William Faulkner, a small boy, from a small town, without a high school diploma, accomplished way beyond what most most people in his circumstance could. Now often introduced as one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers or Nobel Prize winning novelist, Faulkner’s work is now some of America’s classics. When asking the question nature vs. nurture in regards to William Faulkner the answer is obvious, it’s nurture. Examining his life, one can see that Faulkner’s success and talents came from his surroundings and not through luck of the draw. This great poet and writer not only had the unwavering encouragement from his immediately family, but also countless friends that pointed him in the direction of success. Children look to no two people more for support and guidance than their parents. For Faulkner this meant a great amount of exposure to the arts, particularly, writing and poetry. Know as Willie when he was a child, Faulkner grew up in a family with an intense women presence. His mother and grandmother were both strong willed people. His father was an alcoholic that that didn’t have much influence on his life. William’s lack of an adequate male role model in his life, promoted his attachment and admiration of his mother, Maude. “Faulkner’s mother and grandmother who were avid readers, photographers and painters played an important role in his artistic and visual language education.” This influence was very significant, because parents often have a huge impact on their
The style in which Faulkner writes this story allows the reader’s mind to wonder and put the story together their own
Langston Hughes’s mother and grandmother both installed most of his dedication. They helped to shape his life and also his attitudes. Both were very resourceful women who helped Langston understand the importance of creativity. Hughes himself states that being driven early by his loneliness to books and the wonders of the world is what started him to constantly writing. His grandmother and mother pushed him to be the best that he could be. (African American Biographies)
Analyzing character in a Faulkner novel is like trying to reach the bottom of a bottomless pit because Faulkner's characters often lack ration, speak in telegraphed stream-of-consciousness, and rarely if ever lend themselves to ready analysis. This is particularly true in As I Lay Dying, a novel of a fragmented and dysfunctional family told through fragmented chapters. Each character reveals their perspective in different chapters, but the perspectives are true to life in that though they all reveal information
If we compare William Faulkner's two short stories, 'A Rose for Emily' and 'Barn Burning', he structures the plots of these two stories differently. However, both of the stories note the effect of a father¡¦s teaching, and in both the protagonists Miss Emily and Sarty make their own decisions about their lives. The stories present major idea through symbolism that includes strong metaphorical meaning. Both stories affect my thinking of life.
Upon receiving the Nobel Prize for his excellence in writing, William Faulkner expresses his dismay towards the writers of the day and laid out what he terms “the writer’s duty.” In his acceptance speech, Faulkner is disheartened by the fact that young writers continue to discuss “the end of man” in their work. Faulkner advocates that authors must make all efforts to “help man endure by lifting his heart.” Because man leads a difficult life, writers are obligated to use their work to uplift and inspire the reader’s sprit. In his memoir, Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt raises the reader’s spirits by illustrating that although one may have a reprobate nature,
Loyalty is a powerful force. Oftentimes it blindsides us and causes us to support things we would not normally. Even do things that we despise. William Faulkner’s Barn Burning illustrates just such a case. Presenting a young boy’s progression from a loyal child, to an independent man as a conflict of loyalty and morals. This boy, Sarty, battles his own forming morals versus his father’s decisions, which leads to his development from child to adult. Faulkner writes his characters progression in five stages: blind loyalty, repressed disagreements, open questioning, and attempted reasoning with his father, before finally taking action to contradict his father.
William Faulkner incorporates balanced sentence structure throughout his speech to draw connections between the writer and their role within humanity. Faulkner begins his speech by addressing all aspiring writers and linking himself to them. He states that these writers are “already dedicated to the same anguish and travail, among whom is already that one who will someday stand here where I am standing.” Faulkner immediately establishes a hopeful tone regarding the future of writers, writers who, like Faulkner, understand that good writing requires the hard-work of self-sacrifice. Later on, when discussing the work of authors who disregard the universal truths of writing, Faulkner once again employs a balanced sentence. He claims such works are “of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion”. Defeat and victory juxtaposed blurs the lines between the two and emphasizes the lack of meaning found within the works of authors unwilling to share the problems of the human heart. The parallelism of victories without hope, pity, and compassion marks any author’s work lacking these essential elements as destitute. Faulkner closes his speech with a final balanced statement, “The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.” Faulkner expounds his central message that our writings must be the
His actually education only goes as far as one year at the University of Mississippi. After leaving Oxford and living in New Haven, Connecticut for a few years, Faulkner joined the British Royal Flying Corps. He never served active duty, as the war ended before his training did. Faulkner returned home and began writing poetry. But his early writing was more of the traditional style- a mix of Shakespeare, Victorian, and Edwardian. It wasn’t until a trip to New Orleans in 1925 that he began to fiddle with his writing style, after a friend encouraged him to write more Southern based prose. His style also grew as he began reading James Joyce, a “high” modernist writer, and Sigmund Freud, and also took a trip to Europe- the center of modernist writing. With these influences, Faulkner began writing novels about Southern society, with an emphasis on the psychology of the characters. For example, in his novel The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner writes from four different points of view; the first three sections are of each of the three brother’s point of view, and the last section is omniscient. His writing also plays with chronology, not always following a specific timeline. The disjointedness of time is very prominent in As I Lay Dying. About the death of a mother, the 59 inner monologues and fifteen characters make the book more about the characters psychology rather than a
