Abstract
Abstract
"Wordless and Far Away": Race in William Faulkner's Soldiers'
Pay
This thesis is concerned with the profound and unique ways in which
race and interracial
dynamics mold William Faulkner's first novel, Soldiers' Pay.
At first glance, race and racial
matters do not seem to occupy a particularly prominent position in
Soldiers' Pay. Overall, the
novel seems to be chiefly preoccupied with interactions among
members of the white cast of
the book. However, a closer examination reveals that the
African-American characters of
Soldiers' Pay play an indirect but essential role in
heightening and constructing the themes of
freedom, disillusionment, intersexual dynamics, and identity in the
novel. In this sense, racial
interplay and racial difference serve obscured but key functions in
Soldiers' Pay. These oblique
functions operate chiefly through a complex and subtle web of
contrast, insinuation, and
antithesis. This dynamic is unique among Faulkner's other novels.
Generally, when they contain
substantial African-American populations, Faulkner's books tend to
treat matters of race openly
and thoroughly. These novels, such as Absalom, Absalom!,
Go Down, Moses, and Light in
August, all situate race on the surface of their respective
narratives. Soldiers' Pay, however,
banishes racial issues to the margins of its text, despite the fact
that its thematic structure relies
heavily on its internal interracial landscape. In this sense, race
serves both a pivotal and an
idiosyncratic purpose in William Faulkner's Soldiers'
Pay.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................1
Chapter
One..............................................................11
Chapter
Two..............................................................44
Conclusion..............................................................61
Works
Cited..............................................................69
About this Honors Thesis
Rights statement
- Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.
| School |
|
|---|
| Department |
|
|---|
| Degree |
|
|---|
| Submission |
|
|---|
| Language |
|
|---|
| Research Field |
|
|---|
| Parola chiave |
|
|---|
| Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor |
|
|---|
| Committee Members |
|
|---|