William Faulkner: the Author and His Works - Essay Example

William Faulkner: The and His Works William Faulkner (1897-1962) is one of America’s most highlighted and most unlikely authors. Eventually producing 26 books and a difficult to count number of short stories, Faulkner’s stories were full of such artistry and character that he has become recognized as a giant in world literature. “Faulkner accomplished in a little over a decade more artistically than most writers accomplish over a lifetime of writing” (Padgett, 2005). His creation of the mythical Yoknapatawpha County, along with all the people in it, painted a precise picture of what life was like in the turn of the century American south. Rather than portraying his characters in keeping with the generally accepted and widely held view of the stereotypical farmer, for instance, Faulkner presented his characters, good and bad, with a strong degree of sensitivity and understanding (Cowley, 1977). By covering several aspects of living in Yoknapatawpha, telling stories from various different viewpoints within the town, Faulkner has an amazing repertoire of characters who drift in and out of focus and who can trace their lineage back to his first tale. He wrote primarily from his experience growing up in the south and within his archetypal setting, he was able to establish clearly defined allegories such as Time in “A Rose for Emily”, the strength of the southern black man in “Ad Astra” and the struggle of the natural against the civilized in “The Bear.” Faulkner is one of the least educated and least experienced writers of his time. Born in New Albany, Mississippi on September 25, 1897, he was originally William Falkner, the first of four sons born to Murry and Maud Falkner. He acquired the ‘u’ later in life probably as a typographical error and later as an intentional misspelling to obtain a position with the Royal Air Force in Canada as he felt it made him appear more British (Padgett, 2005). When he was five years old, the family moved to Oxford. Although he reportedly showed a great deal of artistic talent at a young age, Faulkner was quickly bored with school and dropped out without graduating from high school. Other than a short stint at the University of Mississippi, he never returned to school. He joined the Royal Air Force in Canada, but was honorably discharged shortly after he completed training when the war ended, forcing him to return home to Mississippi. He remained somewhat unanchored for a while, taking odd jobs, publishing poetry and short stories and attending the university before moving to New York and taking a position there. His first published book, The Marble Faun, was a collection of poetry. His move to New Orleans in 1925 gave him the opportunity to mingle with more of the literati crowd and the acceptance of A Soldier’s Pay, his first novel, provided him with the necessary funds to sail to Europe, where he spent approximately six months in Italy, France and England. It wasn’t until his third novel, though, that he would begin to develop Yoknapatawpha County. He became involved with screenwriting in Hollywood in the 1930s and continued publishing short stories and novels. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1939. Although he remained popular overseas, it was the publication of The Portable Faulkner that re-launched American interest in him in 1946. He was then awarded the Howells Medal in 1950 and the Nobel Prize for literature in December of the same year. Eudora Welty presented him with the Gold Medal for Fiction awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1962. Throughout his career, Faulkner was able to create stories that were filled with allegory, as can be seen in “A Rose for Emily”, “Ad Astra” and “The Bear.” Time plays a very palpable role in “A Rose for Emily.” Almost strong enough to be considered a character of its own, Time marches through the story in a disjointed fashion, always leaving its mark wherever it touches. Throughout the story, readers experience the rigidity of the past, the flexible nature of the present and the tug-of-war battle constantly fought between them. By utilizing several of the older characters in the story as symbols, Faulkner demonstrates the unchanging and unchangeable nature of the past through the actions of these characters. Standing out as the prime example for his case is Miss Emily Grierson herself, as inflexible and unchanging as possible. According to C.W.M. Johnson (1948), the problem with Miss Emily is simply “her obstinate refusal to submit to, or even to concede, the inevitability of change.” Even the inanimate objects associated with Miss Emily are seen to be unchanging with the passing of years. The house is a “big, squarish frame house that had once been white” that lifts “its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps — an eyesore among eyesores” (433). In Tobe, Miss Emily’s servant, the reader finds a character with no voice and no change in pattern. While there are plenty of symbols to represent the past contained in the story, the largest voice for the present is contained in the plural form of Faulkner’s narrator. From the very beginning of the story, we are told “our whole town went to her funeral” (433). The reflective tone of this group voice changes somewhat throughout the story, indicating a presently living, presently very active, group of people recounting the tale rather than a single town relic. That the present voice is constantly in flux can be seen in the various second-guessing happening throughout the narrative as in “at first we were glad” (438) and “the next day we all said, ‘She will kill herself’; and we said it would be the best thing” (440) as the narrative switches from being in favor of Miss Emily’s happiness to being in favor of Miss Emily’s demise in keeping with the news of the day. Although quite flat and undeveloped, the character of Homer Barron also helps to symbolize the present point in time as it is juxtaposed against the unchanging past. To begin with, Homer Barron is a Yankee, a character that is immediately recognized by those in the south as bringing about change and new ideas. It is through her association with Homer Barron that Miss Emily comes closest to entering the present world. The opposing relationship between the past and the present can be traced through the relationship between Homer Barron and Miss Emily. The arrival