sound and the fury essay

8/7/2019 sound and the fury essay

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Leyna AntonucciPeriod 9 Ferat

3/6/11

The collapse of tradition

In the 1920s, American culture drastically changed. Roles were beginning to shift

between the sexes and the new generation began rebellion the traditional lifestyle. During this

time period, William Faulkner was one of the famous authors of American literature to

experiment a new style of writing. Faulkner began to break away from the traditional literature

themes and ventured into a new style of writing. His novels were a transition from the old ways

of Americans into the new 1920s culture. Comparatively, Coco Chanel accomplished the same

with American fashion. Chanel became the iconic fashionista of the 1920s by changing the

way Americans looked at womens fashion. Faulkner wrote his novel The Sound and the Fury to

depict the transformation from the old south to the new south during the time Chanel took mens

clothing styles and incorporated them into womens fashion.

The Sound and the Fury conveys much of the change happening in the South during the

1920s. These changes in the South ultimately destroy the Compson family. With Benjys

castration, Caddy being disowned and forced to leave, Quentins suicide, the family name is left

with Jason who is a horrible man who most likely will never find a woman to marry. Jason, who

views women as inferior to all men, hated women because of Caddy. He believes Caddy ruined

the lives of everyone in the family as he explains in his section that, the bitch that cost me a job,

the one chance I ever had to get ahead, that killed my father and is shortening my mothers life

every day and made my name a laughing stock in the town (Faulkner 304). The Compson

family was unable to leave the past, causing them to severely struggle as times were changing in

America.


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At the end of the novel, Disley reveals Faulkners main theme during Easter services.

Disley, who has been with the Compson family since they were young, has seen the tragedies

first-hand. While the rest of the family failed to maintain the Compson name, Disley has been the

stable member of the family from the beginning. Unlike the rest of the family, Disley is

accepting of the changing times. She does not refuse to let the past be the past and is willing to

let go of old traditions. In the end of the novel, Dilsey says I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de

endin (Faulkner 301), revealing her views on the Compson downfall. Unlike the Compsons,

Dilsey knows life does not go on forever, and she is able to use her time on earth to enjoy herself

rather than waste time obsessing with the past. Faulkners novel is a way for him to show how

the 1920s was changing America. He showed that those who were unacceptable to the changes

happening in America, like the Compsons, would be left behind along with the former traditions

they grasped onto He portrayed to decline of past traditions by allowing the African American

servants in his novel ultimately become the new Compson family.

Around the same Faulkner was emphasizing the major changes in America through his

writing, Coco Chanel was using her fashion skills to show these changes as well. Coco Chanel

(Gabrielle Chanel) faced a very difficult childhood in an orphange where she learned to first

make her own clothes. She began her first store in 1910s and grew to be one famous fashion

icons in just two short decades. Chanel was famous for two distinct designs she created. Her

legendary Chanel suit was created in 1925. These suits took the elements of mens suits and

incorporated a feminine look to them. Her invention of these suits allowed females to disown the

corsets and allowed them, for the first time, to be comfortable in their clothing. Chanel was also

famous for her creation of the little black dress. Black was once a color worn only for funerals


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or other events of mourning. However, Chanel took this color and made it into a crucial element

for fashionable eveningwear.

Chanels impact on fashion greatly reflected the changes present in America. Before

Chanel, American women were forced to wear dresses down to their ankles. Under their dresses,

Women were constricted with tight corsets that gave the desirable hour glass figure. Seeing

women wearing anything that did not look extremely feminine was unacceptable to society.

However, her designs drastically changed that perception of women. Females were no longer

forced to look extremely proper and feminine. Chanels designs allowed women in America to

powerful. Until now, a suit was meant to be worn by a working man. The Chanel suit showed

how the female role was changing in America and women were slowly becoming less inferior to

me. The black little black dress showed how black does not have to be a color of mourning but

also a chic color to wear for a night on the town. Coco Chanel, much like Faulkner, took the

traditions of the old America and put their own modern twist on them.

In the past few decades, American culture has drastically changed several times. With

each change in fashion, music, and other arts, it is evident that former traditions were used to

create new and different ideas. Many artists have been responsible for experimenting with

American culture and creating a new lifestyle for the country. Many like Faulkner and Chanel

have become famous thruogh their bold creations and will forever have an impact on the culture

in America. Faulkner and Chanel are two perfect examples of how experimenting with the old

American traditions and breaking former boundaries lead to a new lifestyle. Their powerful ideas

allowed Americans to break away from tradition in the 1920s and made American culture more

appealing to individuals during that time period.


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Work Cited

1. "Coco Chanel." 2011. Biography.com. 6 Mar 2011, 10:28http://www.biography.com/articles/Coco-Chanel-9244165.

2. William, Faulkner. The Sound and the Fury. New York: Random House Inc, 1984.Print.

sound and the fury essay

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