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

Faces and Voices in Faulkners Absalom, AbsalomWhile reading Absalom, Absalom I was stunned 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, minify 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 doubting Thomas Sutpens family life. He says he was just there, surrounded by the faces, almost all the faces which he had ever known. I think the fact that Sutpens founder and sisters arent referred to as such but only by their faces says a lot about t...