Faulkner: We've come a long way, baby.

"I decline to accept the end of man." - William Faulkner

"If you're afraid of rats, get the fuck out the kitchen." - Slug

How does a book about systematic breakdown and failure uplift the spirit? On the surface, Sanctuary evokes the exact opposite of uplifting: a dystopian world unable to break from its harmful, regressive traditions. Justice and good are thwarted by the unstoppable forces of evil, eroded by the ever-rising tide of apathy and fear. The internal conflicts of Horace, Goodwin, or Ruby make them totally ineffectual while men like Popeye or Clarence Snopes, devoid of compassion and humanity, are very capable of affecting change and manipulating others. However, it is not necessarily the outcome of the story that Faulkner finds important--many of his novels just end with no real resolution--but rather the experience his novels project on his readers and how those experiences challenge the comfortable ruts we often find ourselves retracing.

By confronting his audience with some of the most disastrous outcomes imaginable, such as Temple's Stockholm Syndrome, Goodwin's wrongful execution, or Horace's spiritual loss, Faulkner challenges the  stereotypes of women, justice, and purpose. But to what end? I believe it is to show what has been rather than what will be. By analyzing and understanding why Horace and Goodwin failed, how Ruby and Temple sunk to the subordinate, or what enabled Popeye and Snopes to succeed, readers gain a sense of progress--a sense that what was will never be again because we cannot allow it. Faulkner's stories force people to view their lives through a progressive lens; compelling them to address the hypocrisy and inherent damage of aggrandizing a past that never existed.

By refusing to pervert the past and rejecting revisionist history, Faulkner uplifts the spirit. A frank look at the past--one willing to admit the stark, moral shortcomings of bygone eras--show us how far we have come, and how far we still have to go.  His dystopian outlook of the past gives a blueprint (albeit an ambiguous one that requires multiple re-readings) for a better future; those that heed his message will see that man's progress is not towards his own demise, but rather towards culture willing to sacrifice the false trappings of heritage for a legacy of love, compassion, and indomitable spirit.