Morris 1Hank MorrisBlomquistHonors Literature 2B28 March 2015-The Rhetoric and Language of illiam !aulkner"s #Banquet $%eech&-'(er since the atomic )om)s first dro%%ed in 1*+5, humanit-"s (ie. of the (alue of the human life has changed, and e(en declined/ 0n this 1age of an2iet-" of the earl- 20th centur-, illiam !aulkner deli(ered his #Banquet $%eech& in acce%tance of the 3o)el 4ri5e in Literature/ 0n his s%eech, !aulkner utili5es his unique situation to a%%eal to the emotions of the readers in ho%e to relie(e their feelings on the desolate times the- faced/ hile no. seen as one of the literar- giants of 6merica, !aulkner s%ent most of his career shrouded in o)scurit-/ '(en in the time follo.ing orld ar 00 .hen he )ecame a 3o)el laureate, he ne(er found financial sta)ilit- in .riting/ 6ccording to 7ohn 4adgett in the Mississi%%i riter"s 4age, !aulkner"s .orks .ere essentiall- out of %rint )- 1*++/ He had little to no success in 6merica at the time, )ut 4adgett claims that 'uro%eans had an unusuall- high o%inion of !aulkner 84adgett9/ !rench no(elist and %hiloso%her 7ean-4aul $artre once said, #!or the -oung %eo%le in !rance, !aulkner is a god& 8qtd/ 0n 4adgett9/ Ho.e(er, in 6%ril of 1*+:, %u)lisher Malcolm ;o.le- com%iled The Portable Faulkner, collection of no(els and stories that re Ho. His 3o)el 4ri5e 6cce%tance$%eech ;hanged Ho. e 0nter%ret 1Barn Burning"&, 7essie Magee agues a similar %oint/ $he claims that the s-m)olic attri)utes of !aulkner"s s%eech changed the meaning of his %re(ious .orks from a naturalist .orld(ie. to a humanist %hiloso%h-/ $he sa-s, #0f the 3o)el !oundation had not chosen illiam !aulkner for the 3o)el 4ri5e, it is %ossi)le his .ork ma- ha(e )een misinter%reted fore(er& 8Magee 11-129/!aulkner makes use of the three classical a%%eals of ethos, logos, and %athos, in his s%eech/ Ho.e(er, he uses much more %athos than an- other a%%eal/ His use of ethos and logos %rimaril- rest at the )eginning of his s%eech, mainl- to esta)lish his authorit-/ The Transcri%t of !aulkner"s s%eech reads, #0 feel that this a.ard .as not made to me as a man, )ut to m- .ork& Morris B8!aulkner9/ ;onsidering the %restige of the 3o)el 4ri5e, this ethos ser(es to affirm the authorit- he has on his to%ic/ He continues )- descri)ing the situation the .orld faced in the middle of the 20th centur-, sa-ing, #There are no longer %ro)lems of the s%irit/ There is onl- the question> hen .ill 0 )e )lo.n u%C&8!aulkner9/ 6n-one listening to his s%eech in 1*50 understood that he .as generali5ing a)out ho. the t.o .orld .ars de(alued the human life, and from there he logicall- deduced that most %eo%le .ould ha(e a sentiment a)out life much like the one he stated/ 6fter his introduction, !aulkner no longer uses ethos and logos and instead relies on %athos/ The %re(iousl- mentioned statement #There is onl- the question> hen .ill 0 )e )lo.n u%C& also ser(es as the minor instance of %athos 8!aulkner9/ Here, he reminds the audience of theterror and an2iet- that the .ars ha(e caused/ Mark La?oie argues that !aulkner"s main uses of %athos are to argue against the a%ath- the .ars ha(e caused and for humanit- 8La?oie 2129/ The first ma #a life"s .ork in the agon- and s.eat of the human s%irit& 8!aulkner9/ His .ord choice and sentence structure a%%eal to human emotions, s%ecificall- .hat one .ould call #the human e2%erience&/ He idoli5es the as%ects of #agon-& and #s.eat&, .hich .ould normall- seem una%%ealing, )ut here he uses the .ords in a romantic as%ect that ser(es to contrast to the desolate .ars and the a%ath- the- caused8!aulkner9/ 0n the third %aragra%h of s%eech, !aulkner uses %athos )- a%%ealing to the #old uni(ersal truths&, .hich include #lo(e and honor and %it- and %ride and com%assion and sacrifice& 8!aulkner9/ Like in the introduction, !aulkner romantici5es the )asic emotions to a%%eal to the #human s%irit& rather than the agonies of .ar/ !aulkner"s s%eech also makes use of (arious different st-listic elements, mainl- situation )ased rhetoric and literar- allusions/ He uses these de(ices to em%hasi5e the conce%ts of s%irit, Morris +emotion, and %otential 8La?oie 2119/ 6ccording to =a(id Rife in #R'D $T@AT 63= 0LL06M !6ALE3'R"$ 3@B'L 4R0F' $4'';H&, !aulkner admitted to unintentionall- stealing sources from his s%eech 8Rife 151-1529/ Rife"s %a%er addresses one s%ecific incidence ofthis/ 0n Re2 $tout"s no(el The League of Frightened Men, the character olfe sa-s, #0 am a.areG that this (ote is not the last dingdong of doom& 8qtd/ in Rife 151-1529/ 'ssentiall- the same %hrase a%%ears in the %enultimate %aragra%h of !aulkner"s s%eech> #0 decline to acce%t the end of man/ 0t is eas- enough to sa- that man is immortal sim%l- )ecause he .ill endure> that .hen the last dingdong of doom has clanged and fadedG/ There .ill still )e one more sound> that of his %un- ine2hausti)le (oice, still talking& 8!aulkner9/ Rife uses this e2am%le and ackno.ledges man- others to argue that the s%eech ma- ha(e essentiall- )een a farrago/ Those other e2am%les include cues from Pan Michael, 7ose%h ;onrad"s essa- #Henr- 7ames> an 6%%reciation&, Ha.thorne"s #4reface& to The House of Seven Gables, 4-lon Thomas"s %oem #0n M- ;raft or $ullen 6rt&, an a%horism from !riedrich He))el, 6/'/ Houseman"s %oem num)er0D from his Last Poems and from 4lato"s Phaedo 81519/ 6nother instance of !aulkner"s co%-ing of a ma #That .hen the last dingdong of doom has clanged and faded from the last .orthless rock hanging tideless in thelast red and d-ing e(ening& 8!aulkner9/ =a(id ;od-, in his .ork #!aulkner, ells, and the 1'nd of Man"&, argues that he takes this %hrase from a scene in H/H/ ells" The Time Machine: n !nvention 8;od- +:I9/ 0nterestingl- enough, man- of these .orks concern to%ics such as the end of man, so it ma- )e the case that !aulkner familiari5ed himself .ith these .orks in %re%aration for deli(ering his address/ hile the literar- allusions in !aulkner"s s%eech %ro(ide an interesting )ackground on the origins of the address, ho.e(er Mark La?oie argues that the rhetorical strategies of "airos, Morris 5decorum, and enactment are the most im%ortant functions !aulkner formulates to con(ince the audience of his thesis 8La?oie 2019/ 6ccording to The Forest of #hetoric from Brigham Joung Ani(ersit-, Eairos is a #the .a- a gi(en conte2t for communication )oth calls for and constrains one"s s%eech&/ 0n this .a-, "airos is linked to considerations of the audience/ La?oie argues that !aulkner utili5ed "airos in that he could onl- ha(e gi(en the s%eech )- .inning the 3o)el 4ri5e,and due to his recei(ing the %ri5e in the immediate %eriod follo.ing orld ar 00, he had an o)ligation to s%eak a)out atomic an2iet- 8La?oie 20I-2089/ Later, La?oie gi(es e2am%les of decorum in the s%eech/ He argues that decorum .as closel- tied to the %athos of the s%eech 8La?oie 2129/ 4ara%hrasing from The Forest of #hetoric, decorum is a situation .hen the su) +:5-I+/ dvanced Placement Source/ e)/ 1: Mar/ 2015/!aulkner, illiam/ MBanquet $%eechN/M 'illiam Faulkner/ 3o)el Media 6B, 201+/ e)/ 15 Mar/ 2015/La(oie, Mark/ Milliam !aulknerOs #$%eech 6cce%ting the 3o)el 4ri5e in Literature&> 6 Language for 6meliorating 6tomic 6n2iet-/M #hetoric and Public ffairs 1I/2 8201+9> 1**-22:/ &ST(#/ e)/ 28 Mar/ 2015/Magee, 7essie L/ M!aulkner The Humanist> Ho. His 3o)el 4ri5e $%eech ;hanged Ho. e 0nter%ret OBarn BurningOM Student #esearch )onference Select Presentations 8200*9> n/ %ag/ '"* To%S)H(L#/ e)/ 25 Mar/ 2015/Meacham, 7on/ M@)ama, !aulkner, 6nd The Ases @f Traged-/M 3e.s.eek 15+/25 8200*9> :/ Middle $earch 4lus/ e)/ 28 Mar/ 2015/4adgett, 7ohn B/ Milliam !aulkner/M M'P: +,-./0,.123/ Mississi%%i riterOs 4age, n/d/ e)/ 28 Mar/ 2015/Rhetoricae, $il(ia/ MThe !orest of Rhetoric/M Silva #hetoricae:/ Brigham Joung Ani(ersit-, n/d/ e)/ 28 Mar/ 2015/Rife, =a(id/ MR'D $T@AT 63= 0LL06M !6ALE3'RO$ 3@B'L 4R0F' $4'';H/M &ournal of Modern Literature 10/1 81*8B9> 151-52/ cademic Search )om%lete/ e)/ 1: Mar/ 2015/