장애학의 관점에서 본 『소리와 분노』

Reconsidering The Sound and the Fury from a Disability Studies Perspective

William Faulkner s The Sound and the Fury needs to be read from a disability studies perspective since the crucial part of the plot is based on a disabled person called Benjy. Benjy was generally regarded just as an idiot who magnifies the tragic atmosphere of the novel, but a new interpretation must be added in order to reevaluate the value of the work as a classic novel Some significant aspects show that Benjy is a character who struggles with autism. Regardless of the writer s intention of writing, such integral issues as autism, mother of a child who has autism, family resilience, institutionalization and deinstitutionalization are dealt with through the collapse of the Compson family. ln addition, Faulkner is supposed to be aware of some characteristics of mentally challenged people whom he witnessed in his life even though the word of autism was not conceptualized exactly in his times. Whether Faulkner had deep knowledge about disability or not, it is quite surprising to recognize the fact that the important issues of social welfare are elaborately portrayed in the novel Reconsidering The Sound and the Fury from a disability studies perspective, the novel is a real classic, which arouses empathy even in contemporary society.