This past December, I went to Barnes & Noble and bought a handful of books. Among them was a William Faulkner anthology called “Collected Stories.” I have personally been a fan of the author since I read “As I Lay Dying” in my early 20s and found the potential for literature cracking open. Given the girth of the volume, I knew it would be intimidating to just read the 42 short stories front to back, so instead I’ve decided to take my time. In doing so, I plan to cover one a week until completed. I will be using this space to share my opinions of each piece as well as any stray observations I may have picked up from the greater world of Faulkner mania.
Having spent most of the anthology detailing the life of the working class, there is something at odds with “Death Drag.” This isn’t another story about farmers or the complicated racial politics of Jefferson County. In fact, this is one of the few stories that is removed from Jefferson altogether. There is no mention of the town in the text with The Digital Yoknapatawpha Project citing a letter between Faulkner and Malcolm Cowley that suggests it’s “just a tale, could have happened anywhere.” A drawing in “Portable Faulkner” from 1946 that references the story directly suggests it’s at an airfield just south of Jefferson. This is also one of few stories that reflect the author’s love of aviation, following his first published story “Landing in Luck” from 1919.
While this would be enough to make it different from every other story covered so far, the reader will quickly discover that it has a lot more complicated details under the surface. Faulkner has been a fan of exploring Southern culture while never straying from racial tension and economic differences. “Dry September” in particular takes lynching to its uncomfortable limits. With that said, there is something more dicey about “Death Drag” just because of how it frames everything. For the first time in “The Village” section, there isn’t a direct reference to protagonists trying to hold onto a past, and yet the racial component is just hidden out of frame. He has used dialects quite effectively in the past to detail a character’s intellect and superiority within the text, but with “Death Drag,” it’s something that is both more invisible and a tad more problematic.
There have been some essays to suggest that “Barn Burning” features The Snopes Family as Jewish characters, but this is one of the first overt examples of Faulkner featuring them in prominence. Even if he’s revered for his creativity, the author’s use of Ginsfarb fails to be all that subtle. He’s someone who has a big nose and spends a majority of the story bargaining over money. Given that there are characters like Captain Warren who were injured in the war, it’s also interesting to note that Ginsfarb was injured over fee negotiations. On the one hand, an argument could be made that he is another example of the working class trying to get paid their worth. However, it doesn’t explain why he needed to be Jewish or embody so many stereotypes not only in attitude but in dialects that feature such alterations as wh’s to v’s and th’s to d’s. Whereas it’s less problematic in something like “A Bear Hunt,” here it stands out simply because of how rarely Faulkner has incorporated Judaism into his work. There isn’t any subtext added to Ginsfarb’s dialect to suggest anything subversive or builds to a grand reveal.
Which is a shame because “Death Drag” as a concept is very entertaining otherwise. The title refers to an act of aviation where someone who walks on the wings of a plane is dropped into a moving car and driven away. Ginsfarb is somebody known for doing this but as he’s grown older and physically more handicapped, he must choose wisely. As a result, his negotiations with Jock and Captain Warren become the center crux of the piece. It’s amusing enough outside of Anti-Semitic context, finding the working class struggle to have pay worthy of such a foolhardy stunt that is going to draw a crowd. In some way, Faulkner’s build-up is leading the reader to have concerns in their head. Is this going to end well? What is the triumphant conclusion to this whole charade? Given that most of the previous stories have featured some component of death (and its reference in this particular title) one could assume that Faulkner wouldn’t be above a cheeky, comical twist – even if he’s ultimately a humanistic author who wouldn’t be overtly cruel without a greater point.
On the bright side, nobody dies of anything but embarrassment. This is a story whose attitude is not unlike “Shingles for the Lord” in how it looks at disaster and decides that the only satisfying conclusion is to laugh. When the story reaches its conclusion, the final air stunt is so full of maddening mishaps that Faulkner can’t help but present a fun repetition of ideas, constantly finding the plane repeating stunts, drawing attention to such ideas as the plane potentially running out of gas, running into the barn, or even the car just being that much off course. There is a sense of danger even as comedy enters. At no point is there any safety to this part of the story, leaving the reader curious to know if Ginsfarb will survive.
