Hollywood Cinematic Technique in Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!

Abstract

This paper examines a compelling argument concerning Hollywood cinematic technique in William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!. Faulkner worked in Hollywood as a screen writer before and during the time he wrote this novel. Accordingly, there are specific cinematic elements that migrated from the pages of his screen writing to the pages of Absalom, Absalom!. Among others, the most notable points are discussed in its entirety within this paper. Rosa’s narrative is a framework in which the details become apparent later. Rosa’s words are immersed not only with her history which is intertwined with Thomas Sutpen but also with the South. This creates a romanticizing effect which is popular of films such as The Birth of a Nation. Faulkner developed his talent as a screen writer for different studios. Obviously the method of stream of consciousness found within this novel is a powerful cinematic theme not to be overlooked. Practically all of the characters switch from inner monologue to outwardly dialogue as quickly as a camera could project the images. This produces an imaginative narrative common in film and was a common methodology in line with other writers of the day such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Henry James. Indeed the very construct of the novel resembles a movie goer’s experience in that each narrator is a movie camera of sorts, capturing the images and facts to help construct the story. In turn, the reader is similar to an audience member watching the story unfold through the generational narrations. It is not hard to see how and why Faulkner used this method throughout Absalom, Absalom!, particularly when Quentin and Shreve begin to construct details of the story previously told. Imagination fills in for some of the unknown variables such as Henry and Bon in the Civil War or when they discuss Bon in New Orleans. Quentin, as a Southerner and Shreve, as a Canadian then begin to reconstruct the story of the Sutpens and that of the South. Therefore, Quentin and Shreve collaborate to understand in full the events. Each plays the part of director and observer for one another. The images Quentin and Shreve evoke and the manner in which Faulkner provokes the imagination of these characters resembles film making.