A Deep Dive into Southern Decay and Familial Desperation in The sound and Fury by William Faulkner

Abstract

          This research examines The Sound and the Fury as a pivotal text in Southern literature, exploring societal decay and familial desperation the story is well thought out as a modernist narrative for various reasons. First, the book lacks traditional and unified storytelling, as Faulkner utilizes fragmented techniques. In the novel, the writer's description of the Compson family's decline can be explored through the lens of psychoanalysis theory particularly the ideas of repression and the unconscious as defined by Sigmund Freud. The narrative is split into four sections, each with a different narrator. Moreover, time is fragmented, as the novel covers an extended period and the characters travel back and forth between the past and the present. Another important modernist characteristic in the story is the treatment of Biblical principles' decline and the diminishing of empathy. In modern era, both, religion and faith have been changed and the loss of moral values can be seen throughout the novel and its representation of the American South