William-Faulkner

WILLIAMFAULKNER(1897-1962)Tolearnthepleasureofsnobbery—male—andretaliation—female.懂得了势利的乐趣—这是男人，也懂得了报复的乐趣，这是女人。GeneralinformationOneofthemostinfluentialwritersofthe20thcentury,hisreputationisbasedonhisnovels,novellasandshortstories.However,hewasalsoapublishedpoetandanoccasionalscreenwriter.MostofFaulkner'sworksaresetinhisnativestateofMississippi,andheisconsideredoneofthemostimportantSouthernwriters,alongwithMarkTwain,RobertPennWarren,FlanneryO'Connor,TrumanCapote,EudoraWelty,andTennesseeWilliams.WilliamFaulkner'sLifeborninNewAlbany，MississippileftschoolinhisteensandlaterstudiedasaspecialstudentattheUniversityofMississippi.In1918，heenlistedintheBritishRoyalFlyingCorps.travelledEuropeandlearnedtheexperimentalwritingofJamesJoyceandoftheideasofSigmundFreuddiedofaheartattackinOxford，Mississippi.Hismajorworks：TheMirbleFaun（1924）avolumeofpoetrySoldiers'Pay（1926）firstnovelSartoris（l929），seeandfeelthedignityandsorrowofwhatwastobecomehismostfrequentlyusedsubjectmatterTheSoundandtheFuryAsILayDying（l930）LightinAugust（l932）Absalom，Absalom（1936）GoDown,Moses（1942）Faulknerreceivedthe1949NobelPrizeforLiteratureforhispowerfulandartisticallyuniquecontributiontothemodernAmericannovel.TheSoundandtheFuryPlotintroductioninthefictionalYoknapatawphaCountyfoursections1.BenjyCompson,athirty-threeyearoldmanwithmentalretardation.2.isseteighteenyearsearlierthantheotherthreeQuentinCompson,aHarvard-educatedstudent3.cynical,embitteredbrother,Jason4.Dilsey,athird-person-limited-omniscientnarrativepoint-of-viewManypassagesarewritteninastreamofconsciousness.Thisnovelisaclassicexampleoftheunreliablenarratortechnique.Explanationofthenovel'stitleThetitleofthenovelistakenfromMacbeth'ssoliloquy独白inact5,scene5ofWilliamShakespeare'sMacbeth:Tomorrowandtomorrowandtomorrow,CreepsinthispettypacefromdaytodayTothelastsyllableofrecordedtime,AndallouryesterdayshavelightedfoolsThewaytodustydeath.Out,out,briefcandle!Life'sbutawalkingshadow,apoorplayerThatstrutsandfretshishouruponthestageAndthenisheardnomore:itisataleToldbyanidiot,fullofsoundandfury,Signifyingnothing.theideaofataletoldbyanidiot“Benjy’sversionoftheCompsons'storyopensthenovelQuentinandJason’snarrativesdisplaytheirownrespectivevarietiesofidiocythenovelisrecountingthedeathofafamily,includingsomeofitsmembers,aswellasthedeclineofthetraditionalupper-classSouthernfamily.ThisisthesignificanceofThewaytodustydeath.FaulknerlatersaysinhisspeechuponbeingawardedtheNobelPrizeinLiteraturethatpeoplemustwriteaboutthingsthatcomefromtheheart,oruniversaltruths.Otherwise,hestates,theideaspublishedsignifynothing.PlotsummaryThefourparts/thesameepisodes/adifferentpointofview/emphasisondifferentthemesandeventsinterweavingandnonlinearstructure/makesanytruesynopsisdifficult/thenarratorsareunreliable/theiraccountsnotnecessarilytrustworthyatalltimes.Faulknerusesitalicstoindicatepoints/thenarrativeismovingintoasignificantmomentinthepast.thedeclineoftheCompsonfamily,aoncenobleSouthernfamilydescendedfromU.S.CivilWarheroGeneralCompsonthefamilyfallsintofinancialruin,losesitsreligiousfaithandtherespectofthetownofJefferson,andmanyofthemdietragically.CharactersinTheSoundandtheFuryJasonCompsonIII(?-1912)–FatheroftheCompsonfamily,anihilistic虚无主义的thinkerandalcoholicduetohistenure终身任期atSewanee-TheUniversityoftheSouthCarolineBascombCompson(?-1933)–WifeofJasonIII,aself-absorbed自私的，固执己见的neurotic神经过敏者whohasnevershownaffectionorcaredforanyofherchildrenexceptJasonQuentinCompsonIII(1890-1910)–TheoldestCompsonchild,passionateandneurotic.CandaceCaddyCompson(1892-?)–ThesecondCompsonchild,strong-willedyetcaring.Benjy'sonlyrealcare-giverandQuentin'sbestfriend.AccordingtoFaulkner,thetrueheroofthenovel.JasonCompsonIV(1894-?)–Thebitter,racistthirdchildwhoistroubledbymonetarydebtandsexualfrustration.Benjamin(Benjy,bornMaury)Compson(1895-?)–Thementallyretardedfourthchild,whoisaconstantsourceofshameandgriefforhisfamilyDilseyGibson(?)–Thematriarchoftheservantfamily,anobserveroftheCompsonfamily'sdestruction.LiterarysignificanceandcriticismaprominentplaceamongthegreatestofAmericannovels,consideredasoneofthe100greatestbooksofalltime.thetechniqueofitsconstruction:Faulkner‘suncanny离奇的abilitytorecreatethethoughtpatternsofthehumanmind,eventhedisabledoneanessentialdevelopmentinthestream-of-consciousnessnarrativetechnique.YoknapatawphaCountyasthesetting：MostofFaulkner‘sworksaresetintheAmericanSouth；animaginaryplacebasedonFaulkner'schildhoodmemoryaboutthetownofOxfordinhisnativeLafayetteCounty.YoknapatawphaCounty约克纳帕塔法郡hasbecomeanallegoryoraparableoftheOldSouth/showapanoramaoftheexperienceandconsciousnessofthewholeSouthernsociety.TheYoknapatawphasaga传说isFaulkner'srealachievement.Thethematicpattern：（1）FaulknerexemplifiedT.S.Eliot'sconceptofmodernsocietyasawastelandinadramaticway.HelamentedthedeclineoftheoldSouthandcondemnedthemechanized，industrializedsociety.（2）Thepastandthepresent，natureandsocietyarealwaysjuxtaposedinhisworks.Almostallofhisprotagoniststurnouttobetragicbecausetheyareprisonersofthepast，orofthesociety，or