The Parent-child Relationship Between Research Faulkner's Major Works

As one of the greatest writers in the American literature, William Faulkner is renowned for his prolificacy and close association with the Deep South. His creative works, especially the"Yoknapatawpha Saga", describe the life about the old southern society and disclose the social problem and the unique ideology of the southern tradition. With a systematically detailed analysis of the father and son relationships in his major works, A Rose for Emily (1931), the Sound and the Fury (1929), Barn Burning (1939), Sanctuary (1931), Absalom!Absalom! (1936), and Go Down, Moses (1942), this thesis is meant to show a deep understanding of the racist and sexist southern world. By analyzing three major different father-son relationships, this thesis tries to reveal the representative racial, sexual and social conditions in the particular Southern life.The thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter One includes a brief introduction to William Faulkner and his literary career, an overview of his Yoknapatawhpa stories and literature review of his major works. Chapter Two deals with the father-son relationships exhibited in A Rose for Emily and the Sound and the Fury, which are sustained by the traditional southern ideology. Chapter Three discusses the father-son relationships in Barn Burning and Sanctuary, which are alienated by the puritanism and paternalism. Chapter Four explores the father-son relationships in Absalom!Absalom! and Go Down, Moses, which are ruptured by the slavery and racism. Chapter Five draws the conclusion that the father-son relationships have been affected and distorted by the declined society, the traditional ideology, Puritanism, paternalism, slavery and racism. Father-son relationships created in Faulkner's representatives are typical components of American southern culture, which do not only suggest the family relationships and social ethics formed in specific history, but also disclose the close links between literary creation, social background and particular regions. Besides, they indicate that literature is the complementarity and reflection of history, and its great impacts on the culture construction.