Tuesday 106: Vocab
I’m re-reading what I can now say with confidence is my favorite book, Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. It’s a consuming little undertaking, however enjoyable, so I thought I’d share it by maintaining a sort of glossary of words, phrases, and references I look up as I read.
Absalom
No better place than to start than with the title. Absalom was the third son of David, King of Israel. I’m not a biblical scholar by any stretch of the imagination, so I’ve constrained my notes to the facts most relevant to Faulkner’s narrative. Absalom had three sons and a daughter, but in 2 Samuel 18:18 states, "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance," suggesting either that the sons have died, or simply that the statement was made before their birth. This briefly suggests Absalom as a corrolary for the character at the center of the novel, Thomas Sutpen, whose motive is to establish a patriarchial dynasty, but from there, Absalom kills the half brother (Amnon) who raped his sister (Tamar), rebels against his father (David), and is killed in battle by a general (Joab), which screws up that particular allegory.
So as you go through the story, it’s relatively easy to say, “OK so this guy is Amnon, this is David,” etc., but nothing’s a perfect fit. At different points, different characters seem to embody the motivations, destinies, or foibles of different biblical figures, and more broadly, the inherent ambiguity of any exegesis of Absalom (like, did his sons die, or did he just say “I don’t have any sons” before they were born?) reinforces the greater points the novel is making about memory, truth, mythology, and reality.
Chapter 1.
Niobe
Ellen Sutpen (nee Coldfield) is described as a “Niobe without tears.” In Greek myth, Niobe brags about her children to Leto, who only has two kids, the twins Artemis and Apollo. Offended, the twins kill all of Niobe’s children, and she retreats to Mount Sipylus, turns to stone, and weeps for eternity.
Raree show
A peep show of photos or objects, usually in a box, viewed through a small hole. The peep show is something of a recurring image for Faulkner: A device used to attempt to see plainly and privately some truth or representation, it’s also used to articulate class, race, and gender divisions—who visits, or simply knows about the raree show speaks to the (often hypocritical) norms mores of southern society.
Phaeton
A sporty, light-bodied, open carriage drawn by one or two horses.
Scuppernong
A large, white grape native to the southern United States named for the Scuppernong River. The Online Etymology Dictionary notes it’s “recorded in the 18th century as Cascoponung or Cuscopang, from an unidentified Native American word.”
Propinquity
Proximity or nearness which can be physical, social, or ideological. Kinship.
More chapters to come!