On Absurdity And Alienation In Light In August

William Faulkner (1897-1962) is an outstanding literary giant in the 20th century. He is also recognized as an outstanding representative of literature in the south of America as well as the Renaissance Movement. Faulkner is celebrated for his majestic "Yoknapatawpha" in the literature world, among which Light in August enjoys extremely high artistic value and occupies an extremely important position. Since the publication of the novel, it has received many positive reviews from critics. The novel shows people the whole historical picture of the south of America under the transition from the old to the new. The author gives a deep description of the complicated relationship among characters, sharp racial conflicts and extreme Puritanism, expressing his deep concern about existential state of the South and its value of existence, which coincides with the existential ideas. Based on the analysis of the absurd condition of the characters in the novel and their state of alienation under such an environment, this thesis explores the existential tendency in the novel.The thesis is divided into five chapters.The first chapter briefly introduces the author William Faulkner and Light in August, which mainly presents the importance of William Faulkner, the main plots in Light in August, and the comments on the novel. The second chapter is about the literature review of researches on William Faulkner and the novel. At the end of this chapter, it puts forward the study perspective of the thesis. The third chapter mainly analyzes the absurdity in the novel and people’s alienated behaviors, thus exploring the existential tendency in the novel. First of all, it discusses the absurd world of racial discrimination, extreme Puritanism as well as gender discrimination. Secondly, it centers on the alienation of the characters induced by the absurd situation in the novel, which includes alienation under the racial discrimination, alienation under extreme Puritanism and the alienated situation of the women characters in the novel. The fourth chapter explores the existential tendency in the novel from the point of Faulkner’s era and his personal experiences.The fifth chapter is the conclusion. In Light in August, the power of the racism, Puritanism and womanhood is so strong and negative that almost every protagonist is tortured and suffered in the indifferent and chaotic world. Everyone experiences alienation under such absurdity, including the alienation from themselves, others and even the society, which is the best evidence of existential tendency in the novel. The existential tendency in the novel can be traced back to the social background in Faulkner’s time and his personal experiences, which have a close relationship with the existential tendency in the novel.William Faulkner’s works possess universal concerns about humans. The thesis analyzes the absurdity and alienation in Light in August and associates the novel with Existentialism to explore the existential tendency, thus revealing the author’s profound disclosure of the Southern society and his attention to the human existence problems.