Faulkner’s works consisted of many dark touchy topics such as war, racism, mental illness and suicide in all of books, short stories, William Faulkner wrote about almost every part of life, from something that could be absurd at his time, to something real like racism in the American South. Throughout his life, Faulkner was kind of a rebel, notorious for his confidence, drinking, and he would often make up stories about himself. Faulkner wrote from experience and as a person who lived in the south during times of racism, he wrote about a lot of things in the south. To be exact his specific genre or style in which he wrote in is what some call “southern gothic”. Southern gothic is a unique style of writing and only expressed by very few authors. These stories usually take place only in the south and have darkness to them. His stories would use irony to examine the values of the American south. Instead of solely trying to add suspense with the style it is also used to explore social issues and cultural character of the south. Which leads me to one of Faulkner’s first important novels “Sartoris”. In Sartoris Faulkner focuses on a family during the world war era in the south. In the book the Sartoris family is one of the more important families in Yoknapatawpha County where the book is set. The Old Colonel, John Sartoris, represents an old and dying out order dating back to the mid 1900’s. His world revolves around his plantation home, his slaves and his
Character development is essential in any decent narrative as it is the vessel of the reader throughout the fictional world. An author may have the ability to create the most intricate plot, describe the most beautiful imagery and present a revolutionary discovery through writing, but if his character lacks development his brilliance will be dimmed and lost. Proper character development is difficult and must be elaborated correctly from the beginning of a story, or else the structure becomes hard to follow. Faulkner and Hemmingway both are masters in the craft of character and often reflect themselves upon this. They are able to do so brilliantly, and although both authors differ greatly in their development and techniques, their end results are nothing short of dazzling. Faulkner often develops his characters through their surroundings and object description, in most instances directly relating and comparing each other. Hemmingway creates his characters using complex sentence structure and dialogue, with the main theme surrounding politics and war. Both authors have a different focus and exposure and their setting reflect this style. In order to begin comparing Faulkner and Hemmingway it is important to first identify each author’s style and techniques.
William Faulkner, the eldest son to parents Murry and Maud Butler Falkner, was born in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897. Although Faulkner was not a keen student in high school, which eventually lead to his dropping out before graduation, he was very enthusiastic about undirected learning. After years of studying independently, Faulkner allowed a friend of his family, Phil Stone, to assist him with his academic vocation. This relationship inspired Faulkner and after a short period spent with the Royal Air Force in 1918 he decided to go to university where he began writing and publishing poetry. In 1924 Stone’s financial assistance helped Faulkner publish a
The works of William Faulkner have had positive effects on readers throughout his career. Local legends and gossip trigger the main focus of his stories. Considering that Faulkner grew up in Mississippi, he was very familiar with the ways of the South. This award winning author has been praised by many critics for his ability and unique style of writing. One of Faulkner's most popular works, which also was his first short story nationally published in
The writer and Nobel Prize winner, William Cuthbert Faulkner, was born in New Albany, Mississippi, on September 25, 1897. Faulkner was the first of four sons to Murry Cuthbert Falkner and Maud Butler. His family settled in Oxford when he was about five years old, and Faulkner spends most of his life there. Faulkner was successful early in his life, but during the fifth grade he lost interest in school and started missing classes. He did not graduate from high school, and later on he was able to go to the University of Mississippi in Oxford, but dropped out after three semesters. He is known as one of the most famous Southern literature writers, mostly for his novels and poetry. William Faulkner's literary career was influenced by
William Faulkner’s unconventional writing style is widely renowned for his disregard of literary rules and his keen ability to peer into the psychological depths of his characters. His novel As I Lay Dying is no exception to his signature style. This book sets forth the death of Addie Bundren, her family’s journey through Yoknapatawpha County to bury her with her relatives in Jefferson, Mississippi, and examines each character in depth from a variety of perspectives. While this journey wreaks havoc among members of the family, As I Lay Dying serves as a dark reminder that life is to be lived and that happiness is within reach.
A disclaimer to start an essay isn’t too formal, neither is my writing. After several hours of listening and trying to decipher William Faulkner’s work “The Sound and the Fury”, one experiences an epiphany that he cannot read. The determined also known as the student has to continue on the quest to fulfill his high school education though. Caddy Compson, the most important character in The Sound and the Fury, is rather rare in that both in writing and in the book. It’s rather abnormal for a writer never to share the central character’s thoughts or views on… anything, and this is exactly what occurs in Faulkner’s work. Caddy only appears in flashbacks told by her brothers, perhaps the three most unreliable narrators one has ever seen. The