Faulkner's Noble Peace Prize Acceptance

     In “That Evening Sun,” by William Cuthbert Faulkner, Nancy represents a character who is full in heart and spirit. She is married and has had an affair with another man, but she accepts what she has done and proud of who she is. The children in the story say, “I ain’t a nigger,” (Faulkner 170) multiple times and disrespect Nancy because of her skin color, but she stands strong and shows courage. Even though she accepts what she has done, and believes what she has done came from her heart, she pissed Dilsey off by cheating on him. He threatens to kill her and does not say when or where. The overall feeling of the story shifts and now mental conflicts start to arise in Nancy. She is very scared now, which represents the responsibility Nancy has to take for her actions, as a writer takes for his or her writings.

     In the lines, “he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past” from Faulkners acceptance speech, “That Evening Sun” puts forth these emotions and feelings into characters. In the short story Mr. Compson represents the the pity, compassion, and hope for Nancy. Nancy represents courage, pride, and sacrifice. As the story moves on, Nancy looses all of her strong feelings and so does Mr. Compson. The one night the children do not walk her home she loses everything, including her life to the killing of her husband.

     Faulker leaves us with a cliffhanger at the end of “That Evening Sun.” We don’t know if Nancy is killed or lives on. It is for the audience to decide. I think she died because she was in a such terrible state, that death would fit as the most proper ending. For others, maybe she lived or started off a new life. Related to Faulker’s speech, writers have the responsibility to write what comes out of their heart, on the other hand, readers have the responsibility to interpret stories and react with their “own” emotions or feelings. That's why Faulkner leaves us with no ending in, “That Evening Sun,” he wants the reader to decide the ending. He wants us to use our heart to choose an ending that fits our personal self's. Faulkner wants us to use our imagination to choose an ending we want.

http://jg007kill.blogspot.com/   Joey Guerra 2nd Period