The Spiritual Journey Back To The Southern Holy Land

William Faulkner,the Nobel Prize winner in 1949,was one of the most influential writers of the 20 th century in the United States and one of the most representative modernist novelists in the West.He is known as “Shakespeare of the United States.” As a Southern writer,Faulkner created the Yoknapatawpha saga based on his own hometown,and produced most of his works against this backdrop.Faulkner showed great interest in exploring the inner conflicts of the characters.His works are deeply rooted in the Southern United States,which reveal his keen insight and deep concern for the future of the region and humanity in general.The Reivers,his last novel in the Yoknapatawpha series,won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1963.Biblical archetypes in The Reivers have attracted increasing attention.From the perspective of archetypal criticism,this thesis interprets the archetypal biblical characters,archetypal images,archetypal personalities and the biblical U-shaped narrative structure in The Reivers.It can be seen that Lucius' car-riding journey towards Memphis with Boon and Ned is not only an adventure,but also a spiritual journey back to the Southern Holy Land.The introspection of sin makes Lucius independent and brave,and he completes self-salvation during the journey.At the same time,Boon and Corrie name their newborn Lucius.On the one hand,it symbolizes the archetype of the resurrection of Christ on the third day after his death;on the other hand,it symbolizes the rebirth of the traditional Southern Spirit.Faulkner conveys his affirmative attitude towards the reconstruction of the traditional values of the South in his final work.The thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter One introduces Faulkner and The Reivers.Then it explains the theoretical framework of the thesis,in which archetypal criticism and biblical archetypes are highlighted,and it also includes the literature review and an explanation of the thesis structure.Chapter Two mainly explores the characteristic images of the “flower of evil”,the “double angel”,and the “flower of innocence” in the novel from the perspective of the archetypal biblical characters.InChapter Three,the archetypal images that occur during the journey are studied.Chapter Four interprets the “warrior spirit”,“knight spirit” and “family spirit”embodied in The Reivers and their correlation with “the Holy Trinity” of the Holy Father,the Holy Son and the Holy Spirit in The Bible,highlighting the never-ending Trinitarian Southern Spirit.Chapter Five focuses on the complete U–shaped narrative structure in The Reivers.After summarizing all the points,this thesis concludes on the practical significance and modern enlightenment of the study.It is hoped that this thesis could offer a newer perspective for the academic study of The Reivers.