The past is not even past

Speranza

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

Padgett, John B. “Requiem for a Nun: Resources.” William Faulkner on the Web. 17 Aug. 2006. Ed. John B. Padgett. U of Mississippi. 06 Jun. 2014< http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/r_n_rfan.html>.


Spoken by Gavin Stevens near the end of Act I, Scene III, this passage is without a doubt the most-quoted line in all of Faulkner, though it is usually used in support of southern traditionalism or other ideas contrary to its original purpose.

In the novel, the line refers to how an individual’s past acts continue to resonate in and shape the present.

The scene depicts the wrangling between Temple Drake (wife of Gowan Stevens, and protagonist of the earlier "Sanctuary") and attorney Gavin Stevens (Gowan’s uncle) over why Temple wishes to save the life of Nancy, Stevens’client, who has been sentenced to death for killing Temple’s child:             

STEVENS: Yet you invented the coincidence.          

TEMPLE: Mrs Gowan Stevens did.                

STEVENS:  Temple Drake did.

Mrs Gowan Stevens is not even fighting in this class. This is Temple Drake’s.               

TEMPLE DRAKE: Temple Drake is dead.              

STEVENS: The past is never dead. It’s not even past.