Red Leaves: Difference between revisions
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{{Other uses|Red Leaf (disambiguation){{!}}Red Leaf}}{{Short description|1930 short story by William Faulkner}} |
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"'''Red Leaves'''" is a [[short story]] by American author [[William Faulkner]]. First published in the ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]'' on October 25, 1930,<ref>{{cite book |last=McFarland |first=Dorothy Tuck |title=Crowell's Handbook of Faulkner |publisher=[[Thomas Y. Crowell Co.|Crowell]] |year=1964 |pages=174 }}</ref> it was one of Faulkner's first stories to appear in a national magazine.<ref name="volpe">{{cite book |last=Volpe |first=Edmond Loris |title=A Reader's Guide to William Faulkner: The Short Stories |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |year=2004 |pages=138 |isbn=0-8156-3047-6}}</ref> The next year the story was included in ''[[These 13]]'', Faulkner's first collection of short stories.<ref name="scott">{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=Mike |title=Short Subjects: Actor James Franco brings film to town; Swag of the week; From the blog; Buried Treasures |url=http://blog.nola.com/mikescott/2007/08/short_subjects_actor_james_fra.html |publisher=[[The Times-Picayune]] |date=2007-08-31 |access-date=2008-11-04}}</ref> |
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"Red Leaves" has been described as "a vision of the inexorable, brutal pattern of nature that decrees that every living thing must die".<ref name="volpe"/> The title of the story symbolizes the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Gwynn |first=Frederick L. |title=Faulkner in the University |publisher=[[University of Virginia Press]] |year=1995 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/faulknerinuniver0000unse/page/39 39] |isbn=0-8139-1612-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/faulknerinuniver0000unse/page/39 }}</ref> specifically the [[Chickasaw]]:<ref>{{cite book |last=Bassett |first=John Earl |title=William Faulkner |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1997 |pages=274 |isbn=0-415-15933-4}}</ref> |
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When writing the story, Faulkner was heavily influenced by ''[[Death in the Afternoon]]'' by [[Ernest Hemingway]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Meyers |first=Jeffrey |authorlink= |title=Hemingway: A Biography |publisher=[[De Capo Press]] |year=1999 |pages=431 |isbn=0306808900}}</ref> |
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{{quotation|The red leaves referred to the Indians. It was the deciduation of nature that had suffocated, smothered, destroyed the Negro. The red leaves had nothing against him when they suffocated him and destroyed him.|William Faulkner}} |
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[[James Franco]] is reportedly directing a short film based on the story.<ref name="scott"/> |
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==Plot summary== |
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With the death of Chief Issetibbeha, custom demands that all the Chickasaw leader's prized possessions be buried alive in the earth along with him. This includes his black servant, a slave who has served the chief since boyhood. The unnamed slave makes a desperate bid for freedom, taking refuge in the swamps and reflecting on his past life. Meanwhile, the dead chief's son Moketubbe, who is grossly overweight and has no real interest in leadership, is forced to marshal his forces and begin a manhunt for the fugitive slave. The few Indians willing to accompany Moketubbe are equally corrupt, decadent, and full of despair. As they slowly close in on the missing slave, they too reflect on the past, discussing the ways in which slavery and the coming of the white man have doomed them to crime, violence, and slow extinction as a people. |
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==Footnotes== |
==Footnotes== |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*{{IMDb title|1981051}} |
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*[http://faulkner.iath.virginia.edu/?text=RL "Red Leaves" at Digital Yoknapatawpha] |
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{{Faulkner}} |
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[[Category:1930 short stories]] |
[[Category:1930 short stories]] |
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[[Category:Short stories by William Faulkner]] |
[[Category:Short stories by William Faulkner]] |
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[[Category:Works originally published in The Saturday Evening Post]] |
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Latest revision as of 05:09, 26 December 2022
"Red Leaves" is a short story by American author William Faulkner. First published in the Saturday Evening Post on October 25, 1930,[1] it was one of Faulkner's first stories to appear in a national magazine.[2] The next year the story was included in These 13, Faulkner's first collection of short stories.[3]
"Red Leaves" has been described as "a vision of the inexorable, brutal pattern of nature that decrees that every living thing must die".[2] The title of the story symbolizes the American Indian,[4] specifically the Chickasaw:[5]
The red leaves referred to the Indians. It was the deciduation of nature that had suffocated, smothered, destroyed the Negro. The red leaves had nothing against him when they suffocated him and destroyed him.
— William Faulkner
Plot summary
[edit]With the death of Chief Issetibbeha, custom demands that all the Chickasaw leader's prized possessions be buried alive in the earth along with him. This includes his black servant, a slave who has served the chief since boyhood. The unnamed slave makes a desperate bid for freedom, taking refuge in the swamps and reflecting on his past life. Meanwhile, the dead chief's son Moketubbe, who is grossly overweight and has no real interest in leadership, is forced to marshal his forces and begin a manhunt for the fugitive slave. The few Indians willing to accompany Moketubbe are equally corrupt, decadent, and full of despair. As they slowly close in on the missing slave, they too reflect on the past, discussing the ways in which slavery and the coming of the white man have doomed them to crime, violence, and slow extinction as a people.
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ McFarland, Dorothy Tuck (1964). Crowell's Handbook of Faulkner. Crowell. p. 174.
- ^ a b Volpe, Edmond Loris (2004). A Reader's Guide to William Faulkner: The Short Stories. Syracuse University Press. p. 138. ISBN 0-8156-3047-6.
- ^ Scott, Mike (2007-08-31). Short Subjects: Actor James Franco brings film to town; Swag of the week; From the blog; Buried Treasures. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ Gwynn, Frederick L. (1995). Faulkner in the University. University of Virginia Press. pp. 39. ISBN 0-8139-1612-7.
- ^ Bassett, John Earl (1997). William Faulkner. Routledge. p. 274. ISBN 0-415-15933-4.
External links
[edit]
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