God’s Quotes on Possibilities

“So vast, so limitless in capacity is man’s imagination to disperse and burn away the rubble-dross of fact and probability, leaving only truth and dream.”

― William Faulkner

This is the quote we chose as the epigraph for our book, Hydrangeas on Fire. It’s taken from Faulkner’s 1950 book, Requiem for a Nun, which I have yet to read. So, although I may not be familiar with its original context, I believe it captures the theme of HoF very well. The protagonist sort of experiences the quote, quite literally, climbing over each letter of each word of the line. By the time he slides off of the “n” in “imagination,” he realizes how much potential he has and starts to apply himself. Overcoming the “rubble-dross of fact and probability” yields to events leading up to the climax and consists of him figuring out what is important and what is meaningless to him. At the end, not only does the character come to the truth, but the reader does as well.

The word “dream” doesn’t really apply to our book, however. It is relevant to another, more extensive, interpretation: for writers and story creators (or any other creative thinkers) to pursue their dreams. In the real world, students are discouraged from career paths that are risky, overly competitive, and “don’t contribute to society.” So, in other words, the arts. But Faulkner here is telling us to disregard probability and numbers. And, although he mentions the “capacity of man’s imagination,” it’s not an automatic process of using it to clear away the excess to make a path; only those who apply themselves will be able to create something that can be considered a real contribution to society. That’s why not every writer turns out to be Stephen King. And, I’m not saying the work of writers is better than that of doctors. The world needs its fact-studied engineers, scientists, and actuaries. What I am saying is that the world also needs its imaginative minds just as much.