The Unvanquished Memory and the Past Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"Oh," the officer said. "I see. You're drawing it like you used to be."

"Co-rect," Ringo said. "What I wanter draw hit like hit is now for? I can walk down here ten times a day and look at hit like hit is now. I can even ride in that gate on a horse and do that." (4.3.4-5)

Ringo is drawing a picture of the plantation before it was burned down, and the Union officer thinks it's funny at first. Art, like Ringo's drawing or even Faulkner's novel, is an important way to get in touch with memories and the past, even after they've been destroyed.

Quote #5

I reckon I heard the sound, and I reckon I must have heard the bullets, and I reckon I felt him when he hit me, but I dont remember it. I just remember the two bright flashes and the gray coat rushing down, and then the ground hitting me. (5.3.18)

Sometimes traumatic events are so terrible that we can't remember everything about them, just sort of snapshots of the moment. That's what happens when Grumby shoots at Bayard. He knows there must have been a sound and a feeling, but all he remembers is the visual part of the memory.

Quote #6

We hitched the mules in the cedars and Ringo was just starting off to find a board when we saw that somebody had already put one up—Mrs Compson, I reckon, or maybe Uncle Buck when he got back home. (5.4.2)

Different cultures have different methods of creating memorials or using objects to help them remember important events. Burying a loved one and marking the grave is an important part of saying goodbye while holding onto memories, so the board on Granny's grave is the perfect place to nail Grumby's hand. If you have to nail a hand anywhere, better do it in a place that shows vengeance has been served, we always say.