Freedom To Exceed The Predicament

William Faulkner is one of American greatest novelists in the 20th century. In his lifetime he writes nineteen novels, of which the eleventh The Wild Palms, one of the four non-Yoknapatawpha sagas, enjoys relatively less attention from Faulkner critics. In this book, the writer innovatively employs the structure of counterpoint with the fate of two irrelevant persons closely interconnected so as to present the reader a true panorama of human existential predicaments. Based on a close reading of the novel, the thesis explores the three-layer predicaments depicted in The Wild Palms, namely, social life, sexual relations and psychological culture, and also probes into various possible ways of exceeding these impediments.The paper falls into five parts. Introduction gives a comprehensive summarization on four aspects:raising questions, research review home and broad, related terms definition and novelty and research methods of the thesis. Chapter 1 mainly deals with social predicament in The Wild Palms as well as individual freedom which helps break through this predicament. In this chapter, the existential dilemma from city to countryside with its cruelty and atrocity makes human live in a totally close-ended circle. To surpass this situation can only be through insistence on individual freedom which contains individual subjectivity and free choice. Chapter 2 touches upon sexual relations and mutual freedom to exceed this predicament. Through a detailed analysis of sexual relations of several couples, it is disclosed that this predicament between two genders has lapsed into the two dire situations:supremacy of desires and misogyny complex. Interpersonal relationships have achieved unprecedented alienation and tension, and the absolute adherence to individual freedom even more intensifies the sense of alienation between male and female. Thus, only by struggle for mutual freedom can this isolation of sexual relations be overcome. That is to say, it is essential to adhere to virtuous discipline and assume responsibility. Chapter 3 focuses on psychological predicament and supreme authority. Psychological crisis including religious faith and artistic culture can be solved not only by insistence on individual and mutual freedom but also establishment of ultimate authority which can bring human beings final hope and spiritual salvation. The last chapter briefly summarizes the main contents of the thesis and analyzes Faulkner's creative motivation of the book. At the same time, it also indicates the discrepancy between pursuit of freedom and Sartre-style existentialist claims.