A Study Of The Olfactory Writing In William Faulkner’s Novels

William Faulkner is a master of olfaction.In his works such as The Sound and the Fury,Absalom,Absalom!,Light in August,As I Lay Dying,Barn Burning and A Rose for Emily,he used a rich sense of smell.Excavating the smell in these works can strengthen the understanding of the characters,plot and background of the works,from which you can experience the author’s implicit attitude towards social politics and the fate of the characters.In this thesis,Faulkner’s works are studied from four perspectives,which are olfaction and characters,olfaction and gender,olfaction and race as well as olfaction and rebellion.When Faulkner ’s novels are researched through the perspective of olfaction,his text will produce more meaning.In the perspective of olfaction and characters,Caddy’s tree scent and honeysuckle scent in The Sound and the Fury are signs of her physical condition;the gasoline smell that Jason smelled suggests his acceptance of modernization;in A Rose for Emily,the reaction of the town residents to the smell of dead bodies and dust implies their attitude towards the Civil War;the smell of cheese and canned meat in Barn Burning reflects the fear and despair of Sartoris.In the perspective of olfaction and gender,both male power and female power are displayed in the form of smell,and males are more likely to play the role of olfactory recognizers.In the perspective of olfaction and race,the exploration of the identity of Christmas in Light in August is accompanied by the smell of the black and the white.As for the statute and rebellion of the olfaction,they are sent by the dominated group in the American southern social system at that time.They were both the object of statute and the initiator of rebel.In Absalom,Absalom!,the smell of wisteria and the sour smell represents Miss Rosa’s two mentalities.They are her two sides,one is her performance of being suppressed and restrained by the old south traditions and the other is her crying and resistance to the repressive system of the old south.The olfaction of cane sugar in the same work is the externalization of the dissatisfaction of the colonized people.Through the analysis of this thesis,the olfactory research can help us,from another perspective,have a better understanding of the characters in his novels,the era he lived in,gender,race and society structure.