Soldiers’ Pay by William Faulkner
Soldiers’ Pay is my start to what I am calling my “Winter of Faulkner” (although at the rate I’m going it may lead to the Spring and Summer of Faulkner). Soldiers’ Pay is Faulkner’s first novel (written in 1926) and it is obvious that this is a young work. The characters are young and naive (despite surviving World War I) and their perspective on the world reflects that. Yet, I can easily forgive them – historically, WWI, of course, was unprecedented.
Faulkner’s novel follows soldiers’ homecomings, one whose family had thought he had died, and the effects they have on the people they left behind. It is interesting to read with the perspective that soldiers that have seen combat are romantic heroes. Those at home – particularly the women – still believe in the glory of war and its chivalric justice. When Mahon returns with the inability to see or effectively communicate and with a disfiguring scar on his face, he is a not so subtle reflection of the realities of a new kind of war. “Can nothing at all move me again? Nothing to desire? Nothing to stir me, to move me, save pity?…” Margaret Powers asks herself.
There are few that consider him a hero. Many try to force a life upon him, although he is dying – a life that was supposed to happen had there not been the war. The reality of the situation often is so fervently resisted it is disorienting for a modern reader. However, Faulkner builds his characters in such a way that one cannot help but sympathize with this inescapable need. Soldiers’ Pay is about character and Faulkner skillfully creates his characters through dialogue. The novel is thick with dialogue that often becomes a whirlwind of character dynamics. All of their struggles, fears, and desires are revealed by what they say and don’t say. Margaret Powers is a particularly interesting character. Margaret is a woman who is trying to make sense of the war, the loss of her first husband in the war, and what a ‘modern’ woman is supposed to do after living so much life in a such a short time. Often her actions and words are on opposite poles as she tries to control situations that are out of her hands: she does everything she can to keep Mahon’s father from knowing that his son is dying – reassurances are constantly made; she even decides to marry Mahon despite all of her talk to Gilligan (another soldier) about not getting married and their obvious relationship with each other. However, what is fascinating is how all of the characters talk their way through novel. There are even sections of dialogue that are structured as a drama. In just one page the reader gets the perspective of ‘The Town’, Young Robert Saunders, Cecily, George Farr, Margaret Powers, and Gilligan.
Knowing many of Faulkner’s later characters, Soldiers’ Pay was an enlightening place to start with his works (I know I should have started with New Orleans Sketches but I’ll have to order that one; but Mosquitoes, I’m sure, will have similarities.) I am looking forward to following how Faulkner grew in his character development.
March 1st, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I’ve read faulkner before but recently decided to make a chronological journey through his works. So though my impressions may not be of interest I offer them in hope of hearing how the winter (? spring and summer) of faulkner went. The thing that struck me most about soldiers’ pay was the quietness it depicts. How when beset by despair, pain and confusion many of the characters are quiet and restrained, swallowing their feelings and continuing on within the mechanics of the situation. When their emotions do leak out they are quickly suppressed again. Because by and large our inner worlds are generally irrelevant to everyone else. They don’t seem to understand their motivations or even reflect on them that much. I certainly don’t understand why mrs powers finds it necessary to marry the Loot. They are drifting, reacting to what life brings their way but basically rudderless. Though these ideas are’t particularly exciting I enjoyed the way they were illustrated here- quietly. Despite its inadequacies i thought this was an admirable first novel and I will do a scanning re-read before moving onto Mosquitoes.
January 7th, 2009 at 6:39 am
Although the characters in Soldiers Pay appear incoherent an and their conversations at times strange I have to agree with Asta that the way Faulkner narrates the story is what actually makes the novel special.
His description of George Farr’s boredom and anticipation made me as a reader feel bored and filled me with anticipation for the things to come in the plot. Without ever mentioning it, Faulkner created the suspense of waiting by accurately telling numerous detail without any importance for the plot – exactly what happens when one is waiting for something, sucking up details without anything happening and time moving slowly. Thus he enables the reader to feel like George Farr must feel.
Also I could feel the oppressing heat of the South which makes any move require effort. With his way of (almost clumsily) describing the surroundings of the characters Faulkner creates similarities to the oppressive heat: reading becomes an effort when the reader has to rack through his brain to decipher the unusual comparisons that almost give the description a hazy character, blurred by heat.
Soldiers’ Pay has its weaknesses. But as a starter into a literary career as an author it is amazing.