Moreover, according to William T. Going "The treatment of the surface chronology of a Rose for Emily is not mere perversity or purposeful blurring; it points up the elusive, illusive quality of time that lies at the heart of the story; it is at once the simplest and subtlest of Faulkner's achievements in one of his best stories" (53).
Other critics have observed that several times in the narrative, time appears to be flowing in a linear fashion, only to have Faulkner later reveal that the reader was actually experiencing a flashback or a dream that in actuality, is entirely non-linear. For example, FDAS reflects, "Even though the last three parts assume a more or less forward chronological movement, they are presented in the stream of consciousness. They record the random flow of memories through the narrator's mind. Since there is no objective chronometry, it is the subjectively experienced mind time of the narrating inhabitant that determines the story and that scatters the chronological data the reader has to analyze."
This treatment of time by Faulkner once again mirrors Bergsen's philosophies regarding truth and reality. For Bergsen, truth and reality have a tenuous relationship that is both separated and unified by time; or at the very least, our perceptions of time. As can be seen in Emily's plight, truth can be as incongruous to reality as life can be to death. Ultimately, it all culminates in what one perceives to be real or unreal; what one perceives to be alive or dead; what one perceives to be the past, the present or the future.
As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying, like a Rose for Emily, intermingles concepts of death and time in a potion of paradox that strongly emulates Bergsen's suppositions. However, according to Jolene Hubbs "As I Lay Dying differs from the other major works in representing characters not in flux but frozen, thus representing neither ascent nor decline, neither progress nor regress, but rather a confluence of forms of stasis -- spatial, temporal, and social" (1).
The primary indicator of time in this story is the decay of human flesh. In other words, the deterioration of Addie's corpse shows the passage of time more than any type of traditional temporal reference. Yet at the same time, in typical Faulkner fashion, multiple narratives from varying stances contribute to the disjointed essence of time which, in Hubbs' words "creates a paradoxical sense of cyclically arrested development. This formal and thematic impression of suspension and repetition establishes a symbiotic relationship between the novel's form and content: the funeral journey's many time-consuming obstacles and the novel's presentation of single scenes from multiple narrative perspectives give textual form to the social stasis of the Bundrens" (1).
The mere conception of the reader being privy to the stream of consciousness of a woman lying dead in her coffin distorts the construction of both time and reality. However, Faulkner pushes beyond even those boundaries to create a medley of social commentary, philosophical debate and creative literature that defies all convention. Christina...
Reading The Sound and the Fury can be frustrating for the reader, particularly the reader who is used to the linear march of time and the orderly unfolding of the events. Classic chronology provides a sense of order and a sense of time for the reader. They can easily relate to their own experience and concept of the passage of time. Faulkner steps into an uncomfortable area for many readers,
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