"Absalom, Absalom!"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Rosa Coldfield stands as the most prominent link between past and present in William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!" The paper looks at the initial impression of morbidity and death that the reader encounters with the character. It then shows how Rosa's deeper role in the novel is unfolded by her strong presence and the way she forcefully affects the present.

From the Paper:

"In having this character, who is stuck in the past, so profoundly affect present events, perhaps Faulkner is using the character of Miss Rosa to make a larger point. Even though events may be several generations past and be shrouded by the obscure myths of hazy memory and deceit, these past events affect the here and now decisively. Perhaps the grim moral that both Absalom, Absalom! and Miss Rosa teach us is that not only are our own pasts inescapable, but the past of our forefathers may also come back to haunt us."

More papers on "Absalom, Absalom!":

• Book Review # 120407 : "Absalom, Absalom!": A Southern Gothic Novel"
• Book Review # 104448 : "William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!"
• Analytical Essay # 47406 : "Blocked Doors in "Absalom, Absalom!"
• Book Review # 65465 : "A Study in Faulkner: "The Sound and the Fury" and "Absalom! Absalom!"

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