…. Maybe in a thousands or two
thousand years it will have blended in America and we will have forgotten it…
but God pity these.” This section is extremely revealing. Upon this realization
McCasin yells out “You’re a nigger” in a voice of “amazement, pity, and
outrage.” The specific diction here shows that McCasin is still racist at heart,
but shows pity. His mood and speech immediately change upon learning this. The
line about a thousand or two thousand years shows how McCasin is realizing that
mix race relations is here to stay and the way of the future, however, in his
mind he hopes this does not become common for thousands of years. And the line
“God pity these” shows some sense of pity within him. Although he does not
totally agree with interracial affairs, there is a part of him that is
understanding and shows pity.
Despite being angry and yelling at
this woman to go, McCasin insists she take the money although she plans on
leaving it there. This shows some sense of compassion for her. While McCasin
tells her to leave, he also gives her advice and compliments; saying she is
handsome and should marry a man her own race, for there is salvation in that.
Once she leaves McCasin lays back
down and introspectively thinks, “…Chinese, and African and Aryan and Jew, all
breed and spawn together until no man has time to say which is which, or who
cares… No wonder the ruined woods I used to know don’t cry for retribution, he
thought. The people who have destroyed it will accomplish its revenge.” This
final passage ties together the whole story and exemplifies the metaphor
between the forest and racism. McCasin thinks that the blending of races is
something bad, and this is punishment enough for all those who are destroying
the forests. However, the dying forest represents the waning nature of racism in
society.
At the end of the story, the young
men have killed something and Legate busts into McCasin’s tent looking for the
skinning knife. McCasin questions what has been killed and is skeptical when
Legate responds it is a deer. The story ends with McCasin saying “It was a doe”
to the empty tent. This is McCasin realizing that the men have killed the pale
skinned black girl. McCasin’s mixed reactions and attitude toward this woman
and his realization at the end of the story exemplify the delicate nature of
his racism. Although he is very old and stuck in his ways, it does appear that
he feels sympathy and pity for this black woman, thus shifting his racist viewpoint.
-Harrison Bard
No comments:
Post a Comment