William Faulkner’s Dilsey Section

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William Faulkner’s epic mode, The Sound and The Fury (1929) in his last chapter entitled “April 8, 1928,” occurs on Easter Sunday is a tale told from an omniscient narrator in third-person who primarily identifies with the values of the Compson’s servant, Dilsey Gibson. Dilsey is the Compson’s “negro” cook and is the pillar of the Compsons who are suffering economically as being at the verge of The Great Depression. Melancholy appears to be The Compson’s latest song as a result of the affects of the period. Accordingly, the family experiences many hindrances toward any progression or prosperity and their hope is deteriorating. In turn this causing them to lose the perpetuation of the family name, the Southern Aristocratic Values and faith. The Compsons are not only dissolving away emotionally but also of their worldly possessions due to financial uncertainty. Moreover, they are suffering from the decrease of their family members due to the deaths of Mr. Compson, Jason III and his oldest son, Quentin. The head of the household accordingly shifted from the father to the son, Jason IV. However, he was a man whom one could not lean on emotionally or depend on economically inasmuch as he is not a stable man. Jason is a steady whiner, greedy, mean-spirited, petty and very cynical man. Consequently, it becomes evident that Dilsey – female, the dark Other, enduring – is the pillar of strength for the Compson family, and using the theoretical perspective of Monique Wittig developing an effective critique of the Dilsey section comes to light that this chapter is the core of The Sound and The Fury.

Monique Wittig, (1935 – 2003) French novelist, social theorist, poet, and professor in Women’s Studies and French at the University of...

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...man.” March 9, 2011. http://www.queertheory.com/histories/w/wittig_monique.htm.

Pitavy-Souques, Daniele. “A Reflection on the Relationship between Art and Politics: Some Aspects of the Dialogue between Canadian Writers and Writers of the South”: The Dark Other. March 9, 2011. http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/aaas/2010/CultCirc/programmheft1.4.pdf.

The Holy Bible. Revelation 22:13. March 9, 2011. http://www.bartleby.com/108/66/22.html.

Wittig, Monique. “One is Not Born a Woman” (1981). March 9, 2011. http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:i2j7M2kE7BIJ:ecmd.nju.edu.cn/UploadFil e/17/8012/bornwoman.doc+wittig+woman+is+not+born+but+becomes&hl=en&gl=us&p id=bl&srcid=ADGEESiMEKf9dTfEvsjliu8J_w6isnYSpsNgwOdV26p0HhVdIIEkZz_un _sr8B721EhCjN4p15bkQDoZAdDtbMGw97sd1ZaWoRdAf6twJfdcx8Ep61vYXJINDEL LNk_icVdGDSPBhpde&sig=AHIEtbStR11tguitdhDItY1Jk9hT5KgEhg.

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