It's All About Perspective

Having finished Light in August, I feel that one major element of Faulkner's writing that struck me throughout the course of the novel was how easily he transitions between countless points of view for telling the story through. While this did confuse me at times, I thought that overall it was a style of writing I had never seen so excessively used before yet was still really intriguing. In doing this, I think Faulkner effectively makes a statement as to how much perception, point of view, and personal bias and opinions play a major role in how things play out in daily life. He forces the reader to see the same situations through several points of view, which then leads the reader to consider what is actually true and what is fabricated or exaggerated by the views of others, especially society.

Personally, I thought that was a very interesting and effective tool for Faulkner to use in writing this particular story.

Comments

[diego rodriguez]

For sure , the change in point of view is a very useful tool used by Faulkner. With this tool, Faulkner is able to state the point that there is not actually a complete truth and that the truth is subjective. Other interesting detail is how this "truth" affects the characters and their lifes. When it should not because there is no truth. Its all in the perspective that you look at life and experiences.

[Margo T]

This is one of the reasons I think Faulkner's writing is amazing. Because he is able to transition between point of views an tie in all these somewhat separate stories to all make sense.

[Alexi S.]

I agree quite a bit. One of my favorite elements of the book was how Fauklner would give the reader a shocking event, such as the murder of Miss Burden, and then go back and explain how each character got to that point in the story. It was also really interesting how he often retold various events through several different characters' points of view.

[Libby K.]

I completely agree that this was an interesting and unique way to the story. I have never encountered it in an entire book before, but like you said it was a little confusing by still very intriguing. I really enjoyed his manipulation of time and the constant switch between characters and differing points of view during different time periods.