King David and Absalom’s Story in Absalom, Absalom!:
William Faulkner’s Retelling of a Biblical Story
The most obvious theme that runs throughout William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! is the biblical theme. In fact, the novel follows an entire biblical story – the story of King David and his son Absalom. According to Irving Malin, “Faulkner frequently cites the Old Testament as one of his favorite books” (65). This is significant because it explains his use of the Bible and biblical references throughout his works. By examining the biblical story in Absalom, Absalom!, the reader can gain a better understanding of Faulkner’s novel. Through his book Absalom, Absalom!, William Faulkner retells the biblical story of King David and his son Absalom, using different characters to represent different qualities of both biblical characters.
In Second Samuel, Absalom is portrayed as the most beautiful creature in Israel, who is loved by his father and all those who know him. The scripture says:
In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him. Whenever he cut the hair of his head-he used to cut his hair from time to time when it became too heavy for him-he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels by the royal standard. (2 Sam. 14:25-26)
Absalom’s only downfall is his pride, which he allows at times to control him. He thinks that he should be entitled to all of the power that his father possesses since he is the king’s son. His pride and seek for power eventually drives him to his death.
After his brother Amnon raped their sister Tamar, Absalom was so angry that he had his men kill him. Afterwards, he fled in fear of his own life because his father mourned his brother’s death deeply. He escaped to Geshur for three years. Although Absalom murdered his brother, David still loved him very much and wished that he would return to Jerusalem. Joab knew that David had his longing and persuaded a wise woman to dress up and convince him to ask his son to return. Absalom eventually returns but goes two years without facing his father. In time, however, he returned to his father who still loved him and the scripture says that he kissed him (2 Sam. 14:33)
Absalom gained the love of everyone who came to see his father because he stood by the road and saw them before they could make it in to see the king. The scripture says that:
…whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. (2 Sam. 15:5-6)
Absalom’s motives for acting this way, however, were purely unjust. He wished that he had the power that his father had and told everyone who came to see his father that the king did not have time for them. Not only that, but he also said to them “if only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice.” (2 Sam. 15:4)
By intercepting the people before they could see his father, Absalom was trying to take over some of the power that King David possessed, that of seeing the people and hearing their complaints. He knew that if he could gain the love of the people, he would have a good in to being king.
Eventually Absalom gained the hearts of all the men in Israel and a servant warned David. David fled, in fear that his people would turn against him. Absalom received advice from Ahithophel and Hushai about how to overtake his father. One of David’s men found Absalom in hanging in an oak tree that his hair had gotten caught in when his mule was walking under it and told Joab. Joab was angry that the man did not kill him and stabbed Absalom in the heart with three javelins. Then, ten of the armor-bearers killed him. After he was dead, the men took Absalom down from the tree, threw him into a big pit in the forest, and covered him up with a large pile of rocks.
Even after everything Absalom has done to him and turned against him, David still loved him. When he heard of his death he cried “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you-O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Sam. 18:33) Joab rebuked him for mourning so long and told him that he should return to Jerusalem and resume his rightful place on the throne.
There are several different ways that Faulkner uses this story of Absalom and David in his novel. Lothar Honninghausen says that “A successful reading of Absalom, Absalom! demands of the reader the adoption of an amazing range of metaphorizing attitudes.” (167) Glenn Meeter says that “in the matter of Faulkner’s biblical intertextuality… it is generally accepted that there is a good deal of it.” (595) Sean Benson points out that there is an “absence of any explicit reference in the text of Absalom, Absalom! to the Davidic story, other than in the title itself” (452). Nevertheless, the implications of references to Absalom and David are obvious. Faulkner uses characters that resemble Absalom and characters that resemble David at different times throughout the novel. He even uses characters that are completely the opposite of Absalom and David. Above all, he uses the story of Absalom and King David as inspiration for characters and plotting in Absalom, Absalom.
One of Faulkner’s main characters that shares and contrasts qualities of Absalom is Charles Bon. Faulkner’s descriptions of Bon let the reader see that Thomas Sutpen will never think of his son as beautiful or love him the way that King David loved Absalom. From the third mention of his name, the reader can hear the resentment of Bon in the narrator’s voice. He is introduced as:
Henry’s friend who was not only some few years older than Henry but actually a little old to be still in college and certainly a little out of place in that one where he was… three hundred miles from that worldly and even foreign city which was his home… apparently wealthy and with for background the shadowy figure of a legal guardian rather than any parents… fullsprung from no childhood, born of no woman and impervious to time and, vanished, leaving no bones nor dust anywhere.” (58)
The descriptions of Bon leave the reader predisposed to dislike him, despite whatever might happen in the rest of the novel. Nonetheless, Bon turns out to be a very loveable character, charming to all.
