William Faulkner's Writing Style - Essay Example

William Faulkners Writing Style William Faulkners writing style, especially his narration and flashback techniques, have a tremendous impact on the reader. Faulkner makes use of different narrators in one story, like in Absalom, Absalom! and The Sound and the Fury. Another use of narration can be seen in “A Rose for Miss Emily.” Faulkner uses an anonymous narrator for this short story. These three examples also use flashback sequences that make the story layered. This allows readers to think about the story, Faulkner did not just tell a story with his own agenda. Faulkner wrote about settings he was familiar with, the Deep South of the United States of America. This paper will analyze the uniqueness of Absalom, Absalom!, The Sound and the Fury, and “A Rose for Miss Emily”. Faulkner had a unique way of narrating his stories. Multiple narrators are used in Absalom, Absalom! and The Sound and the Fury. The different narrators do not tell the same story, but reveal more and more details as the tale progresses. In Absalom, Absalom!, Rosa Coldfield, Quentins father and Quentin Compson, are the main narrators. Rosa is the first narrator. She has biased recollections. For example: Who came out of nowhere and without warning upon the land with a band of strange niggers and built a plantation---(Tore violently a plantation, Miss Rosa Coldfield says)---tore violently. And married her sister Ellen and begot a son and a daughter to which---(Without gentleness begot)---without gentleness. (Faulkner, 2002, p. 9) Quentin explains Rosas bias, “If he threw Miss Rosa over, I wouldnt think she would want to tell anybody about Quentin said” (Faulkner, 2002, p. 59). Both of these narrators have an agenda, but the reader is left to side with the agenda of their choice. In The Sound and the Fury, there are four main narrators. Benjy Compson, a thirty-three year old man that is mentally retarded. The second is Quentin Compson, the Harvard student who kills himself after problems involving his sister, Caddy. The third is Benjy and Quentins brother Jason, a bitter soul. Lastly Dilsey, the Compsons black servant gives her unbiased point of view. The three brothers tell their perception of events, while Dilseys is the most impartial. Once again the reader can chose what to think about Faulkners story. “A Rose for Emily” only has one narrator, but an anonymous one. This narrator is unique, because the plural nature of the one telling Miss Emilys story. The whole town is represented by the one narrator. For example: When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man- servant--a combined gardener and cook--had seen in at least ten years. (Faulkner, 1995, p. 119) Even though the narrator is one, it is clear he represents the whole town. The narrator does not just represent the whole town, but the towns gossip of Miss Emily. Flashback and jumping in time sequence is another Faulkner trait. In Absalom, Absalom!, the narrators look back to tell the rise and fall of the Sutpen family. The use of flashback in this story helps develop the humanity and memory of the narrators. Faulkner managed to grasp that some humans have good memories, others do not. The flashback helped show this difference in this story. In The Sound and the Fury, flashbacks also set the stage for the realistic depiction of the characters memories. In fact, this story gets its name from William Shakespeares Macbeth: To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Lifes but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing... This could mean that the idiot was Benjy, or that all of the narrators and participants were idiots. Symbolically all narrators could be considered idiots, because of faulty memories. Even the best memory can be flawed. Another symbolic issue in Shakespeares soliloquy is the tale signifies nothing. Stories, especially fiction stories, are meant to entertain the reader. A good writer entertains the reader, by engaging them in a story. Faulkner does entertain and engage, but also realizes that his stories signify nothing. “A Rose for Emily” flashes back in time. The first line is about Miss Emilys death. Later the narrator states: And of Miss Emily for some time. The Negro man went in and out with the market basket, but the front door remained closed. Now and then we would see her at a window for a moment, as the men did that night when they sprinkled the lime, but for almost six months she did not appear on the streets...When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray. During the next few years it grew grayer and grayer until it attained an even pepper-and-salt iron- gray, when it ceased turning. Up to the day of her death at seventy-four it was still that vigorous iron-gray, like the hair of an active man. (Faulkner, 1995, p. 121) Not only does Faulkner go back in time, but jumps back and then forward. The timing gives the readers a focal point for the events in the past. Miss Emily is young, but ages in this short story. It also mentions the ageing of her African American servant. Although the first line mentions her death. All three of the above stories are set in the Deep South of the United States of America. Not only are they set in the Deep South, but are during or around the time of the American Civil War. Faulkner was from this region. He was born in the American state of Mississippi at the turn of the 20th century. This is a technique that is not unique to writers. Writers generally write what they are familiar with. The unique aspect about these stories setting is the realistic way Faulkner present them. The setting of around or after the American Civil War is important, because Faulkner made African Americans appear as humans, not property. This was unique for a white man born at the turn of the century. Two examples can be found in “A Rose for Emily”. The first example of Faulkners representation of African Americans is: Colonel Sartoris, the mayor--he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron-remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity...Only a man of Colonel Sartoris generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it. (Faulkner, 1995, p. 119) This example shows that African Americans were oppressed during and after the American Civil War. The second example: And so she died. Fell ill in the house filled with dust and shadows, with only a doddering Negro man to wait on her. We did not even know she was sick; we had long since given up trying to get any information from the Negro. He talked to no one, probably not even to her, for his voice had grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse...The Negro met the first of the ladies at the front door and let them in, with their hushed, sibilant voices and their quick, curious glances, and then he disappeared. He walked right through the house and out the back and was not seen again. (Faulkner, 1995, p. 123) This example shows that white and black continued to be dedicated unto one another until the end. The servant was loyal up to Miss Emilys death. The African American is shown with human traits. Faulkner did not just portray him as Miss Emilys property. William Faulkners method of writing was unique in many ways. His narrators were realistic and varied. The different stories told by these individuals helped the reader decided what the story really means for themselves. The flashbacks and jumping of time technique helped remind readers that the narrators were human. The narrators memories were put to the test. The timing and setting also reflected Faulkners uniqueness by sharing his background. William Faulkner was one of a kind. References Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalmom! USA: Random House, 2002. ---Collected Stories of William Faulkner. USA: Vintage, 1995. ---The Sound and the Fury. USA: Vintage, 1991. Read More