Absalom Absalom! Essay

William Faulkner and History In order to fully understand importance of history and the past in Faulkner’s writing, it is first necessary to examine the life he lived and the place that shaped it. William Cuthbert Falkner (the “u” was later added via his own accord) was born September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi (Padgett). Named for his great-grandfather Colonel Falkner, young William was told countless stories as a boy of the old Colonel and other great heroes of the South. Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner, is an excellent representation of culture change in America during the 1920s. The interaction between the Black servants and their white employers portray a sense of the feeling that the South was going through because they knew that times were changing, aristocracy was slowly diminishing and Modernism was rapidly rising. One of the strongest characters in the novel is Dilsey, who narrates the last part of the novel. She is represented as a grandmother

“That Evening Sun” by William Faulkner is a good example of a great emotional turmoil transferred directly to the readers through the words of a narrator who does not seem to grasp the severity of the turmoil. It is a story of an African American laundress who lives in the fear of her common-law husband Jesus who suspects her of carrying a white man's child in her womb and seems hell bent on killing her. Many critics refer to "That Evening Sun" as one of the finest examples of narrative point of

As the Old South disintegrates and the New South emerges in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, the Compsons attempt to redeem their declining status by sending the oldest son, Quentin, to Harvard. This decision, however, only furthers the downfall of the aristocratic family. Quentin’s sensitive Southern nature does not translate easily to the brusqueness of Cambridge, Massachusetts. In fact, his abrupt displacement manifests in an extreme case of neuroticism that ultimately drives him to

In the Sound and the Fury, the role of Mrs. Compson is perceived by the public as largely negative, as a non-caring mother who lets her family fall apart, the downfall of the once great aristocratic Compson family. However, Ulrike Nüssler’s scholarly article, published in William Faulkner: German Responses, portrays Mrs. Compson as the victim of Southern nobility. The focus of his essay is that her behavior stems from the social pressures from her socioeconomic class. Nüssler argues that Mrs. Compson’s

The Sound and the Fury Title:      The title of this novel is The Sound and the Fury. This title is derived from one of Shakespeare’s most intriguing plays, Macbeth. Within Macbeth, Shakespeare describes life as “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury.” And if life is “a tale told by an idiot,” there is justification as to of why Faulkner begins the book through the eyes of Benjy, a thirty-three year old retard. Author:      The author

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner One of the main realities of human existence is the constant, unceasing passage of time. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner explores this reality of time in many new and unexpected ways as he tells the tragic tail of the Compson family. The Compsons are an old Southern aristocratic family to whom time has not been kind. Years of degeneration mainly stemming from slavery have brought them to the brink of destruction. Most of the story focuses on

In The Sound and the Fury written by William Faulkner, Faulkner bases this story in theImaginary town of Jefferson, Mississippi. The Compson’s are a rich middle class family that has four children that seem to have problems with the thought of letting time move forward. What the family seems to experience is the dividing of the family Quentin Compson the eldest son of the Compson family that personifies all the key elements of insanity that seems to be taken place in the imaginary town of Jefferson

At the core of Dilsey Gibson’s character is her capacity for faith, and the unwavering stability that lends to her life. She is in the employ of a family for whom she has worked for countless generations, and whom she now sees growing progressively more unstable with each passing day. As she leaves the center of her spiritual faith, the Church, she undergoes a revelation in which she is able to finally understand the ultimate fate of the Compsons, and thus of herself and her own family. Though

In William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, the Compson family is the model for the perfect dysfunctional family. The mother Caroline is a hypochondriac, and the father Jason an alcoholic. Quentin is neurotic; Caddy, promiscuous; Jason, cynical; and Benjy, mentally challenged. Quentin’s neurosis is particularly tragic, as he ultimately decides to end his life by drowning himself in a river. His decision to commit suicide can be traced back to his negligent and destructive parents as they shaped