preview

William Faulkner's "Uncle Willy" Essays

Good Essays

William Faulkner's "Uncle Willy" "I know what they said. They said I didn't run away from home but that I was tolled away by a crazy man, who, if I hadn't killed him first, would have killed me inside another week. But if they had said that the women, the good women in Jefferson had driven Uncle Willy out of town and I followed him and did what I did because I knew that Uncle Willy was on his last go-round and this time when they got him again it would be for good and forever, they would have been right. Because I wasn't tolled away and Uncle Willy wasn't crazy, not even afterall they had done to him. I didn't have to go; I didn't have to go anymore than Uncle Willy had to invite me instead of just taking it for granted that I wanted …show more content…

Gossip is again hinted at in the last line of the opening paragraph, insinuating that many women find meddling in other people's lives fun. These mentions of gossip are an easy way of characterizing the town. By relying on gossip, the town is portrayed in a way which reality doesn't matter; gossip molds people and events and serves as the viewpoint from which people base their opinions of everything. Adding to the characterization of the town is the mention of "good women." These women are the Christian women who live and are active in Jefferson; they are meant to reform, cure, and save people. Uncle Willy attends Sunday school every week, yet because he uses dope and leads a strange lifestyle, the women see it as their duty to change or "save" him. The role of religion in the story is an important one; all those trying to reform Uncle Willy are religious. Uncle Willy is overtaken in a church and spends time with many of its "good women" to get better. Ironically, the use of religion in the story does eventually "save" Uncle Willy; he is driven out of town by religion and is eventually killed, which saves him in his own way. The Southern characteristic of everyone in town acting as if they were a close-knit family is also used in

Get Access