An Interpretation Of The Narcissus Phenomenon In Faulkner's "Temple"

When Faulkner built the Yoknapatawpha County on a map of the American Southern literature,he also left his own mark on the history of the world literature.Faulkner's thoughts covered everything,and his works are based on the American south,but his creations are extensive and his vision is not limited in the land he lived in.When reading Faulkner's works,whether the general readers or the professionals,they are all attracted by the profound essence in the works that reveals unconsciously.This paper merely selects one novel to study Faulkner from a given perspective.Faulkner often used the Bible stories and Greek mythology in his works.The paper takes Sanctuary as the research object,and Sanctuary is novel published in 1931.The paper bases on the description of the narcissistic personality of Narcissus in the works,and tries to have an overall analysis on the prototype,character image and social significance and so on.The theme of the paper is “Narcissus phenomenon” which is throughout the entire text of Sanctuary,and the text has a related to the Greek mythology of Narcissus,a beautiful youth,from the character's name to the individual behavior to the fate of the character.The text of the paper is divided into three parts to discuss the underlying reasons behind the behavior of the character and to think about its significance to the current society.The first part starts from the cultural tradition and sorts out the relation between Faulkner's works and the ancient Greek mythology.Faulkner used the prototype of the ancient Greek mythology in his creations,enriching the image of characters and integrating the thinking of reality into the work.The social development and progress of civilization still cannot resist the temptation,and the human evil nature has never disappeared.The hero always exists and the mortal also continues.The second part classifies the Narcissus-like figures in the novel according to different characteristics and criteria.In the specific historical period and social background of the American South,some members appear different degrees of Narcissus-like narcissism from different perspectives.These Narcissus-like people are active in all social classes and have different status,but everyone is equal before the selfish desire,and finally the shell of moral with exquisite decoration will be broken by the of beat of desire.In this part,the paper starts from Narcissus looking into the water at the fountain,selects the image “fountain” and the similar image “people in the mirror” to analyze the details of the novel,and discuss the influence of the inner activities and psychological fluctuation of the characters who admire themselves on following plots.Focusing excessive attention on the external environment not only allows the individuals to get temporary comfort in their own hearts,but also change the fate of others.In the era of consumption upgrading,besides the base and inherent carnal desires,a lot of novelty brought by the economic development create endless new desires of people,and the members of the society represented by the characters in the book have paid an unimaginable price.The third part states the social significance of the Narcissus phenomenon.Faulkner guided the readers to think through writing the social tragedy caused by narcissism and ego: for the human alienation,who should take the most important responsibility,the new things or the growing desires in people's hearts.Everyone is the victim and murderer,who sacrifices in the torrent of the era and causes other people's tragic fate,but people do not know their dual identities,which not only complicates interpersonal communication,but also inadvertently exacerbates social instability.More than eight decades after the publication of Sanctuary,the good and evil shown in the novel still exist widely.In the era of “god is dead”,people face sin and temptation,only the flash of humanity and the yearning for a better future can redeem the self-destructive.