在本論文中將嘗試探討故事敘述的本質。其中心要旨來自於威廉福克納（William Faulkner）的試驗性寫作方式。該寫作方式的內容必須依靠讀者的思考理解力以及經驗知識基礎相輔相成才有理解的可能。在押沙龍，押沙龍！（Absalom, Absalom!）一書中，不同的故事敘述者，對於故事主角薩德潘（Thomas Sutpen）的野心計畫呈現不同的解讀方式及解讀內容。薩德潘的野心計畫表面上是呈現出一個由父傳子、純白人血統所建立的個人勢力領域。然而，包括羅莎（Rosa Coldfield）、坎普森先生（Mr. Compson）、昆丁（Quentin Compson）以及士里弗（Shrevlin McCannon）等四位主要的故事敘述者，卻被查爾斯邦（Charles Bon）的死亡真相及被弒動機所困擾。查爾斯邦是薩德潘的長子，且被其同父異母的兄弟亨利薩德潘（Henry Sutpen）所殺害。依據查爾斯潘被殺害事件所做的推測，共有「重婚（bigamy）」、「兄妹亂倫（incest）」、以及「異族通婚（miscegenation）」等可能性導致查爾斯潘的死亡。而其中以「異族通婚」對於薩德潘的野心計畫所帶來的威脅最有可能導致查爾斯潘的死亡。薩德潘處心積慮想避免異族通婚的努力背後，隱藏著一個建立大同平等世界的崇尚理念。
而四位主要的故事敘述者則分為兩種類型：具備見證者身分的故事敘述者以及非見證者身分的故事敘述者。前者包括了羅莎；後者則包括了坎普森先生、昆丁以及士里弗。福克納很巧妙地將與敘述事件關係最淡薄的故事敘述者塑造成最具想像力以及最具信服力的故事敘述者。

An attempt is made to develop the idea of the nature of narrative. The central idea was inspired by William Faulkner’s experimental writing techniques which require the readers’ intelligence and knowledge base. Various narrators in Absalom, Absalom! present a variety of interpretations of Thomas Sutpen’s design. The ostensible construction of Sutpen’s design is concisely presented as a plantation with pure white lineage from father to son. One confusing scene to all the narrators, including Rosa Coldfield, Mr. Compson, Quentin Compson, and Shreve, is the killing of Charles Bon, Sutpen’s first son, by Henry Sutpen, his second son. Based on this murder scene, several possibilities for this killing are bigamy, incest, and miscegenation, in which the latest is the most reasonable. What lies behind the plot of avoiding miscegenation is Sutpen’s dignified and honorable ideal of creating a plantation in which people are equally treated. Also, the four main narrators are categorized into two types: one is the eyewitness narrator, such as Rosa Coldfield, and the other type is the non-eyewitness narrator, such as Mr. Compson, Quentin, and Shreve. Paradoxically, the most distant non-eyewitness is made the most imaginative and trustworthy narrator by William Faulkner.

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