As a story about aviation, there’s enough here that makes it enjoyable. From the opening sentences, there is a love of airplanes evident in how Faulkner details the looping through the sky, filled with the unexpected potential of what’s next. In some ways, it’s the most removed the author has been from the human condition, but it’s also the most instinctive. Rarely has he been so in awe of action simply existing. It’s a fulfilling shift in style and a perfect set-up for what’s to come. Before he steps back and finds characters rooted in negotiation, there is the innocence of the act and the wonder of how any human could ever pull off such feats.
Then they don’t. Ginsfarb ultimately ends up on top of the barn while a group of gossiping townsfolk details the events of that afternoon. There is a mockery of his arrogance and unwillingness to deliver the death drag. Who was the real fool in this situation? To the public, it’s clear that Ginsfarb failed spectacularly. On a more personal level, it’s clear that the money wasn’t worth it. Not only that, but for an aging feeble man, it wasn’t worth risking his life just for a mediocre stunt that he never felt comfortable doing.
Faulkner ultimately asks what we would do for money. What are our personal limits? It’s a nice change of pace from the other stories in “The Village” even if it’s frankly one of the more minor works covered so far. It’s another comedic piece that exists almost exclusively for a punchline. It’s a good one, but there isn’t enough of a character exploration to find him grappling with the morality of his premise. The only thing here is a great example of Faulkner writing an action-driven set piece that dazzles. There is constant suspense and it shows a distinctly early 20th century attitude around industrial innovation. It’s the idea of pushing mankind to their potential, even if that means falling hopelessly from a plane into a car. What is it all for? Nobody really respects Ginsfarb, so it cannot just be money. There has to be more dignity to life than this stunt.
Again, it’s not entirely clear why the character needed to be Jewish. While the idea isn’t specifically bad, the fact that it’s rooted in the Anti-Semitic tropes of the early 1930s makes it age poorly. It is true that as an author he wasn’t the only one to evoke these stereotypes. Even the best of literature from this time, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” isn’t above imagery of greedy and big nosed villains. It was more common. Maybe there was an effort to make Ginsfarb’s failure ultimately easier to laugh at. Still, for an author who did decent work by complicating racial politics, it’s a confusing decision to have him be the other to such an obvious degree. It’s even been suggested that the plane has a very Jewish appearance, suggesting this is all some song and dance of personal greed.
While I haven’t done a lot of Faulkner’s Anti-Semitism, there’s a reason to suggest that he was. “Death Drag” may play into stereotypes, but it’s not the most offensive example of these tropes in fiction. Some would suggest it even subverts them, but he still ends up the biggest fool among the group. To go further, there is documented evidence that at one point Faulkner wrote a colleague about how relieved he was to be writing his work away from the “Hollywood Jews.” It’s difficult to tell if this was just an off-color joke or a recognition of deeper bias, but it proved that he wasn’t above belittling them. These questionable themes also appear in “The Mansion” and “Go Down, Moses.”
The story was originally published in January 1932 in Scribner’s Magazine. There is speculation to suggest that it was written as early as December 1930. Once again, there was some criticism from publishers around themes of Jewish stereotypes, proving that there were eventual edits made to it. Other than that, it’s interesting to know that it was originally published as “Death-Drag” with a dash and embraces the nonlinear structure that parallels the opening image of a plane spiraling through the sky. It’s a nice subtle detail and one that proves how clever the author is at incorporating the action so effortlessly into the story.
On the one hand, “Death Drag” is a nice departure from everything that’s come before. It’s a nice sigh of relief after such heavy subject matter that literally removes readers from the familiar. With plenty of fun action, there is enough to like in this brisk story that never ceases on entertainment. It is true that it also falls into some unfortunate biases that drag it down, especially given that the cultural differences aren’t part of a greater commentary. This is merely a story of egos clashing over money, doing everything to determine the value of human life. The results are, if nothing else, delightful and unpredictable. It’s a nice misdirection until the very end, providing a small laugh in the greater scheme of Faulkner’s strange vision of Yoknapatawpha. It’s fun but like the stuntman in a death drag, it’s also easily disposable.
Coming Up Next: “Elly”
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