Andrew Costroff
ENG 102

Faulkner and American Literature
Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner is commonly considered one of America’s most creative and inspiring novelists. Influenced by authors such as Phil Stone, Sherwood Anderson, and James Joyce, Faulkner’s works center on themes like racism, sexuality, and social decline that was taking place in the 1920’s and 30’s in the South. At the core of his stories and novels are symbols of decay, like Miss Emily in “A Rose for Emily”, and Southern pride, like in “The Sound and the Fury”. His experimental use of techniques, such as stream-of-consciousness and multiple narrators, make his work challenging to read, but nonetheless unique. Many of Faulkner's writings are set in Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional area reflecting his native Lafayette County, which played a major role in shaping one of the world’s most artistic imaginations.
William Faulkner (he actually added the u later) was born on September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi. He was named after his great-grandfather, William Clark Falkner, the “Old Colonel” who often appears in William’s stories. As a young boy, he would often listen to stories told to him by his family, particularly his mother Maud and his grandmother Lelia – both of which were well-educated and excellent readers. These included stories of the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan, slavery, and the Falkner family. Considering this, it is easy to see how themes of racism, sexuality, and battles of social class are unavoidably spread throughout novels such as “The Sound and the Fury”. Even during his childhood years, Faulkner was so distracted by his desire to write that he rarely showed interest in school, and actually never graduated. Instead he wrote poetry and even submitted some of his work to the school yearbook. When he was seventeen, Faulkner met Philip Stone, who read some of Faulkner’s poetry, saw the potential in William, and decided to mentor him. In fact, in the biography “William Faulkner” it states “Stone had recognized Faulkner’s talent early on and had encouraged his literary bent” (William Faulkner). Later, Phil Stone introduced Faulkner to James Joyce, whose tragic style of writing shows up in many of Faulkner’s works like “A Rose for Emily”. Another influence on Faulkner’s direction as an author was Sherwood Anderson. Faulkner made his first attempt at a fictional novel, called “Soldiers Pay”, because of Anderson.
One undeniable fact about Faulkner is that he was heavily influenced by his home state of Mississippi, as well as by the history and culture of the American South altogether. Mississippi helped shape his sense of humor, his position on issues like race and social class, and the characters in his stories. Mississippi inspired him to create Yoknapatawpha County, which is often regarded as his literary masterpiece. The collection consists of interwoven stories that “[explore] the unsettling history of a South that was frequently in stubborn opposition to revered American ideals” (World). Novels such as “The Sound and the Fury”, “As I Lay Dying”, “Light in August”, and “Absalom, Absalom!” are part of this body of work. They are full of symbolism that capture “a South notable, among other things, for its rapacious land abuse, pathological racism, miserable poverty, barbarous violence, revenge, incest, miscegenation, and rape” (World). The stories revolving around Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha are written so well that they are still studied in classrooms around the world today.
A style Faulkner used in his writings is what would later be dubbed "stream of consciousness". He would often jump from one moment in time to another or one personality to another. A very clear example of this technique is found in The Sound and the Fury. The story begins within the mind of a mentally retarded boy named Benji, and, as it progresses, the narration shifts from one Compson brother to another. Although this style of writing was very new and edgy for the late 30’s in America, stream-of-consciousness is commonly used nowadays in film and literature (for instance, the award winning movie “Forrest Gump”). This illustrates the brilliance of Faulkner’s creativity and the captivating power of his approach to writing.
When looking further into “A Rose for Emily”, his intention of symbolizing the South through the use of characters and settings becomes obvious. Because the Great Depression shifted America both politically and economically, Faulkner witnessed a lot of racism, womanizing, poverty, and other social issues firsthand. He embodied the decay of old culture through Miss Emily and her house that had become “an eyesore among eyesores” (Faulkner, “Rose”). He used the townspeople to represent new culture and “more modern ideas” (A Rose). This was Faulkner’s way of showing two sides of the South. While some saw industrial advancement as beneficial, others believed that modernization did not necessarily mean progress.
“A Rose for Emily” is important in literary history because it is more than just a simple short story. It is a statement on the attitudes of an entire society. Faulkner uses the point of view of the first person spread over three generations of post-Civil War south. This technique turns a simple tale into a statement about an entire society, because the "narrator" obviously must change over each generation. It seems all events in the story are described and understood by the townspeople as a whole rather than by one individual. If the attitudes of the narrator toward Emily Grierson are exactly the same over three generations, it means that the attitudes of the entire society have not changed over three generations. Therefore, the story becomes one about the society itself as much as it is about Emily Grierson.
The lengthy, descriptive narration and the clever use of symbolism found throughout “A Rose for Emily” are as complicated as the world that surrounded Faulkner. However, while The Sound and the Fury is also complex, it produces a different view of the South; one that is intense and fiery. There is no doubt that the novel was directly inspired by Faulkner’s family. After all, he had three brothers, black servants, a mother whose family was not as distinguished as her husband's, a father who drank a lot, and a grandmother called Damuddy who died while he was young. In comparison, the novel is told from the point of view of the three Compson brothers, shows the black servant Dilsey as a main character, has Mrs. Compson complain about how her family is beneath her husband's, portrays Mr. Compson as an alcoholic, and names the children's grandmother Damuddy who also dies while they are young.