Symbolism Of Jewel's Horse By Faulkner

Likewise, Faulkner uses symbolism to show Jewel’s struggles and growth. With the symbolism of Jewel’s horse, Faulkner reveals Jewel’s desire for freedom from his family. Throughout the novel, Jewel feels disconnected from his family, especially how they act towards his dying mother. Recognizing this struggle, Jewel’s mother offers Jewel a way to escape his family because she supports his efforts to work to buy a horse (Faulkner 129-135). Once he gets the horse, it becomes one of his most valued items because it represents freedom. This value can be seen when Darl comments that “‘It’s not your horse that’s dead, Jewel’” (Faulkner 94-95). When Jewel hears about the death of his mother, he immediately knows he has lost more than just a parent …show more content…
After his mother’s death, Jewel continues to struggle to escape his family, even using his horse to physically separate himself from the Bundrens. When the Bundrens depart to take Addie to Jefferson, Anse tells Jewel to “‘...leave that horse here.’” Ignoring Anse, Jewel takes his horse and rides away from the family, thus cutting himself off from them (Faulkner 100-101). Jewel deals with the loss of his mother in a very different way than his sister. With the death of the only member of his family he cared for, Jewel clings to the item that represents his freedom, his horse. Over the course of the story, Jewel clings to the horse to exercise what little freedom he has in his life. He grows mentally and begins to understand the lack of control he feels when he is with the Bundren family and that as he ages, he must relinquish his freedom for his …show more content…
They show the character’s passing into maturity. Over the course of the novel, Dewey Dell constantly struggles with, and fears, both her femininity and sexuality. society that force her into a defined box. As the novel progresses, Dewey Dell comes to realize her place in the world, enforced by a society that regulates her to one role. Jewel also realizes his role in life, but to a different extent than his sister. He recognizes his freedom, and how as he ages, it is taken away by responsibilities. Vardaman is the character that appears to grow the most. He grapples with the mature topic of understanding death and reaches a place of acceptance that his mother gone and peace that she has escaped. Throughout the novel, the Bundren children experience massive amounts of growth, coming to understand not only themselves, but also the world in which they