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.
With “Honor,” the themes of “The Middle Grounds” becomes a little clearer. Following in the path of “Wash,” there is the shared theme of a soldier who has returned home from war. On the one hand, they are tonally different in that “Honor” goes less the way of Greek tragedy and more a symbolic character study. There’s more of a sense of humor and the subtext is less heavy. With that said, both share the concept of a soldier who is in some way shamed. Given that both of these stories follow “All the Dead Pilots,” it’s amusing how quickly Faulkner has shifted into reflecting a critical lens yet again, this time focusing on the idea of what it means to be an honorable person in life following a career in aviation.
At times this is best read as a companion piece to “All the Dead Pilots” in that the author lays out a lot of the shared ideas. Those who have returned home are often seen as dead because they can’t live a substantial life after experiencing the highs of flying. There is a desperation to them that makes one wonder how they will age. “Honor” is that type of story, where Buck Monaghan may as well be dead. He was in the air force during World War I and has the benefit of returning home a hero. However, something immediately seems off. He didn’t necessarily fail in the war, but trying to walk among the living when you are “dead” proves to be a problem for him as he can never start the next chapter of his life.
So why not include this in “The Wasteland” section? So far, “The Middle Grounds” feels like a B-Sides compilation for stories that don’t quite fit into the other boxes. They deserve to be recognized as great works, but thematically they’re not quite there. “Honor” doesn’t work alongside “Crevasse” or “Victory” even if they’re all fighting similar causes. This is a post-war story where the reader gets a sense of what it’s like to be a veteran. Monaghan may seem insignificant in comparison to some of those men, but it only helps to reveal all of the various ways that the men often saluted often fade into obscurity, feeling disconnected from the world around them.
The major starting point in understanding Monaghan is that he is perceived as a failure. He is first seen as a car salesman who has lost his job after three weeks. There is some suggestion that giving up flying has taken away something from him and that nothing quite fills that hole. Even then, he finds some honor among his brotherhood of former pilots, whom he puts above everybody else. They fought through war and they understand each other in ways that normal people just can’t.
Even then, the arc of the story doesn’t fully center around him fraternizing with his brotherhood. Instead, there is an emphasis on an affair with Howard’s wife Mildred. Much like how he wasn’t loyal to a job, he doesn’t respect the code of man and dates a married woman. He is failing morally and not fully succeeding at having any dignity as the story goes along. While there’s perceived happiness there, it’s not like the real thing. Even if he accepts that Mildred ultimately belongs to Howard, the idea that he would still galavant with her suggests that he’s broken other codes with his friends. This alone makes one wonder how dedicated he was as a soldier during the war and if he actually followed every possible protocol.
As the time jumps around, there is the revelation that despite this dishonesty, there was a dedication during the war. Monaghan and Buck were on a flight together and had to trust each other in a very harrowing situation. As Howard climbs out on a wing, Monaghan also sacrifices his life in order to help rescue him. There is loyalty and a need to survive. It’s also the most thrilling portion of the text, as it finds several chaotic elements at play, finding the conflict of war holding these two men together, needing each other for survival. The fact that they would later fight over Mildred shows a different kind of desperation and need for tenderness and protection. It’s clear that Monaghan is failing to find any comfort and in some ways, he’s jealous of what they have.
There’s also the presence of a character named White who dies. There’s the suggestion that it is done by suicide and that his relationship with Monaghan and Buck is much more complicated. He had to take risks that they didn’t which lead to him quitting his job as a test pilot. Again, the theme of failure is at play and reflects the various ways all three men are in some ways dead. White in particular could symbolize a white flag, or surrender. Buck has failed White, so the web continues to tangle even further. This hypercritical look at how soldiers have broken the brotherhood reflects a complicated reality of men trying to survive and not quite getting there.
Even if women are seen as comforting there’s some room to suggest that Mildred is a corruptor. She doesn’t understand the men and thus can’t fully enter into their world. Her attraction breaks them because women don’t look at things like a man does. Again, the symbolism of femininity alludes to cultural continuity. Those who can obtain the woman will be able to have a family lineage and keep their ideologies alive. Sure, Faulkner paints it as more nakedly misogynistic than usual in “Honor,” but it does help paint a struggle that’s unique to men during WWI. Sure the author is still in conflict with every soldier for different reasons, but focusing on Mildred as a downfall only suggests how disconnected these men are from a normal world.
Given that the story ends with Buck trying to sell cars to women, there is the continued belief that they just don’t love machinery the way that men do. They are dishonest and capable of breaking hearts. Even then, he notes that despite everything the one sacrifice that made him a noble person was giving up flying. It disconnects him from the other men that he once felt honor in being connected with. This divide shows how complicated it is to survive after the war and ultimately questions the value of support. Is it possible to be emotionally vulnerable with others who are themselves feeling some type of dysfunction?
While the story is one of Faulkner’s weaker tales, it does connect the war to home life in a manner that continues on his thesis from “All the Dead Pilots.” “Honor” perfectly weaves texts from different moments and has it all question the interpersonal dynamics of these three soldiers. Even if it’s one of the least interesting female characters that he’s written, there’s still something in his symbolism and the idea that nobody can truly understand the sacrifice that a soldier makes. This includes other soldiers who themselves are suffering some internal battle that may never be fully exposed. If anything, it makes them feel more alone. Even when they sever ties with the greater brotherhood, the sense of isolation is both freeing but also damning.
Even if “Honor” never quite lives up to what has come before, it does give hope that the stories to follow will continue to fill in the blank spaces from “Collected Stories.” It’s been interesting watching everything fall into place and seeing how the author has created a fully lived in Yoknapatawpha County. Nobody is all good or evil, but somewhere in-between. These muddled tales allow for interesting subtexts to be formed and revelations about war heroes to become something much more interesting than what historical texts would suggest. While this differs greatly from “Wash” in some ways, it continues the struggle to find respect and hope in a society that feels like it’s left you behind. How does one find honor in a community that lies and cheats? Sometimes it takes putting both feet on the ground to fully understand just what life means to somebody. What are success and failure? It all comes down to what one determines it to be.
Coming Up Next: “Dr. Martin”
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