Jesus Christ Figures In William Faulkner's Novels

Through examining a host of Faulkner's novels, the author finds several Jesus Christ-like figures in William Faulkner's novels, namely, Benjy in Sound and Fury, Joe Christmas in Light in August and Isaac in Go Down, Moses. They all resemble Jesus Christ in the Bible in many respects.A close study of the social and historical background at which Faulkner characterized these Jesus Christ-like figures shows that they are all the products of that particular society. Faulkner wrote in the period of the well-known Lost Generation. The First World War was so devastating that it not only deprived many men's lives but also shattered or crushed the spiritual beliefs of those survived in the war. The propagandas of a "glorious battle" and "a battle to put an end to all wars" formed a striking contrast with the absurdity and brutality of the war and the stagnancy of the post-war society. This contrast awakened those young men who plunged in the war with the ideal of changing the reality. They despaired to feel that "all gods dead, all wars fought, all faith in man shaken". The loss of belief and spiritual support resulted in the puzzlement about the life's meaning. Thus, loneliness and alienation prevailed the then western society. Faulkner's comment of his contemporary society was "there is nothing spiritual left" "everything is nothingness". Deprived of the spiritual support of God, men felt rootless and helpless. In this situation, men thought that a savior was needed to offer them spiritual comfort and strength to live on. Thus, they were preoccupied by the searching for a savior. Faulkner sympathized with these helpless men, so he hoped that they could find a savior. Therefore, his writing career was the record of the process of looking for a savior. As a result, the series of Jesus appear in his novels.But a close examination of the Jesus-like figures in his novels reveals that they are far from being the real Jesus in the Bible. In Faulkner's novels, they are no longer the omniscient and loving Jesus but are all distorted physically and spiritually. The Jesus in the Sound and Fury is an idiot who is incapable of thinking and speaking; In Light in August, Jesus is actually a victim of the fanatic Puritanism and racialism of...