William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury- please help me

[Schansy]

I need to find as many quotes about the American dream(what it is & all it's aspects such as corruption) as it is in the book, as well as Faulkner's message/view of the American dream as I can.
1st problem: What exactly is the American dream in The Sound and the Fury? I'm pretty sure it's something like having a functional or perfect family but I don't know if that's right.
2nd problem: Faulkner's message- At first I thought his message was that the American dream falls apart at some point, but then the last few sentences of the book make me think that maybe they achieve the American dream(assuming the American dream is to have a functional family) some time after the book ends. Is he trying to say that the American dream is achievable but you will have to go through some rough spots to achieve it?
3rd problem: I just don't know what quotes to be looking for. I feel like there aren't too many quotes that just scream "American dream." Should I be looking for metaphorical quotes or literal quotes?
I have been trying to do this for several hours and I haven't really gotten anywhere, please help me.

[PeterL]

"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Macbeth Quote (Act V, Scene V).

[Jackson Richardson]

The question is about Faulkner, not Shakespeare. I don't know how American teachers' minds work, but if you can make a good case for what you suggest (the American dream is the functional family) and back it up with analysis of the book, then in old fashioned English (ie not American or Scottish) education you would have answered the question.

It sounds like you are bright and imaginative enough to do that. The way I was taught a long time ago in England, is that there is no right or wrong answer to a question like that: it is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your imagination, intelligence and ability to argue persuasively, and answer the specific question, then you're OK.

Let us all know how you get on.

(My recollection of the book is that it is more a nightmare than a dream. And the black servants show more compassion than the family: is racial division and integration an important feature? I may have forgotten things.)

[hillwalker]

I hardly think that the family in TSATF epitomised the American Dream. They were all dysfunctional and were unable to survive the changes that came about in the New South.

Perhaps the whole point of the novel is that the American Dream - the freedom to prosper and succeed using one's own wits rather than relying on inherited wealth - is unachieveable for the Compsons because they stick too closely to the old values of the past. There are plenty of examples in the novel to support this hypothesis - especially in Part 3 where Jason narrates.

H

[cacian]

"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Macbeth Quote (Act V, Scene V).

So is it a tale of an idiot or a tale told by an idiot?
Is there a difference between the two?
I guess if an idiot is able to tell a tale imagine what a retard can do write a whole play and name it after him/her.

I think before diving into the book single handed you may want to delve into what American Dream is about first.
Research what is this dream called American is about and then go finding it in the book.
I would do it in this order because if it is only a dream then you may not find it with Faulkner.

[Schansy]

Thanks guys, also, do you think Faulkner's message about the American dream is that it will eventually fall (the Compson family is falling apart) or that the American dream is attainable but you will have to go through rough patches to attain it (the last few paragraphs of the book that symbolizes hope and a new beginning)?

[cacian]

Thanks guys, also, do you think Faulkner's message about the American dream is that it will eventually fall (the Compson family is falling apart) or that the American dream is attainable but you will have to go through rough patches to attain it (the last few paragraphs of the book that symbolizes hope and a new beginning)?

Depends how you look at it.
One family does not represent the whole of America. It is a small part of it.
The fact that the characters are odd or with special needs or cannot work out their identity from their personality has nothing to do with the dream of a whole country. It just means the isolation does not work.

[Scheherazade]

(the last few paragraphs of the book that symbolizes hope and a new beginning)?

Yes, very much so. It signals the end of an era (a dream) and marks the beginning of a new one in American life... The so-called middle class, rich families collapse to be replaced with earnest working class.

Well it depends how you look at it.
One family does not represent the whole of America.
The fact that the characters are odd or with special needs or cannot work out their identity from their personality has nothing with the dream or the country as a whole. It just means the isolation does not work.

Have you read the book, Cacian?

[cacian]

Yes, very much so. It signals the end of an era (a dream) and marks the beginning of a new one in American life... The so-called middle class, rich families collapse to be replaced with earnest working class.

Have you read the book, Cacian?

Yes it was part of my American literature studies at uni.

[Scheherazade]

In that case, your comment about "one family not representing the whole of America" or having nothing to do with the country sounds rather odd.

[hillwalker]

Thanks guys, also, do you think Faulkner's message about the American dream is that it will eventually fall (the Compson family is falling apart)

That's exactly it - the moral corruption at the heart of the Compsons and their inability to adapt to change reflecting a new age when the American Dream was in danger of turning sour.

And it is a tale told by an 'idiot' but in such a way that his version is the most truthful record of the events as they unfold.

My all-time favourite book and I don't care who knows it.

H3K

[cacian]

In that case, your comment about "one family not representing the whole of America" or having nothing to do with the country sounds rather odd.

I am not sure what you mean by odd but maybe I did not express it well.
We agreed at uni that the story of the Compton family could be a family representative of any country in the world.
If one takes the story out the book and looks at the Compton family as a unit or not outside the author who composed it then one could say it is a family that could easily be anywhere anytime any era any place.
And therefore the conclusion was that it did not specifically reflect the dream the American dream.

[Jackson Richardson]

I never studied it academically but I have read it, and from what I remember it could only possibly be set in the Southern states of the USA. The racial element wouldn't be the same any where else.

It may have universal relevance, but that's not the same thing.

But it's some years ago I read it.

[cacian]

I never studied it academically but I have read it, and from what I remember it could only possibly be set in the Southern states of the USA. The racial element wouldn't be the same any where else.

It may have universal relevance, but that's not the same thing.

But it's some years ago I read it.

Racism is everywhere if that is what you mean.
It is very to stigmatise a story through the nationality of the writer but it does not mean the same story with the same family issues and tension are not happening somewhere else.
It is a generalisation and a cliché to think that.
People are people at the end of the day and people transcends nationalities when it comes to having a family growing up or learning to talk.

[Jackson Richardson]

How is it stigmatizing a story to say that it is clearly set in a particular culture?