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Essay / Theme of Corruption in William Faulkner's 'A Justice'
William Faulkner uses his short stories to tell a story of corruption, particularly through the acceptance of white culture, and 'A Justice' is no different . He writes that his protagonist, Doom, becomes increasingly evil along with his Eurocentric growth, irrevocably linking the two in the reader's mind. Faulkner then gives materialism both a negative and European connotation, showing that it leads to narcissism and must be avoided in order to maintain a functional and just society. Finally, he does the same with power, showing that Doom's exploitation of leadership leads to a corrupt and unjust community. In "A Justice", William Faulkner shows how the adoption of the white man's ways, particularly materialism and abuse of power, leads to the corruption of justice by perpetuating selfishness and inequality rather than good of the community. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Throughout the story, the protagonist Ikkemotubbe, or Doom, changes his name several times, showing how he becomes increasingly villainous as his identity becomes progressively whiter. . As he chooses more and more Anglo-Saxon names, his morality evolves towards valuing property and power at all costs, which illustrates the selfishness and lack of justice synonymous with European culture. First, Faulkner writes about Doom as a child, saying, "Doom's eyes were exactly the same as before he left, before he was called Doom, and he was Herman Basket and my father slept on the same pallet and talked at night, as boys will. Doom’s name then was Ikkemotubbe” (Faulkner 2). When Ikkemotubbe goes by his Indian name, he behaves like a boy; especially when juxtaposed with his later actions under white names, his Indian identity correlates with his innocence and righteousness. Later in the story, he changes his name from Ikkemotubbe: "So when Doom told Herman Basket and Dad that he was going to New Orleans, he said, 'and I'll tell you something else . From now on, my name is no longer Ikkemotubbe. This is David Callicoat. And one day I will own a steamboat too” (3). Doom begins to adopt Anglo-Saxon values as his identity evolves toward a whiter name, particularly materialism, as illustrated by his desire to own his own steamboat. Additionally, literary critic Robert Woods Sayre comments on Doom's fall into the trap of materialism and white culture, saying, "The emphasis here is on private property" (Sayre 15). This alludes to the injustice of white communities, as a fixation on private property inevitably leads to selfishness and an unwillingness to share, a key factor in determining the justice – or lack thereof – of a group. Changing his name one last time, Doom's actions become more and more immoral; for example: “It was the first night Doom was home. The next day, Herman Basket related how the man began behaving strangely with his food and died before the doctor could arrive and burn some sticks” (Faulkner 4). By defining his identity with a variation of a French phrase, Doom begins murdering innocent men to fulfill his ambitions for power, showing how selfishness, immorality, and a lack of fairness and justice intertwine with European culture in which he immerses himself. , author Bruce G. Johnson confirms this in his analysis of “A Justice”: This etymological change in the renaming processof Doom reflects the Euramerican influence on his acquired identity (Johnson 28). Each time Doom chooses a new name, it deliberately reflects the change in his identity; the more European his name sounds, the more he feels drawn to Anglo-Saxon values such as private property and total power, which highlight the selfishness and lack of justice inherent in white culture. By characterizing Doom's descent into selfishness and materialism through his choice of white names and identities, Faulkner shows the reader the innate injustice associated with Anglo-Saxon values. Faulkner continues his theme of white beliefs corrupting justice writing about the materialistic scourge that Doom brings to his tribe. By making Doom's actions unsympathetic and cruel, he shows how materialism leads to selfishness and inequality, and therefore a lack of justice. For example, when Doom returns to the tribe, "he brought six blacks, even though Herman Basket said there were already more blacks on the Plantation than they could find" (Faulkner 2). Doom views black slaves as mere possessions and signs of his wealth and power rather than anything useful, signified by the fact that he brings back slaves even though the plantation had no purpose for them; this unfair treatment and lack of appreciation of slaves and their worth shows an injustice in Doom's action. Critic Patricia Galloway connects this idea of injustice to white culture when she writes: "It seems, then, that Faulkner's idea that some Indians learned a new style of slavery from whites is in fact accurate" ( Galloway 6). The fact that Indians learn the concept of slavery from whites proves that the injustice inherent in slavery is an Anglo-Saxon ideal, cementing the idea that Doom's adoption of white beliefs leads to his corruption of justice. Even more disturbing, Faulkner shows the negative side of materialism through Doom's Precious Poison: "Then Doom took Daddy's puppy and put it on the ground and made a ball of bread and some salt from the New Orleans for Sometimes Awakens to see how it worked” (Faulkner 4). Doom unfairly, unfairly, and immorally uses his poison to intimidate and ultimately murder his opponents, giving property and materialism an extremely dark connotation and insinuating that excessive materialism should be avoided. Johnson continues this concept by saying, "This poison, which is his greatest possession, symbolizes the infection of his own people with Doom, as he spreads the 'disease' of materialism throughout his native land" (Johnson 30) . Doom learns about materialism through the white men he comes into contact with in New Orleans and brings it back to his tribe, spreading the corruption, selfishness, and injustice that comes with adopting the ways of white men. Finally, Faulkner expresses another downside of materialism when he writes about "'the fence around that black man's cabin'" that Doom builds after Sam Fathers' birth (Faulkner 10). By building a wall around the black man's property, Doom excludes him from the rest of the community and creates an atmosphere of inequality, which contributes to the injustice that occurs throughout the story. By calling materialism the white plague, Faulkner shows how Doom's acceptance of it leads to his corruption and lack of justice. Faulkner also uses Doom's lack of morality when it comes to gaining Man's position and his abuse of such power to illustrate how white values lead to corruption. By showing the reader how Doom cheats and murders his way to power, then metes out false and rigged justice when he is the head of.