Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 2, August 1997 | Page 149
Humor in William Faulkner
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and some of the changes can be logically explained by a sense of
increased awareness. For example, in The Town Flem wanted Monk
convicted of bootlegging rather than of pornographic distribution
because he believed bootlegging waS a more respectable crime. In The
Mansion, we discover that Flem wanted Monk to convince Mink to try
to escape so that more years would be added to his sentence. The
story of Mink and Houston, on the other hand, presents real
contradictions. Why change the pound fee? Why change Houston’s
first name? Whatever the reason for the contradictions, as
contradictions they lead to the lack of feeling or denial of reason and
logic that accompanies them.
Sim ilarly, the humor involved in the humiliation of
Clarence Snopes seems to imply a contradiction. Clarence Snopes, a
stereotypical southern politician, and his political machine are set
up as invulnerable. Yet, they are finally defeated, not only defeated,
but easily defeated. Then what was all the fuss about? Clarence's
defeat and that question serve as models for the entire trilogy. What
was all the fuss about? The question is a comic on e, because there was
a lot of fuss, and it is also a question that like a Zen koan leaves us
puzzled and blank, but ready to reexamine the novels.
Finally, it is a question that invites an examination of the
purpose of this kind of humor in the work of Faulkner, this mindnumbing, blankness-inducing form of humor.
One explanation suggests itself. Faulkner's humor is related
to that of the 'Theater of the Absurd and the Black Humorists. The
contradictions and absurdities of Faulkner's humor mirror those of an
absurd and contradictory universe. The only response to such
absurdity is laughter.
Such an explanation has much validity. Faulkner was
admired by many existentialists and his work demonstrated many
affinities with their absurdist views, but a complete explanation of
this kind of humor in Faulkner must go beyond its mimesis of an
absurd universe.
Similarly, a complete explanation must go beyond the old
theory of comic relief which claims that an audience's emotions
cannot be sustained at a high pitch for long periods of time.
Consequently, the porter scene, for example reduces the pitch of
emotion temporarily so that it can later be built higher. It would
seem to follow that the further the pitch can be reduced, the higher