William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury

This course looks closely at William Faulkner’s 1929 landmark novel, The Sound and the Fury, considered a masterpiece of modernist literature. The work challenges readers with its highly experimental style, shifting perspectives, and non-linear structure. These stylistic breakthroughs earned Faulkner the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. Through close reading and group discussion, we examine how Faulkner uses unannounced flashbacks and unreliable narrators to reveal the historical decline of the Compson family. Examples include Benjy Compson's fragmented voice, Caddy's rebellious presence, Quentin's paralyzing angst, and Jason's cruel impulsiveness. We examine how Faulkner's modernist portrait of early 20th-century Southern life exposes the myths of the old Antebellum South. These myths hide social, familial, as well as racial denials and suppression. In this context, we evaluate the character of Dilsey, the Compson's black servant, whose duty and religious faith become the would-be source of the family's redemption. Suggested book: The Sound the Fury by William Faulkner.