William Faulkner

Bio:
William Faulkner was born on September 25th, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi. He joined the Canadian Air Force and British Royal Air Force during WWI. He went to the University of Mississippi for Law; worked in a bookstore; worked in a New Orleans Newspaper, and for the US Postal Service; and even a Hollywood play writer. With all these odd jobs, Faulkner had plenty of experiences to write about, but stuck with his niche of the American South. His infatuation with the south could be explained by his childhood growing up on a plantation that once had slaves working on it, whatever it was, Faulkner liked to draw comparisons with the civil war and the differences with "new" south and "old" south. Unlike many of the authors of this time period, Faulkner wasn't the traditional "lost generation" writer, he never left the U.S. for long periods and stayed most of his life in Mississippi. Faulkner was different with these other authors in that he was Patriotic, and didn't mind being 'Americocentric', with most his writing being about the American south.    



Famous Works:
-The Sound and the Fury
-As I Lay Dying
-Light in August
-A Rose for Emily
-Absalom, Absalom!



Analysis:
I decided to analyze William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily". The story is about the conflict a town of Jefferson (in Mississippi) has with Emily Grierson, a old black single woman with wealth and a smelly house. Faulkner narrates this story through "first people", or a point of view of the people of the town and their opinions on Emily Grierson. Faulkner explores the racist views white average citizens had on wealthy black aristocrats, especially black aristocrats whom didn't pay taxes. The town hated Emily, and always kept her restricted within her home and kept her a slave like her ancestors were. Even when she started dating Homer, the town judged her; when she was unmarried, the town judged her; when she bought poison, the town judged her. All the town did for Miss Emily Grierson was judge her, they never tried to help when her father died, when she wasn't paying taxes, or even when she was lonely. Faulkner also uses great ways to built up to the climax of the suspension with foreshadowing of what the "smell" is and why the upstairs room is "locked".



Miscellaneous:
-Faulkner was a notorious ladies man, and extremely charming

-Even though he never graduated from High School, or earned a college degree, Faulkner won the Noble Peace Prize for Literature, two Pulitzer Prizes, and two National Book Awards

-William Faulkners Noble Peace Prize Acceptance Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENIj5oNtapw