Rereading Review: "Go Down, Moses" by William Faulkner

I was recently rereading Intruder in the Dust and thus, after rereading that I was itching to reread Go Down, Moses, of course as those are both part of the same 'universe' (if you can call it that. Go Down, Moses is the predecessor to Intruder in the Dust). Now, even though my favourite book by William Faulkner is Absalom, Absalom! I am really into rereading the lesser known novels as well. Why is this? I'm not fully sure but I'm no longer trying to ignore the itch to reread a certain book. If I feel like it, I'm going to reread it. I've been rereading Dickens, Austen, Faulkner and even more authors and I feel better than ever about it! Any book that is worth reading once is worth reading again...

Go Down, Moses is Faulkner's set of short stories in which he details some of the most intriguing and complex human narratives where he is attempting to show us not humanity's deepest secrets - but instead the shallowness of how humans blow things out of proportions and the consequences of those impulsivities.

One of the stories I really enjoyed was definitely the main predecessor to Intruder in the Dust - entitled The Fire and the Hearth which stars Lucas from the latter novel. Lucas is this very independent Black man at a tense time for his race and yet, he has no problem wanting to keep that independence. He discovers a gold-hunting machine and an illegal liquor store. Honestly, this is a big deal because he becomes obsessed with making this his main focus in life, at the seeming expense of everyone around him including his poor wife who thinks he's gone crazy. Eventually, he must choose between his wife and his obsession - so we have to think about which one he's going to choose. How far down the rabbit hole has he gone really?

Faulkner's depiction of this man is (meant to be read first) something else. Lucas is like the anti-Thomas Sutpen. He means well, he wants what is best for him and his wife and those around him, but he is also very human. He's scared and you can actually rationalise why he does what he does because of the time he has been living in.

The final story in the anthology is powerful and shows us some familiar characters from Intruder in the Dust, including the lawyer Gavin Stevens. The title of this story is the same as the book and so Go Down, Moses is about Molly's grandson, Samuel who is being convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a policeman. Faulkner shows us the racial divides and strains in the town because though Molly loses hope for the salvation of her son by the law, she asks Gavin to make sure Samuel gets a dignified burial. I don't want to spoil it but this story isn't really about the story but it's about the way in which the story is told and how we see the racial tensions. Gavin Stevens rallies the white community to try to make sure Samuel gets a dignified burial. There is this really solemn and quiet funeral scene, it's very sad, but it also shows how many people were compliant with the request. Faulkner is probably showing us that these people don't fully want to be divided, they are just being forced to live against each other. Do party politics in Washington actually impact the everyday person? I'm not sure. Faulkner's story is powerful, raw and upsetting. I loved it.

All in all, I probably should have reread Go Down, Moses before I reread Intruder in the Dust. If you're reading these for the first time then please start with this book. Faulkner's writing is a lot more raw and less descriptive than his longer books but it is just as good. The suggested violence, the terse speech and the arrogance of some of the characters are all part and parcel of the brilliance of these works. If you guys have been here long enough then you know how much I adore reading and rereading Faulkner novels because of how intensely Southern Gothic they are. If you're just beginning your Faulkner journey then perhaps you want to start here. Trust me.