Merton on Faulkner

"The Bear"

A thoughtful reader added a comment and recommendation to my August 26^th post "Seduced by the power of the obscure footnote." In the post I traded out Faulkner’s Mississippi for Walker Percy’s Louisiana on my imaginary literary bus tour through the South.

Because I was quick to dismiss Faulkner, the reader recommended taking a look at what Thomas Merton had written about Faulkner’s writing, in particular the novelette The Bear. It was great advice, and I thank him. Before sharing what Merton had to say, here’s a bit of background:

The Bear is set in the late 19th century and is a hunting story told from the perspective of Isaac (“Ike”) McCaslin, a young man from an old family in Yoknapatawpha county — a fictional Mississippi county. In the first three parts, Ike learns from an expert tracker, Sam Fathers, and hunts down a legendary bear “Old Ben.” The fourth part (omitted in some versions) comprises a dialogue between Ike and his cousin Carothers (“Cass”) Edmonds, in which Ike disclaims his inheritance after he discovers some appalling events in the family history. The final part concerns Ike’s love of nature and his disgust at its gradual destruction.

Here is what Merton wrote in his journal on December 3, 1966:

What a contrast between Faulkner and Sarraute.¹ The clever aridity of the Frenchwoman and the passionate myths of the Southerner – the “driving complexions of the heart” – the love of truth, the need to be free – the need to understand why we are not. Biblical Faulkner, I could write a book on The Bear as a basis for the contemplative life. The true kind.  Theoria. Freedom. One truth.

Everything looks different when you are reading something like this. The curious insubstantiality of what is trying to go on in a monastery, the reality and dignity conferred by past sufferings and mistakes of the Trappists. The meaning of those woods and hills. The meaning of my coming home. The true desert – the Southern curse! How real wilderness is! I want to talk about it to the novices if I can do it without choking on tears. It is a great, great story.

Three days later Merton still had Faulkner on his mind:

Great appetite for Faulkner now. The Bear can be read as a perfect tract on the monastic vocation, i.e., especially poverty. Though it is not “monastic.” Merely Christian!! Merely. The Bear is a key to everything in America too.

“The Bear is a key to everything in America ….” That’s quite a claim by Merton — and with that, we’ll swing the bus through Faulkner’s Mississippi on the way to Louisiana.

1. Natahalie Sarraute (1900-1999) was a French writer.