William Faulkner and Ralph Ellison have different images of the South. Their various writing shows the South as a suffering society due to racial injustices imposed on their people. However, while Ellison speaks about African American enslavement, racial inequities, and struggles against white supremacy, Faulkner talks about how poor whites suffer at the hands of wealthy white aristocrats.
Furthermore, Ellison speaks from first-hand experience, while Faulkner speaks as an advocate for the oppressed. In addition to comparison, the analysis covers why the two authors included specific scenes depicting southern terror. I ask two questions: Why did the two authors have particular scenes in the stories, The Invisible Man and Barn Burning, to describe Southern terror? Therefore, the primary difference between how Faulkner and Ellison depict terror of the South is based on specific race and experiences.
Faulkner in Barn Burning
Faulkner viewed the South with a sense of abjection with impoverished communities caused by white supremacism. The author, in his writing, depicted the South from the perspective of a suffering society where poor people have no voice. He talks about how wealthy whites oppress poor whites through denial of justice. Faulkner also speaks about South terror related to the white class and white supremacy resistance. In his novel barn burning, the author narrates a story about a poor white man, Snopes, and his son Sartoris (Sarty). Snopes is a carefree man who has been exiled from several towns, but before he lives, he avenges.
Faulkner shows southern terror by focusing on Snopes’s adverse experiences with an aristocrat, Major de Spain. He says that Major de Spain is a wealthy man of the South with a big mansion and black servants. This time, Snopes is sharecropping through Major de Spain’s plantation. Without much care, he bursts through the mansion doors while looking for his new boss. He steps on the horse shit and drags his soiled boots on the de Spain’s fancy rug. Such an act can be interpreted as a resistance of white aristocracy from the poor. De Spain overcharges Snopes for the carpet, so he sues him in return. Although the court cuts Snopes’ rag charges, his son advises him not to pay the fines.
Snopes decides to run from the town but first has revenge by burning de Spain’s mansion. Choosing not to be associated with his father’s awful acts, Sarty leaves and tries to warn the aristocrat. De Spain runs after Sarty, yet he is trying to help him. Such an act indicates the misuse of white power against the poor. Sarty also hears a gunshot and realizes that his father has been murdered. Faulkner here implies that a poor white person will quickly die at the hands of the rich. The aristocrats can freely break the law by taking power into their hands. The depiction of the southern terror here indicates the precise reason why the poor continue to grow poor as the rich prosper.
Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison mainly depicts terror in the South through his famous work, the invisible man. From a first-hand experience, Ellison shows the struggles of African Americans in the hands of whites. At the beginning of his book, he explains that he is invisible because those in power have refused to see him. From this dimension, the Southern chaos is triggered by the marginalization of the black community. The author narrates how he, an African American, won a college scholarship from a white sponsor. Before being rewarded with a scholarship, he is forced to fight a fellow black man on a battlefield. Ellison indicates modern slavery, where the whites still degraded the blacks even after regarding their rights.
Through the unnamed narrator, Ellison speaks about racism and slavery in the first book’s chapter, “Battle Royal.” He narrates the degradation of ten young black men summoned to a makeshift ring to box blindfolded in a “Battle Royal.”
The narrator witnessed theThe Invisible Man ten blacks’ men were instructed to fight each other as the white men watched in joy. Even worse, the white men spread money on an electrified carpet and commanded the young fighters to collect as much as possible. The speaker is dejected upon realizing that the carpet gave an electric shock, but the boys never stop. The speaker remembers his grandfather’s words, demanding that the blacks not suffer in silence. Ellison continues to indicate terror, where the narrator says he gave his speech with blood flowing from his mouth. Ellison showed how African Americans in the South suffered at the hands of Jim Crow rules. From slavery to turning the blacks against each other, the blacks had little say about how the whites treated them.
Authors’ Reasons for the Choice of Scenes
Faulkner included Major de Spain’s scene to show how the poor whites resisted the aristocracy. In the scene of Snopes entering de Spain’s house without permission and dusting his fancy rag, Faulkner illustrates resistance to power. It insinuates that the poor may be willing to work for the aristocrats but do not obey or respect their hierarchical power. Snopes shows power resistance by suing his wealthy boss for being overcharged. He knows the biased southern court might not render justice but is willing to challenge the aristocratic power. Snopes wanted to show the boss that he was not above the law. Faulkner also included this scene to show how oppression can hinder people from acceptable behavior.
The white aristocrats have oppressed their fellow white people to the point where respect is no longer considered. The Snopes’ level of poverty has degraded his manners, and he can no longer show respect to the aristocrats. Indeed, he only thinks about revenge against the wealthy whites who disrespect him.
Ellison included the “Battle Royal” scene to show the difference between blacks’ willingness to submit to the whites and their refusal. The narrator speaks about his grandfather’s advice about black people standing for themselves. In this case, Ellison is triggering evolution over the toxic Jim Crow rules of racism. He wishes to show that black people have suffered enough at the hands of whites and are no longer willing to bow to white supremacy.
Ellison also wanted to expose how absurd the systems that perpetuate racism are. Placing money on an electrified carpet and asking the young black men to collect it is beyond inhumane. Ellison wanted to show how heartless white racists can be towards blacks. He also wished to open the eyes of the other whites who may not believe such black injustices happen. Indeed, this could have been a cry for having had enough of white supremacy.