An Analysis of Symbolic Images in William Faulkner’s The Bear

Abstract

Faulkner, as a representative writer of American literature, is adept at using mythological archetypes, symbolic images, and other techniques to express his views. Faulkner’s works are mostly based on the background of the South in the United States. For example, Light in August and A Rose for Emily are considered to be his representative works, and they have received in-depth research by a large number of Chinese and foreign scholars. In contrast, the study of The Bear is not only small in number but also narrow in the research topics relatively. Therefore, this paper shifts the perspective to this short story, which is not closely followed by domestic scholars, and focuses on exploring and analyzing the symbolic images that appear. In addition, this paper is mainly based on the analysis of symbolic images, supplemented by the analysis of Eco-criticism in order to clarify Faulkner’s view more clearly.

This paper is divided into four parts. The first part gives a brief introduction to the symbolic techniques and the application of symbolic images in 20th American literature. The second part is a concrete analysis of natural images in the South in The Bear, including the analysis of the symbolic implication behind the wilderness, forests, the bear, hunting dog, Sam, and Boone. The third part is a concrete analysis of northern industrial civilization images, which includes the symbolic implication behind the silver watch, compass, breech loader, trains, the lumber company, and Isaac. The fourth part return to the author Faulkner himself and the ultimate reason for analyzing these images is to express the author’s views and ideas. This emphatically clarified Faulkner’s heartache and pity on the destruction of the southern civilization. It also reflected Faulkner’s concern for the future development of the United States and human spiritual civilization.

Key words: symbolic images; William Faulkner; wilderness; industrial civilization;