The Maturation of Bayard in Faulkner’s The Unvanquished Essay -- Faulk

The Maturation of Bayard in Faulkners The UnvanquishedWilliam Faulkner tells his newfangled The Unvanquished through the eyes and ears of Bayard, the son of Confederate Colonel John Sartoris. The agents use of a young boy during such a turbulent time in American history allows him to relate events from a unique perspective. Bayard holds dual functions deep down the novel, as both a fictional character and a narrator. The character of Bayard matures into a young adult within the work, date narrator Bayard relays the events of the story many years later. Several details within the work clue the reader to Bayards actual maturity. Diction from the first step chapter provides immediate clues. Although only xii, the descriptions of Bayards mock-battlefield contain vocabulary far beyond his years (recalcitrance, topography, recapitulant) (p. 3-4), and Bayard admits his earlier shortcoming with words I was just twelve then I didnt retire triumph I didnt even know the word (p. 5). If the young boy did not know triumph, he most likely had not learned multi-syllabic words with etymological roo...