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How do we suggest the ineffable through actions and dynamic verbs? In the following exchange from The Sound and the Fury , William Faulkner wields the power of suggestion with extraordinary ease (and no punctuation). Minimal description, maximum heat. Quentin, the tormented young man who’s narrating the scene, is grilling

his sister, Caddy, about her boyfriend:

do you love him Caddy

do I what

she looked at me then everything emptied out of her eyes and they looked like the eyes

in the statues blank and unseeing and serene put your hand against my throat

she took my hand and held it flat against her throat

now say his name Dalton Ames

I felt the first surge of blood there it surged in strong accelerating beats

say it again…

her blood surged steadily beating and beating against my hand

Note that this intimate scene is all action. Emotions reveal themselves through actions but Faulkner leaves the emotions unnamed.…