Throughout William Faulkner's fiction, specifically in Absalom, Absalom!, The Sound and the Fury, and As I Lay Dying, the impact of parents who intimately know failure and loss figure largely in the strange coming of age of their children. In the Compson family, the Sutpen family and the Bundren family, the influence of the parents' action or paralysis confuses the identities and roles of their children. The children often look to themselves or to one another in absence of healthy parental models, but they are not equipped to deal with their own or one another's emotional tumult. This inability to cope creates a tension that manifests itself in these children's behavior, their understanding of themselves, and their understanding of the world around them. Their experiences, the foundations of these experiences, and the outcomes set in motion a pattern for these children that is grounded in the failure of their parents.
","abstract_html":"<p>Throughout William Faulkner's fiction, specifically in <em>Absalom, Absalom!</em>, <em>The Sound and the Fury</em>, and <em>As I Lay Dying</em>, the impact of parents who intimately know failure and loss figure largely in the strange coming of age of their children. In the Compson family, the Sutpen family and the Bundren family, the influence of the parents' action or paralysis confuses the identities and roles of their children. The children often look to themselves or to one another in absence of healthy parental models, but they are not equipped to deal with their own or one another's emotional tumult. This inability to cope creates a tension that manifests itself in these children's behavior, their understanding of themselves, and their understanding of the world around them. Their experiences, the foundations of these experiences, and the outcomes set in motion a pattern for these children that is grounded in the failure of their parents.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hoover, Heather Marie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MA (Master of Arts)","degree_level":"Thesis - restricted","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2004,"date_issued":"2004-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2004-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:19:28Z","subjects":["children","Bundren","Sutpen","Compson","Faulkner","Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/864","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hoover, Heather Marie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["1995-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2004-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - restricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MA (Master of Arts)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["children","Bundren","Sutpen","Compson","Faulkner","Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by the authors."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2021/viewcontent/HooverH032604f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/864"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Throughout William Faulkner's fiction, specifically in Absalom, Absalom!, The Sound and the Fury, and As I Lay Dying, the impact of parents who intimately know failure and loss figure largely in the strange coming of age of their children. In the Compson family, the Sutpen family and the Bundren family, the influence of the parents' action or paralysis confuses the identities and roles of their children. The children often look to themselves or to one another in absence of healthy parental models, but they are not equipped to deal with their own or one another's emotional tumult. This inability to cope creates a tension that manifests itself in these children's behavior, their understanding of themselves, and their understanding of the world around them. Their experiences, the foundations of these experiences, and the outcomes set in motion a pattern for these children that is grounded in the failure of their parents.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Growing Up Faulkner: Coming of Age, Identity, and Parental Responsibility in Three Faulkner Families."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Hoover, Heather Marie"],"dc:date.available":["1995-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2004-05-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Throughout William Faulkner's fiction, specifically in Absalom, Absalom!, The Sound and the Fury, and As I Lay Dying, the impact of parents who intimately know failure and loss figure largely in the strange coming of age of their children. In the Compson family, the Sutpen family and the Bundren family, the influence of the parents' action or paralysis confuses the identities and roles of their children. The children often look to themselves or to one another in absence of healthy parental models, but they are not equipped to deal with their own or one another's emotional tumult. This inability to cope creates a tension that manifests itself in these children's behavior, their understanding of themselves, and their understanding of the world around them. Their experiences, the foundations of these experiences, and the outcomes set in motion a pattern for these children that is grounded in the failure of their parents.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2021/viewcontent/HooverH032604f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/864"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"dc:subject":["children","Bundren","Sutpen","Compson","Faulkner","Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["Growing Up Faulkner: Coming of Age, Identity, and Parental Responsibility in Three Faulkner Families."],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - restricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["MA (Master of Arts)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:19:28Z"}