Justice As He Saw It: Gavin Stevens in Knight's Gambit (Critical Essay) (Character Overview‪)‬

Many Faulknerians feel a strong affection for Gavin Stevens, at least in part because he seems so closely connected to William Faulkner. Frequently, Faulkner has Stevens voice opinions quite similar to those that fill his own public speeches and letters, and Stevens similarly stands out like an intellectual sore thumb amongst small town folk who, though they like him, fail to completely understand him. At the very least, Stevens comes across as the sort of man Faulkner might have befriended, though the claim that Faulkner fashioned him after longtime friend Phil Stone seems largely unfounded. (2) While scholars no longer think of Stevens as merely Faulkner's mouthpiece, many still imagine him the character most resembling Faulkner in all of Jefferson, giving rise to the persistent compulsion many critics feel to find a way to approve of him. (3) Requiem for a Nun undoubtedly presents the most difficult hurdle to such approbation. Readers must bend over backwards to reconcile Stevens's decidedly ambiguous actions with such an image; accordingly, the early readings of Requiem almost categorically overlook Stevens's shortcomings in order to preserve untarnished sympathy for him. (4) Noel Polk's revisionist approach to Requiem questions the validity of such genial interpretations; indeed, Polk points to the "dangerous potential for simple myopia in Stevens's concern for justice as he sees it" (61 Faulkner's Requiem). He views Stevens not as a saint but as just another character with an agenda of his own that he presents in the guise of justice (66). Though some criticize Polk's re-envisioning of Requiem as overstated and excessively critical of Stevens, it nevertheless expands the potential of the text and complicates Stevens as a character. (5) Consequently, readings of Stevens and his motivations in this novel now run a virtual gamut of possibilities, all of which turn upon intentionality. (6) The debate comes down to several options; the most popular contention still views Stevens as Temple's savior, the one who finally forces her not only to face her past, but also to deal with it in a practical way. A slightly less prevalent version admits that Stevens's obsessive pursuit of the truth might have actually made the situation worse, but absolves (or at least rationalizes) Stevens's actions in light of his intentions. (7) Finally,