Faces and Voices in Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! Essay -- Faulkner’s A

Faces and Voices in Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! While reading Absalom, Absalom! I was amazed at the number of times one of the narrators would refer to faces or voices as being present rather than to the people themselves. In almost every chapter this synecdoche appears, reducing many of the characters to images, shadows and memories. I think Faulkner uses this device to enhance the fact that the story is told from memory-- much of it from the point of view of the characters‘ childhoods. On page 184, Mr. Compson tells the story of young Thomas Sutpen’s family life. He says â€Å"he was just there, surrounded by the faces, almost all the faces which he had ever known.† I think the fact that Sutpen’s father and sisters aren’t referred to as such but only by their faces says a lot about t...