symbolism in Faulkner's 'The Sound and th Fury
Symbolism in The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury was published in 1929. It is a novel essentially about self-centeredness and the lack of love that causes the Compson family to break down progressively as their story unfolds. It depicts greed, hate, arrogance, and prejudice as forces that are destroying the family as an institution. Symbolism is an essential part in the style of Faulkner’s writing and is a large component in this work of fiction. Two main symbols used by Faulkner are Quentin’s watch and the character Dilsey. Quentin’s watch was given to him by his father and symbolizes life and time. The second section of the book, entitled June Second 1910, details the events of the day of Quentin’s suicide. From the very first sentence of the section, Quentin is obsessed with time. Words associated with time like “watch,” “clock,” “chime,” and “hour” occur on almost every page. When Quentin wakes, he is “in time again, hearing the watch,” and the rest of the day represents an attempt to escape time, to get “out of time.” His first reaction when he awakes is to break off the hands of his watch in an attempt to stop time, to escape the “reducto absurdum of all human experience” which is the gradual; progression toward death.