Part one of term paper
Though Faulkner's The Unvanquished is set during the Civil War, another war is being fought simultaneously. This second war is not one of guns and thievery, but one of beliefs. It is a conflict between two philosophies: idealism and pragmatism. This war rages on throughout the novel, but is decided by one event: Bayard's decision not to aveng ...

Part two of term paper
... all of the Sartoris women were idealists; almost everyone in Yoknapatawpha was an idealist. The fact that John Sartoris was able to get away with murder and be elected into public office soon after is a strong example of this. There were not many pragmatists in the novel. By definition, a pragmatist is one who believes that the meaning of conceptions is to be sought in their practical bearings, that the function of thought is to guide action, and that truth is preminently to be tested by t ...