Faulkner Wildcard

History of William Faulkner
William Faulkner was born September 25th 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi. He grew up in a small town called Oxford, Faulkner who dropped out of high school to further his writing career, actually first became known as a poet, and then later on in his career as a fictional novelist. While living in New Orleans during his early years, Faulkner became heavily influenced by novelist Sherwood Anderson. Faulkner published his first novels during his time in New Orleans Soldier's Pay in 1926 and Mosquitoes shortly after in 1927, both novels thought received little publicity and didn't do very well. In the later 1920's Faulkner returned home to Oxford, where he began to devoted his skills to writing about life in north Mississippi. During this literary time in Faulkner's life some of his "best works" come out. Including ,but not limited to The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I lay Dying (1930), Sanctuary (1931), Light in August (1932), Absalom, Absalom (1936) and Go Down, Moses (1942).
The "best works" are commonly linked with a complex and difficult life in a fictional county of Yoknapatawpha. The themes seen in these texts are usually tragic in nature and are surrounded with deceit and greed; and more often than not death as well. Faulkner's personal reputation as he got older dwindled into a negative light, with his financial issues and his abuse of alcohol. His career was still on the move; he began to write Hollywood screenplays from 1946 to 1959 with many great successes. Faulkner has become regarded as one of America's best writers and is internationally respected for his works. His sometimes impenetrable writing style is a representation of how every moment of life is pressured by influences of past events; and how the past is never just the past. William Faulkner died on July 6th 1962 in Mississippi of natural causes.

William Faulkner was not a man of humor, so here's something to put some light on the subject


Styles of Faulkner
When first reading William Faulkner’s novel Absalom, Absalom, you may be confused, misguided, or just plain lost. Faulkner’s writing definitely isn’t an easy read that you can simply breeze through. You may have to read over the text several times to grasp a hold on what exactly Faulkner is trying to portray in his writing. With close examination as well as a possible discussion over the writing you may finally begin to unravel the truth behind Faulkner’s words, and come to an understanding of his writing.
Faulkner’s style of writing is unique to himself. As you may have noticed, he goes on long spiels without breaking. His sentence structure is very long which makes it hard to break up his writing and understand exactly what is going on. He also has a way of not making it clear as to who is narrating the story, which can be rather confusing. He often switches narrators mid-story which tells the story from different perspectives and can be misleading.
Although Faulkner has many novels, “Absalom, Absalom is generally considered Faulkner's masterpiece. It recodes a range of voices and vocabularies, all trying to unravel the mysteries of Thomas Sutpen's violent life” (Liukkonen). Faulkner definitely uses a vast vocabulary in his writing. This is challenging as writer because even with context clues, you may be distracted. One example of Faulkner’s use of vocabulary is when he talks about Anglo-Saxons, saying “…the fall from what you call grace fogged and clouded by Heaven-defying words of extenuation and explanation return to grace heralded by Heaven-placating cries of satiated abasement and flagellation…” (Faulkner 92). Faulkner admits that his writing is challenging when he criticizes Hemmingway for “never [being] known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary” (Liukkonen), which is ironic because it’s said that Faulkner didn’t own a dictionary. He would often “make up his own words to suit the moment, combine two words into one, or turn nouns into verbs and vice versa. If he couldn't spell something, he would walk down to the local drugstore and ask someone there to look it up for him. Sometimes, he would stop people on the street and ask them for the meaning of a word” (American Society).
Faulkner has a unique style of writing that is very apparent in his well known book Absalom, Absalom! Even though his writing may be confusing and is often critiqued, “The writer's only responsibility is to his art” (American Society) and Faulkner is very dedicated to his art.

Themes of Faulkner
Faulkner was raised in Oxford, Mississippi “deep in the heart of (surprise, surprise) the American South” (Canada). Since he knew so much about growing up in The South, much of his writing reflects this, “The old South, the new South, the reconstructed South--if it has to do with the South, Faulkner wrote about it” (Canada). Faulkner focuses on The South, “a place where community and social structure influence a person's life heavily” (Canada). Faulkner was interested in ethical themes relating to the life of the Deep South in the post Civil War era, “never before had someone been able to so accurately reflect the social structure of the south in this post-Civil War time period” (Canada).
His style of the novel is based on love and hatred between race and families but at the same time he captures conflict, racism, aggression, and sacrifice in each character’s life. Faulkner also explores the themes of incest, fratricide (the act of killing one’s brother) and miscegenation (breeding between races) as well as questioning the various motivations of human conduct. We can see the theme of miscegenation in Absalom, Absalom when there is conflict between Henry and Charles Bon over the marriage between Bon and Henry’s sister, Judith. Charles is enraged with Henry when he says “so it’s the miscegenation, not the incest, which you can’t bear.” (Faulkner 285).
He also explores Southern attitude of greed, distrust, and prejudice and the cultural values of a society and how it can struggle. He examines both race attitudes and personality while dealing with the fact about the past. History is very important to examine in Faulkner’s writing, the issue of “the past.” Faulkner also explores appearance and reality. Throughout the novel, Faulkner is concerned with the difficulty of uncovering truth and the many faces which it acquires when colored by individual human perspectives, fear, motivations, and interests. Faulkner’s novels are heavily influenced by racial tension and “because his novels treat the decay and anguish of the South following the Civil War, they are rich in violent and sordid events. But they are grounded in a profound and compassionate humanism that celebrates the tragedy, energy, and humor of ordinary human life.” (Canada).

Random Facts
As calls of condolence came upon the family from around the world and the press — including novelist William Styron, who covered the funeral for Life magazine — clamored for answers to their questions from family members, a family representative relayed to them a message from the family: “Until he’s buried he belongs to the family. After that, he belongs to the world.”
Rejected from joining the US Army because he was just under 5’6
Liked clothes so much he would make his own, some of his favorites were officer’s uniforms
Was an alcoholic but “said” he never drank while writing
Was a high school and college dropout
In 1949 he received the world’s highest literary award, the Nobel Prize in Literature
One of eleven Americans to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature
Burried next to his wife Estelle Faulkner
James Baldwin came to the funeral, he said Faulkner’s writing was a bore

Famous Quotes by Faulkner
Part of acceptance speech when received the Nobel Prize-“help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past.”
“In the South, not only is the past not dead, it's not past.”

Comments about Faulkner
We will never see a time like that generation came from. A mans word meant everything back then. Mr Faulkner wrote about those times and its people with an inspired eloquence that only he seem to posess.-Billy M.
Faulkner not only endures: he prevails. –zebaker
He has been my most admired author for 50 years - why? because more than any other writer he illuminated the human condition in an unforgettable way.-David A
When I have my 12th grade students read The Sound and the Fury, I ask them to look carefully at the technical brilliance and complexity of the style and structure, and then to go beyond it to see the profoundly moving portrayal of loss and pain and disintegration which lies at the heart of the story. I’ve never lived in the South, but Faulkner will always be my favorite American novelist.-Lance C
I find his work difficult but rewarding to read. As Shelby Foote so aptly said, “These are adult novels.”-Jerry


Published By: Rachel Kohler, Taylor Espy, Matt Barrick and Marie Green