Reflection on "Pantaloon in Black"

      Over the weekend we read "Pantaloon in Black" by William Faulkner. In this short story, the main character, Rider, is seen struggling with his wife's recent death. He turns to alcohol for relief isolating himself from his family and friends. As the story continues tensions begin to rise as Rider spirals into a deep depression. The climactic result of this engulfing depression is the murder of Mr. Birdsong.
       I found the format of Faulkner's story very interesting, simply because he chose for "Pantaloon in Black" to have two parts. the second being told by a police officer involved in the case of Birdsong's murder. through this other perspective, we see the social class system and prejudices of this time being expressed as the white cop bestows crude labels upon Rider. Faulkner's use of extended, run-on sentences also caught my attention. This choice made it more challenging for me to read but once I thought about it I could see why long sentences may be a stylistic choice. By using run-on sentences Faulkner commands the full attention of his readers.
        If I am being completely honest I found myself very confused at the beginning of this story. At first, I thought that Rider was dead and was a spirit wanting to go back to his old home and visit his wife. Then I realized that Rider actually was alive and his wife had passed away. I think part two of the story helped clear up a lot of my confusion on what was going on because it was less poetic and was clearly put. I do have one lingering question about the title. I'm confused about what it means in relation to this story. Also, I was thinking about how the story followed rider as he experienced grief and how it began to overcome him but to me, it seemed as though he was wanting to be killed and returned to his wife towards the end as he was escaping jail. I guess I'm just confused on why Rider was putting himself in harm's way on purpose.