Eternal Spirit

William Faulkner is a writer of great importance in modern American literary history and a master in world literary field as well. Faulkner was bom in American South, and it is the soil there that nurtured him. He was exceptionally familiar with the Southern geography, history and natives, hence, in his novels, he dwelt upon the people, atmosphere and happenings of the land. In Faulkner's adolescence, American South was undergoing radical social transformation and cultural shock. With the abolition of slavery and beginning of industrialization and urbanization, the agrarian economy was coming to an end, and people began to flow to towns or cities. Social reform, inevitably, could accelerate the disintegration of old ideology, and this would certainly make southerners accustomed to convention, all of a sudden, lose spiritual reliance and confront psychological hindrance. Throughout his life, Faulkner lived in his beloved hometown. His Yoknapatawpha novels of world fame are not only annals of American South, but also the ever-lasting works that demonstrate the mentally stricken people who were involved in social change. In his series of novels, Faulkner portrayed the old planters who lost spiritual backbones, indulging in the past glorious days. In his works, we also can find the typical "modern men" living in Waste Land, cold-minded, profit-oriented, and free from ethical principle. Nevertheless, Faulkner is not a pessimist at all. He holds firm belief in human future. Contrary to the feeble-minded figures, Faulkner also depicted a great many of characters who were pushed to the margin of community, far from "modern civilization", but maintained ethical power. These people, most of whom are poor whites and blacks, with dignity, belief and endurance, are just and kind-hearted. Faulkner persists that it is these ordinary men that embody genuine humanity and moral strength, and symbolize the hope of human. The thesis is the just study of Faulkner's portraits of men on the margin. The thesis author decides on Faulkner's typical marginal characters, and conducts his detailed exploration. The body of the thesis consists of five parts. Part one _ four analyze four characters respectively. These characters are respectively Emily Grierson, the heroine in Faulkner's most notable fiction "A Rose for Emily", Jones Wash, an elderly poor white, from Absolom ! Absolom, Cash Bundren, a middle-aged poor white, from As I lay Dying, and lastly, Dilsey, an aged black woman servant, from The Sound and the Fury. Part five explores the common sublimity of human nature shining on Faulkner's marginal figures. Positioned in low social class, they all suffered misfortune, but, with rock-firm perseverance and incredible endurance, ultimately they conquered hardship. Faulkner lodges idealism on the down-to-earth characters. The conclusion sums up the thesis, and, in the meantime, the thesis author puts forward his critical view on the current literary arena of China.