William Faulkner possessed a wildly progressive mind for a man living in a time where racism ran rampant, women were expected to act like women, and men were expected to act like men. In many of his novels, Faulkner challenged these beliefs. He portrayed women with qualities that would usually be associated with men. Men are shown being emotional and subordinate to certain women. He even portrayed immigrants and blacks as equals. Faulkner challenged the views of the Old South and portrayed a New South, where sexual promiscuity, new gender roles, and a new view on race were the norm.
William Faulkner portrayed elements of the South that had rarely, if ever, been written about. One of these elements was the changing of gender roles in the New South. In Faulkner?s novel The Sound and the Fury this theme was prevalent. The young men in the story were given traits that had been almost exclusively been associated with women in the Old South. The main female character in the novel, Caddy, was given traits that were considered masculine. Throughout the novel Caddy is put in a position of power over her brothers and eventually the frustrated males become emasculated and the Compson bloodline ends.[endnoteRef:1] [1: Lisa Villamil. ?Gender Roles of a New South in The Sound and the
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By using slavery to gain wealth and prosperity it was only a matter of time before both Sutpen?s life and the economy of the South collapsed. [22: William Faulkner. Absalom, Absalom! (New York: Vintage Books, 1990) 212.] [23: ?Reflection of History in Absalom,