Bringing Faulkner Into the Present Day
Meet English major Skyler Hendriks.
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Thesis adviser: Professor Nathalia King [English and humanities]
Thesis: “I Was Blind but Now I See: Tragedy, America, and the Experience of History in Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!”
What it’s about: Using theory of tragedy to find cohesive meaning in the layered storytelling and confusing perspectives of narrators in William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!
What it’s really about: Trying to bring Faulkner into the present day and what the Civil War did to the American project—and how we can use Faulkner to think about what kind of orientation we take to politics today.
Influential class or professor: Introduction to Literary Theory. Just having a broad introduction to a wide array of approaches to literature and philosophical concepts was really enlightening—not for any particular idea, but for the variety of ways it allowed me to see how concepts fit into literary and political phenomena.
Outside the classroom: Rugby is certainly tough and demanding, but the camaraderie and fellowship is really fun. Having a routine helped me make the transition from being in the army to being a college student.
Influential essay: Jacques Derrida’s essay on différance. He talks about how the basis for all the concepts we have is our ability to make distinctions, and yet there’s no such thing as the Platonic ideal of “difference.”
Concept that blew my mind: Hannah Arendt’s concept of forgiveness as a necessary political idea. One of the things that defines people, in her framework, is their ability to create and do things that can’t be predicted, that are truly new—but you can’t foresee the consequences. There needs to be an ability to socially forgive someone, so that they can be untethered and go on to do things that have a positive outcome.
Financial aid: Because Reed participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, they and the government covered the half of my tuition that wasn’t covered by the GI Bill. Were it not for both the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program, a Reed education wouldn’t have been something I would have been able to pursue.
Awards: The summer after my sophomore year, the English department awarded me a grant to write a creative nonfiction piece about why someone who served in the military would come to Reed. When I knew I wanted to get out and go to college, I asked, what schools offer a stronger sense of freedom, personal inquiry, and personal direction? Reed embodies that.
What’s next? Pursuing a master’s degree in publishing and journalism.