The relationship between the familiar and the uncanny was part of the writing Sigmund Freud produced on the elusive and slightly disconcerting topic of the feeling of the uncanny in “The Uncanny.” Freud made the claim that familiar experiences can produce an uncanny feeling because of the repression of a certain idea, which lends the “frightening” feeling often associated with the uncanny. He goes on to say that the act of repression is what gives familiar experiences the potential to be frightening, or uncanny. In Absalom, Absalom! (A, A!), William Faulkner creates a feeling of the uncanny that is ever present, provided by the looming, monstrous, and mysterious figure of Thomas Sutpen, and the supernatural nature of the characters themselves.
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is solely the character’s unfamiliarity with the story of Sutpen, as well as the realization that the story is based on people who are now dead speaking with one another. Whether looking upon the man from the perspective of the main character, young Quentin Compson, or the embittered and misunderstood Miss Rosa Coldfield, it is the air of mystery surrounding Sutpen’s tale that provides the shivers down the back present while reading the story. When the characters of Faulkner’s novel are discussing things grounded in familiarity, they are perfectly comfortable. It is only when the mysteries of Sutpen and the realm of the undead are the topic of conversation that the uncanny feeling enters the character, and can be noticed by the …show more content…
It’s Clytie. Dont she—‘
‘No. Something living in it. Hidden in it. It has been out there for four years, living hidden in that house.’” (Faulkner 140).
This is a perfect representation of not only using the uncanny to influence the characters in the story, but also the reader. The introduction of an unfamiliar character that has been in hiding for four years now sets the reader on edge, producing the frightened feeling that goes hand in hand with the uncanny. Note that it is not the idea of someone living in the house on Sutpen’s Hundred that intrigues Rosa, Quentin, and the reader, but the idea of an unknown person being present. Another unfamiliar uncanny feeling Faulkner utilizes in A, A! is the connection of his stories to one another. As Dr. Crank mentioned in class, A, A! tells the story of ghosts speaking upon other ghosts; a Faulknerian audience would have known that Quentin commits suicide in The Sound and the Fury, in which the events occur
is solely the character’s unfamiliarity with the story of Sutpen, as well as the realization that the story is based on people who are now dead speaking with one another. Whether looking upon the man from the perspective of the main character, young Quentin Compson, or the embittered and misunderstood Miss Rosa Coldfield, it is the air of mystery surrounding Sutpen’s tale that provides the shivers down the back present while reading the story. When the characters of Faulkner’s novel are discussing things grounded in familiarity, they are perfectly comfortable. It is only when the mysteries of Sutpen and the realm of the undead are the topic of conversation that the uncanny feeling enters the character, and can be noticed by the …show more content…
It’s Clytie. Dont she—‘
‘No. Something living in it. Hidden in it. It has been out there for four years, living hidden in that house.’” (Faulkner 140).
This is a perfect representation of not only using the uncanny to influence the characters in the story, but also the reader. The introduction of an unfamiliar character that has been in hiding for four years now sets the reader on edge, producing the frightened feeling that goes hand in hand with the uncanny. Note that it is not the idea of someone living in the house on Sutpen’s Hundred that intrigues Rosa, Quentin, and the reader, but the idea of an unknown person being present. Another unfamiliar uncanny feeling Faulkner utilizes in A, A! is the connection of his stories to one another. As Dr. Crank mentioned in class, A, A! tells the story of ghosts speaking upon other ghosts; a Faulknerian audience would have known that Quentin commits suicide in The Sound and the Fury, in which the events occur