Analysis of Absolom Absolom
I believe that the Stupen experience embodied the sense of defeat that most southerners felt after the war. The basic ideals and spirit of southern life was destroyed by the war and never to be fully restored again. Their lives were turned upside down by the war and afterwards they did not even have the solace of their previous social status to return to. During the war many people were faced with unthinkable hardships on every level.The myth of the helpless southern woman was replaced by the image of an undying strong will to provide for and take care of her southern men. The women of high social standing were reduced to making their clothes out of used material instead of buying new fabrics and dresses, as they were accustomed to. Judith was even thought of as stealing the scraps of material that she used to make her wedding dress. Mrs. Rosa, Judith, and Clytemnestra all aged greatly during the war, they were forced to learn how to care for themselves completely with no help from a man to speak of.
He was looked upon by Judith, Clytie, and Rosa as a sign of hope and a savior of sorts but was unable to fill theses shoes. Also with the abolition of slavery and the economic turmoil the women did not regain servants very easily and were depended upon to take a larger role in the care of the family. The role of the planters had drastically changed, he . The women in Absalom, Absalom show this in the way they personally take care of Stupen. This was a devastating realization to come home to. Judith becomes so strong-minded that she does not even weep for her dead fiance until her father returns. This new portal of the southern women I believe still survives today. All the while their women were changing, their property being destroyed and their way of life demolished. I think Faulkner's portrayal of the evolution of the southern woman is interesting in that he first shows how frivolous Ellen can be. Even after the war was over and the men returned home to their ruined homelands the help of women was needed to maintain vegetable gardens and such for food. Theses men such as Stupen left for the war leaving behind flourishing plantations such as Stupen's Hundred and returned as Stupen did only able to cultivate Stupen's mile. Ellen retires to die in her room while when faced with problems Judith learns to overcome them instead of retiring as her mother had. Rosa proves her new found complete independence in her rejection of Stupen's insulting proposal, this shows how the life lessons made her more willing to live alone as she was once afraid of, rather than succumb to a mans desires. She immediately puts burial plans into action and takes care of the task at hand. Then Ellen dies thus representing the Darwinian the survival of the fittest concept.
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Acceptance Essays