According to Daniel Singal, “no one is more charmed by the charismatic Bon than his half brother Henry, Sutpen’s son by his second marriage” (203). Bon is everything that Henry is not. The fact that Henry is so easily swayed by the charismatic qualities of Bon resembles the people of Israel in the story of King David and Absalom. Until someone pointed out was wrong with him and his problems were brought to surface, everyone loved him.
In one of her letters to Quentin Compson, Rosa Coldfield talks about her dinners with Sutpen and how “not once did he mention Charles Bon” (127) even though his daughter was engaged to him. Sutpen’s clear disdain for his son reflects on the descriptions Faulkner uses to describe Bon. Bon rebels against Sutpen, but unlike Absalom who does it for the want of power, Bon does it for the want of being recognized. The hair that causes Absalom to be trapped and die can be paralleled with the black blood in Bon. Nevertheless, Houston Baker’s book says that:
Bon’s blackness… remains the human conjecture that orders history into a signifying whole, yet reopens it into its old and abiding mystery. (903)
Despite the fact that Bon cannot help that he was born with black blood in him, he is destined to face the consequences of having the black blood running through his veins. It is, in all actuality, Sutpen’s fault, due to an affair with an octoroon mistress in New Orleans.
Many critics point out that the issue of the black blood in Charles Bon drives the novel and sets up the tragic nature of it. Peter Lurie says that:
Thomas Sutpen’s early marriage to a West Indies plantation daughter who Sutpen believes passes on “Negro” blood to their son is the engine for his life’s and the novel’s Biblical tragedy. (150)
The Biblical tragedy of the novel centers on the black blood in Charles Bon.
Despite all other similarities or differences between the characters in Absalom, Absalom! and the story of King David and Absalom, the reader cannot overlook the most obvious similarity. The biggest similarity between the two stories is the relationship between the brothers. Like Absalom, Henry kills his brother Bon. The only difference is the reasoning behind it. Both men do it because of their sister, which shows the importance of family relationships within the stories. While Absalom kills Amnon out of anger because he raped his sister, Henry kills Bon out of anger because he has black blood in him and should, therefore, not be allowed to marry his sister, no matter what. Henry can also been seen as Absalom because he fled like the biblical character. When he found out this father did not like Bon, he denounced his birthright and left with Bon. This instance could also allude to a sexual relationship or at least desire between Bon and Henry which the biblical text alludes to between Absalom and Tamar.
Like his son Henry, Thomas Sutpen resembles Absalom in many ways. He is very prideful and feels that he should have more power than anyone else. He comes to establish his hundred-acre plot called Sutpen’s Hundreds and find a respectable wife so that others might view him as respectable. His pride leads him to his death as well. Ashamed by his son Charles Bon, he attempts to persuade Rosa Coldfield to give him another illegitimate son so that he might have a good son to carry on his name. His actions, like Absalom’s and his son Bon’s, drive him to his death as Wash Jones kills him.
The title of the novel holds the clearest and most obvious reference to the biblical story of Absalom and David. Taylor Hagood says that the “novel’s title echoes David’s wail, ‘Absalom, my son, my son,’ when Absalom is killed during his rebellions against his father.” (59)
William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! clearly follows a biblical story. Faulkner retells the story of King David and his son Absalom with a few added twists. However, it is no wonder that he chose to use biblical references because he loved the Bible so much, especially the Old Testament. In order to gain a better understanding of the characters and plot in Absalom, Absalom!, the reader must also study the story of Absalom, Amnon, and King David which starts in Second Samuel 13.
There are numerous Biblical implications other than just the story of Absalom and David. For example, Sutpen can be compared to Abraham. The novel as a whole has often been compared to the biblical book of Song of Solomon. Joseph Brown says that:
Song of Solomon absorbs and not only appropriates the same biblical allusions of Absalom, Absalom! but gives strong voices to those black characters for whom Faulkner provides only whispers or howls, and establishes a reverence for the ancestors (and therefore a reverence for history) that wrestles Faulkner’s fabulous demented ghosts into a humble submission. (709)
Also, many of Faulkner’s other works also use Biblical references in order to tell the story. Faulkner enjoyed using Biblical stories in his stories and relied on the scripture for inspiration.
Despite all of his other novels, many critics and readers today consider Absalom, Absalom! to be his best and most significant work. John Lowe says that “today most critics and readers consider Absalom, Absalom! to be William Faulkner’s greatest novel” and that at its core it is “the most significant American novel of the twentieth century” (595). Geoffrey Norman calls it Faulkner’s “most ambitious book” (186). Thomas Flanagan calls it “one of Faulkner’s greatest books”. Obviously, Absalom, Absalom! has made a great impact on the twentieth century.
Works Cited
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