111. Miscegenation

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Absalom

p340 Still Shreve, "... Jesus, think of the load he [Henry] had to carry, born of two Methodists (or of one long invincible line of Methodists) and raised in provincial North Mississippi, faced with incest, incest of all the things that might have been reserved for him, that all his heredity and training had to rebel against on principle, and in a situation where he knew that neither incest nor training was going to help him solve it..."  

I wonder how they teach this book at Wesleyan? And incest is a curious choice for misdirection here, except that it works so nicely when Henry finally comes to terms with the incest only to then choke on that spot of "alien blood." 

p347 In '65 after Bon decides, "...and Henry said 'Thank God. Thank God,' not for the incest of course but because at last they were going to do something, at last he could be something even though that something was the irrevocable repudiation of the old heredity and training and the acceptance of eternal damnation..." 

p356 [Bon] --So it's the miscegenation, not the incest, which you cant bear...

p357 --You are my brother.

--No I'm not. I'm the nigger that's going to sleep with your sister. Unless you stop me, Henry... 

Remember, that is a Confederate officer in General Johnston's Army speaking.

--You shall not!...

--You will have to stop me, Henry...

So, in the end, not your standard RomCom. This is less an indictment of the South as it is of religion (wonderfully represented by the strict sect of Christianity also associated with temperance and woman's suffrage) and of the human tendency to go along with the members of our group -- regardless of what that group happens to believe. 

I'm now going to do a search on the novel and "Methodist" and see what I find.... nothing. Well, that was just a quick Google search. But the Wiki entry doesn't even include the word "Methodist." Disappointed. But then this is why I prefer to not read any analysis until after I've thought something through myself. If I was teaching this book I would start with a detailed lesson on Methodism. I mean, it's not like Faulkner is subtle about this.

Troy 3

Now he's debating who Homer was and how reliable the account is. This is actually rather interesting. Some people think "Homer" was a title for any person who traveled around reciting or singing these stories, and not a single person. Some of the details are accurate for the Bronze Age when the events happened, but others reflect the Iron Age when Homer was telling the tale. This is similar to Medieval European paintings that show Ancient subjects dressed or armed in a contemporary style.

It turns out there is a German Neoanalysis School (Germans, of course) who argue that the entire Troy Cycle combines events from more than one time in history. Ajax and the first attack against Troy are examples where previous epics dating from centuries before the historical Trojan War had been blended in. Reminding me of what I've heard about traditional English Christmas pantomimes.   

Next - 112. I immediately regret this...