Specific Features of William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury”: Theme, Problem, Message

Abstract

This article analyzes the distinctive thematic, structural, and ideological features of William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” (1929). Drawing on established scholarly papers, it examines the novel’s treatment of time, memory, race, gender, identity, narrative fragmentation, and the decline of the Southern aristocracy. The study argues that Faulkner’s complex narrative techniques - particularly stream of consciousness, temporal dislocation, and multi-perspectival structure - function not as isolated stylistic experiments but as vehicles for broader ethical and philosophical concerns. These concerns include the erosion of traditional values, the psychological consequences of historical trauma, and the impossibility of reconciling the past with the present in a changing social order. Through close engagement with foundational Faulkner criticism, the article demonstrates that the relationship between form and meaning is central to the novel’s message. Faulkner constructs a world in which the collapse of structure mirrors the collapse of consciousness, and in which the destabilization of time reflects the destabilization of identity and cultural authority