Date of Award

1-1-2017

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, English and Literary Arts

First Advisor

Clark Davis, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Barbara Wilcots

Third Advisor

Susan Schulten

Keywords

Benjy, Darl, Disability, Family, Faulkner, Southern

Abstract

This thesis argues that Darl Bundren of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, and Benjy Compson of The Sound and the Fury exhibit certain similarities, suggesting that, in relation to Donald M. Kartiganer's model from the introduction of The Fragile Thread: The Meaning of Form in Faulkner's Novels, they would be paired together better than his initial couplings. This argument proposes to discuss why Darl Bundren is the reincarnated version of Benjy Compson in terms of their internal discourses, narratorial skills, and disability within each novel. As both characters could easily be labeled "disabled," this endeavor will also speculate as to why they are so similar, why Faulkner gives them the most dominant voices in each novel and why their disability creates as well as destroys their entire being. This thesis will also show that both Benjy's and Darl's sections within each novel demonstrate that both characters exhibit specific advantages within their internal and external discourse, their perceptions of the world around them that allow them to be the most equipped narrators in the telling of each of their family's downfalls. Both men's disability is actually more of an unexplored advantage than a hindrance in relation to narration.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Alexandra Rose Smith

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

131 p.

Discipline

English Literature

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