Contents
I. Introduction
II The social background and Southern values
III The lost generation of the Compson family results from Southern values
IV Dilsey as a Christ figure in the Compson household
V Conclusion
Title:
Southern Values Result in a Household
—a brief analysis of characters in The Sound and the Fury
Abstract
The title and some of the imagery in the novel are derived from a soliloquy by the titular character in Shakespeares tragedy Macbeth. In Act V, Scene v. The novel concerns the downfall of the Compsons, in the first half of the nineteenth century, and sees the rise of a number of prominent Southern families. These aristocratic families espoused American traditional Southern values. Faulkner contends that in the process, the Compsons, and other similar Southern families, lost touch with the reality of the world around them and became lost in a haze of self-absorption. This self-absorption corrupted the core values these families once held dear and left the newer generations completely unequipped to deal with the realities of the modern world.
Key words: American traditional Southern values the Sound and the Fury the modern world
中文摘要
“人生不過是1個行走的影子，1個在舞臺上指手畫腳的拙劣的伶人，登場片刻，就在無聲無息中悄然退下；人生猶如癡人說夢，充滿着喧譁與騷動，卻沒有任何意義。”福克納的名作《喧譁與騷動》之書名正來源於莎士比亞名劇《麥克白》中的這段臺詞。這部以美國南方爲描繪對象的長篇小說所反映的是20世紀初美國南方社會貴族莊園主衰亡的歷史，着重表現了傳統觀念與現代意識、理想與現實之間的矛盾和衝突。作家通過人物的內心體驗來揭示其矛盾和衝突帶來的.困惑與不安，並把南方地域文化中深沉的歷史感和人們迷惘、失落、憂慮而又不斷探索的精神內涵融入作品之中，從而使小說迷離、深邃，充滿了神祕的現代意識。
關鍵詞：美國南方 傳統觀念 喧譁與騷動 現代意識