The Critical Interpretation Of Eugenics

Eugenics is a medical disciplinary which aims at improving the genetic quality of the human population.It believes that both mental and physical features can be heredity.Thus human should take some measures to ensure the race evolution.Erskine Caldwell is affected by his father Ira Caldwell,a eugenic writer.The plot of Tobacco Road is set in rural South.It describes the miserable life of the ignorant,backward white southerners.William Faulkner is one of the most celebrated and creative writers in American literature.In The Sound and the Fury,he probes deeply and thoroughly into the causes for the disintegration of old South and discloses the mental crisis in great historic changes of Southerners and Southern society.Through analysis of literature,the research finds there are few previous studies on Tobacco Road and The Sound and the Fury from the perspective of eugenic theory which prevailed in the first half of twentieth century.The research attempts to analyze the two novels based on eugenic theory.The research focuses on their unfit syndromes and destinies from three aspects,physical,mental and moral unfit of the Lesters and the Compsons.It explores the relationship between the two writers and eugenic theory,the reasons why they are connected.In addition,it concludes the similarities and differences between the two writers towards eugenic theory.Besides,the research discovers that the two writers both approve of eugenics.But due to different family background,growth environment and different education level,they have different understanding towards eugenics.Caldwell tends to depict animal-like characters,while in Faulkner tends to describe characters with deformed mentality.In addition,using eugenic theory to reread the two novels finds that the South plays a significant role in the formation of the American Empire.