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Social Issues In William Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury

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Despite never graduating high school and living through the Great Depression and the suffering that came as a result, William Faulkner established his own literary fantasy and a new approach to the style of writing while addressing social issues as portrayed throughout The Sound and the Fury. William Faulkner faced a multitude of challenges and hardships throughout his life that influenced his literary works. Faulkner was involved in a complicated love affair with an engaged Estelle Oldham. Following Estelle’s divorce from Cornell Franklin, Faulkner promptly relinquished his feelings for Estelle and the two were later married. In January of 1931, Estelle gave birth to a baby girl. The premature baby named Alabama met a tragic fate, living for …show more content…

One distinguishing factoring of Faulkner’s style is his thematic creativity. The trademark theme present in The Sound and the Fury is the past. The character of Quentin Compson searches for means of halting time at a moment of pure bliss and fulfillment, an instant when he and Caddy could be together eternally in the simplicity and ignorance of their childhood relationship (“William Faulkner”). Faulkner also omitted the typical linear narrative approach and portrayed the plot of his stories through the individual consciousnesses of his characters, creating multiple perspectives of the same novel. With the use of interior monologue, Faulkner developed the method of “stream of consciousness” (Hathcock, “William Faulkner”). Faulkner uses stream of consciousness to narrate the degradation and downfall of the Compson family. The Sound and the Fury is divided into four sections each told through a different viewpoint. The first chapter is narrated through the understanding of Benjy who has no sense of time. The next chapter is told through the thoughts of Quentin who in contrast to Benjy obsesses over time. Then the oldest son Jason who is only focused on making a profit. The last section is told by an omniscient narrator who describes the ultimate fate of the Compson family plight (Hathcock, “William

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