A Study Of Unreliable Narrators In The Sound And The Fury

In recent years, an increasing number of scholars from home and abroad has been rendering considerable insight into the study of unreliable narrator as a narrative technique in the genre of fiction. Most of the current studies focus a great deal on teasing out the framework of the theoretical development of unreliable narrator, or putting particular emphases on the stereotypes of unreliable narrators in narrative works. However, it is relatively rare to clarify the significance of unreliable narrator in the certain process of constructing one particular narrative work. Therefore, this paper is trying to make clear the indispensability of the unreliable narrators in The Sound and the Fury on the basis of the classical theory of unreliable narrator. Also it will start out with the theory of unreliable narrator put forward by Wayne C. Booth and James Phelan, who are authority in this field, so as to have a closer perspective on the main characters in The Sound and the Fury, Benjy, Quentin and Jason, from the angles of portraying round characters, conveying far-reaching themes and creating aesthetic effects to see its forms and functions in this work. All these will definitely lead to the conclusion that unreliable narrator, as an effective narrative technique, helps to shed light on Faulkner's intention to give birth to The Sound and the Fury. That is to say, Faulkner is presenting the otherness of an objective world in a different subjective aspect in order to expose the chaos in modern life.This paper is divided into five parts: Chapter 1 is introduction, including the updated studies on the unreliable narrator and the necessity of making a further probing into this field; Chapter 2 mainly provides the theoretical foundation for the unreliable narrator thanks to the joint effort of Booth and Phelan; Chapter 3 has a perspective on the forms and functions of unreliable narrator in the genre of fiction; Chapter 4 gives an insight into the model unreliable narrators Benjy, Quentin, and Jason in The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner; Chapter 5 acts as conclusion, where unreliable narrator as a narrative technique comes into effect in narrative works if used wisely. It contributes a lot both to the uniqueness and the definite success of Faulkner's The Sound and Fury.