Your Turn: Flem Snopes
From William Faulkner's Snopes Family trilogy
Nominated by William Dykes
Aside from having one of the most revoltingly evocative names in American literature, Flem is himself evocative of the worst side of the American character: The bright side is frugal, Flem is cheap; the bright side socially mobile, Flem a social climber; the bright side chaste, Flem impotent.
He is the American dragon, snatching up virgins and gold but incapable of putting either to use. Amoral, vulgar, smug, he is also the vision of America we so often see reflected back by foreigners who represent us in art.
Flem is a cautionary tale, a dark doppelganger who reminds us that if we wish to live an American mythology, we must contend with more than Mike Fink and Superman; there is always the sinister and sad figure of emptiness to balance the vision of New World plenty. Faulkner's portrayal of ambition without conscience is a worthy entry in the pantheon of America.
Tags: Literature
4:25 PM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink
4:25 PM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink
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