Themes: Alienation and Loneliness
Faulkner's use of various narrators underscores a central theme: each character experiences profound isolation. Moreover, the characters in the novel face challenges with effective communication. While readers are privy to their thoughts and emotions, the characters themselves cannot express their troubles or desires to one another. Except for Darl, who intuitively discerns Addie's and Dewey Dell's secrets, the characters can only guess at each other's motivations, beliefs, and feelings. When these guesses are wrong, misunderstandings ensue.
As a result of these communication barriers, the Bundren family members exist in a state of alienation—whether by choice, like Addie or Jewel, unknowingly, like Anse, Cash, Dewey Dell, or Vardaman, or with distress, like Darl. This sense of isolation also affects their neighbors, who either misinterpret or fail to grasp the family's actions.
More insightful characters, particularly Addie and Darl, are keenly aware of their solitude. Addie stands out as someone who longs to overcome this isolation while fiercely protecting her individuality. As a schoolteacher, she would whip her students to break down the barriers between herself and others: "I would think with each blow of the switch: Now you are aware of me! Now I am something in your secret and selfish life, who have marked your blood with my own for ever and ever." This act exposes her selfishness, as she imposes herself on others without truly opening up to them. Similarly, she distances herself from her children, except for Cash and her favorite, Jewel. Her contradictions highlight the inherent struggle between preserving one's private self and the desire to connect with others.
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