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"History Done Swallowed You Up Cept You Don't Know It": Conflict and Change in Cormac McCarthy's The Stonemason

"History Done Swallowed You Up Cept You Don't Know It": Conflict and Change in Cormac McCarthy's... "History Done swalloweD you up cept you Don't know it": conflict anD cHange in cormac mccartHy's tHe stonemason _ Chris Walsh The Stonemason continues Cormac McCarthy's critical interrogation into the destructive effects of southern mythology. In many respects this fiveact play is dominated by Ben Telfair, the philosophizing and ponderously sermonizing mason-apprentice, and it is the failure of stonemasonry as an explanatory agency which leads to his most profound metaphysical crisis. The play evinces some of the foundational themes of southern literature as we see the old giving way to the new as an antiquated/agrarian order is superseded by the material realities of a newly emerging urban South, as revealed in the tragic fate of Soldier. The social and cultural subtext of The Stonemason therefore ensures that it can be read alongside works such as The Orchard Keeper and Suttree where the mythical and philosophical struggles of the protagonists are paralleled by narratives that document rapidly changing southern socioeconomic and cultural landscapes. Set in Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1970s, the play focuses on several generations of the Telfairs, an African American family. The play is driven by a divisive patriarchal struggle as Ben, the play's narrator, is lovingly http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Appalachian Review University of North Carolina Press

"History Done Swallowed You Up Cept You Don't Know It": Conflict and Change in Cormac McCarthy's The Stonemason

Walsh, Chris
Appalachian Review , Volume 39 (1) – Feb 5, 2011
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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © University of North Carolina Press
ISSN
1940-5081
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Abstract

"History Done swalloweD you up cept you Don't know it": conflict anD cHange in cormac mccartHy's tHe stonemason _ Chris Walsh The Stonemason continues Cormac McCarthy's critical interrogation into the destructive effects of southern mythology. In many respects this fiveact play is dominated by Ben Telfair, the philosophizing and ponderously sermonizing mason-apprentice, and it is the failure of stonemasonry as an explanatory agency which leads to his most profound metaphysical crisis. The play evinces some of the foundational themes of southern literature as we see the old giving way to the new as an antiquated/agrarian order is superseded by the material realities of a newly emerging urban South, as revealed in the tragic fate of Soldier. The social and cultural subtext of The Stonemason therefore ensures that it can be read alongside works such as The Orchard Keeper and Suttree where the mythical and philosophical struggles of the protagonists are paralleled by narratives that document rapidly changing southern socioeconomic and cultural landscapes. Set in Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1970s, the play focuses on several generations of the Telfairs, an African American family. The play is driven by a divisive patriarchal struggle as Ben, the play's narrator, is lovingly

Journal

Appalachian Review – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Feb 5, 2011

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