One of Faulkner's central themes in the novel is the limitation of language. From the inability of the characters to communicate with one another, to Addie's singular distrust of words, to the unlikely vocabulary the characters employ in their narration, Faulkner explores the inadequacy of language to express thought and emotion. Many characters communicate only through platitudes. As a result, they create misunderstanding rather than understanding between people. Through the varying perspectives that Faulkner chooses to employ, the reader witnesses both the events that take place and the character's individual perceptions of them. Indeed, at times the reader can only discern events by comparing information from various narrators. The reader learns about the assumptions and peculiarities of the different narrators, and precisely how each character differs in mindset from the others. Unsure which character’s perspective to adopt regarding events, the reader is inclined to......
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Approximate Word Count: 878
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |