William Faulkner

1. William Faulkner Born September 25, 1897 Died July 6, 1962

2. Early Life • Faulkner was the first of four children, and spent most of his childhood in Mississippi. • He was exceptional in school up until the sixth grade when he started to become indifferent to all subject except southern history, which is eminent in his writing. • Dropped out of high school at the age of 15. • His mother and grandmother who were both great readers, painters, and photographers heavily influenced Faulkner.

3. Adult Life • Faulkner was in the army and a mailman, but was unsuccessful in both. • Faulkner was 17 he met the biggest influence on his career, Philip Stone. Stone supported Faulkner’s dream of being a writer and even sent early pieces to publishers. • 1929 Faulkner married Estelle Oldham, but he was known for having several extramarital affairs. • Faulkner also battled with a drinking problem, he did not drink while he wrote, but instead preferred to binge after completion of a work.

4. Writing Highlights Faulkner was a prolific writer, publishing 13 novels and numerous short stories. Faulkner has a distinct writing style, known as “stream of consciousness”. He writes in long, complex sentences, often omitting any punctuation. He frequently uses flashbacks and switches point of view without warning. Faulkner sets all of his stories in Mississippi, especially a fictional county known as Yoknapatawpha.

5. Historical Context Light in August was published in 1932. This was a time before the Civil Rights Movement and there was a battle between North and South on African American rights and discrimination. This novel was specifically focused on the racism and discrimination in the South and Southern values.

6. Light in August Light in August takes place in Mississippi, and follows Lena Groves as she chases her baby’s father across the state. Throughout the novel it shifts from focusing on Lena to more focalized on the character of Joe Christmas. The novel uses symbols, allegory, and several themes to analyze the overall meaning of the work. In this particular novel Faulkner was concerned with racial segregation and discrimination which is reflected through his character of Joe Christmas and the themes of isolation and the search for identity.

7. Historical Context “A Rose for Emily” was written in 1930. Faulkner wrote in a time that was following the Civil War and was struggling between old morals and the new generation’s values. Faulkner was interested specifically in Southern morals, which is why all of his stories take place in Mississippi. This particular short story illustrates the tensions between the North and the South and their societies.

8. “A Rose for Emily” This short story tells the events of Emily Grierson, the daughter of a prominent family in Mississippi who falls from graces once her father is gone. The story is divided into five sections. Section 1 starts at Emily’s funeral and recollects how the town reacted after her years of seclusion. Section 2 flashes back to when her father died and the neighbors complained of a smell from her house. Section 3 is talking about when Emily has an illness then Homer Barron comes to town for construction. In section 4 the townspeople become worried after Emily bought arsenic and the priest refuses to ever go back to seeing her and sends for her family. Emily shuts up her house and no one goes in the house for years. Section 5 is what happens after her death referring back to the beginning.

9. Chronology of Plot “A Rose for Emily” lacks a chronological order of events. Faulkner rarely mentions the date throughout the story. He starts with Miss Emily’s funeral and then flashbacks back in time to her father’s death. Then moves forward in time before flashing back again to after her father’s death. We then see the events around Homer Barron unfold until the time of Emily’s death again and the townspeople enter her home.

10. Point of View “A Rose for Emily” is told from first person by a narrator, but who the narrator is speaking as changes throughout the story. It never identifies as a male or female, young or old. Most of the time the narrator uses “we” suggesting he is speaking for a group of people. This group of people ranges from men to women, and also through generations. The speaker changes to embody the values of the people of the time.

11. Foreshadowing In “A Rose for Emily”, Emily unwilling to give up her father’s body and the mysterious odor coming from her home foreshadows the discovery of Homer Barron’s body. Other things such as her closing off the top floor and the disappearance of Barron foreshadow his death. Also Emily buying poison foreshadows her own death.

12. Love and Hate “A Rose for Emily” fits love and hate because of the character Emily Grierson. Emily embodies both love and hate, both to the extreme. A rose usually is a symbol for love, but there is no rose in the story. Instead, it seems Emily is given more thorns than roses. While Emily is seen with Homer Barron it never says that they are romantically involved. It could be implied she both loves and hates Barron because she kills him, but then also preserves his body and sleeps next to him for years. It can also be said that she both loved and hated her father. She has affection for him, but he also ran off all her possible suitors. Because of these two men, Emily learns to love in a destructive way.

13. Stream of Consciousness • Device in literature to show the thoughts and feelings in one’s mind. It is also known as interior monologue • The term stream of consciousness, which indicates the flow of inner experience, was coined by philosopher William James in 1890 • Authors such as Virginia Woolfe, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and William Faulkner write in this

14. Faulkner’s Inspiration In February 2010 a man’s diary by the name Terry Leak was found. This diary is said to be the source of inspiration of Faulkner’s work. Leak was a wealthy plantation owner in Mississippi in the 1800’s. Names of his slaves were used in several of Faulkner’s books. Although Faulkner used Leak’s family as an inspiration, he strongly disagreed with almost all his views and deeply detested him. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/books/11faulkner.html?pagewanted=all