of Miss Emily’s cousins in town precipitates a withdrawal from Homer Barron in response. That Homer remained as changeable as the present is evident in that he returned “within three days” as a “neighbor saw the Negro man admit him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening” (441). However, Miss Emily was not accustomed to change and could not overcome the training of her unchanging past. Even though Miss Emily was able to halt Homer’s progress, she proved in the end to be incapable of stopping the effects of time as becomes obvious by the end of the story when the men find his decaying corpse still sleeping on her bed. “Miss Emily emerges as a historical figure frozen in a sort of stasis, though throughout it all, Faulkner never makes her any less complex and ambiguous. Resistant to change though she may be, even she cannot hold back the effects of aging, growing steadily older” (Knickerbocker, 2003). Although Faulkner painted the past as unchangeable and the present as unstoppable, the conflict presented between the two provided victories to either side. With Miss Emily’s triumph over Homer Barron, the reader is shown the victory of the past to overpower the present, bringing it to a halting standstill. However, the repeated allusions to decay of both the house and the individuals representing the past indicate that time cannot be stopped, it will continue to move forward bringing changes whether desired or not. “Emily’s decision to regulate the natural time-universe by taking Homer’s life and not allowing him to pursue his own decisions ultimately forces Emily to become captive to her own life” (Keith, 2004). In much the same way that he captures Time in “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner is able to develop an allegory for the brotherhood of men in “Ad Astra.” This is established, like it was in “A Rose for Emily”, almost from the very beginning as the story opens upon three American and one Irish soldier and a subadar, an Indian rank that is approximately equal to the rank of an English Captain (The British Library Board, n.d.). The way in which the subadar is compared to the captured German soldier as opposed to the way in which he is compared with the rest of the soldiers illustrates that the reason black and white are not brothers is due to the American obsession with color rather than focusing on the true attributes of the man of color. The German and the subadar characters are immediately separated from the others in every way possible. They are both described as being the only two individuals who are dressed in crisp, neat uniforms – the subadar in “trick major’s pips” and the German as “rigid, soldierly, with every button in place, with his unblemished bandage and fresh razor cuts” (417). This bandage is immediately linked in appearance to that of the subadar’s turban, the only two characters with anything on their heads. As they begin conversing, they also appear to be the only characters with anything going on within their heads, being the only two who do not seem too traumatized by their sudden changes in status to discuss the larger events that are happening in the world. Part of their conversation links them immediately as both knowing the territory from which the German comes, a similar taste in music and an ability to discuss things in terms of a brotherhood. Although the subadar is the only sober one in the story, the German joins him in his reluctance to drink despite the urging of Monaghan. “They both appear in the story as if out of nowhere, the narrator simply mentions that after a while, they were there. Although they each come from an affluent background – the German as a potential Baron who has renounced his birthright and the subadar as a “prince” who also turned his back on his heritage, neither one is given a name within the story, instead being referred to by how others categorize them. Although the subadar can also be compared favorably to Bland, he does not gain the equal status with his fellow soldiers that he is able to establish immediately with the German. Bland remembers him from his days at Oxford, but reminds everyone that even though the subadar could “attend the schools among the gentleborn, […] he cannot hold their commission, because gentility is a matter of color and not lineage or behavior” (413). “In these stories, there is frequently a background narrator who implies that the black characters involved in the plot are at least as important and as good as the white, but because the world values color over content, the characters of color find themselves socially disadvantaged” (Martin, 1993). He is reminded of this inequality frequently as none of the other men seem capable of talking with him on his own level and as he is continuously restricted from exercising his rank or knowledge in the face of white determination. This can be seen in the words of the MP, who “watched the subadar, upon his face an expression savage, restrained and cold. […] ‘When I came to this country, […] I thought niggers were niggers. But now I’ll be damned if I know what they are’.” (422). “The Bear” provides a darkly compelling epitaph for the wild forest and the timeless expanse of nature as the white man’s civilization encroaches, complete with its restrictions and rules as evidenced by the placement of Time within the story. As the story begins, the reader is introduced to Ike and taken back to his beginning years as a hunter. Through this narrative, the imagery of Old Ben the bear as a personifying aspect of the wild spaces is bridged into understanding by the half-wild figure of Sam Fathers while Lion the dog brings this understanding one step further into the wild. They are opposed by the images of civilization, the bullets that fail to stop the bear, the white men that make the decisions regarding when the time has come and are bridged by the figure of Ike McCaslin who lives in the white man’s world, but nevertheless has an affinity and foreknowledge of the wild. This struggle between the lasting power of nature versus the killing forces of man are richly symbolized in the figures of Old Ben, Lion and Sam Fathers on the part of nature as they are defeated and contained within the white man’s world. The forces of nature within the story are personified in the triple image of Sam, the bear and the dog Lion. “Sam’s father was the son of a Negro slave and a Chickasaw chief and it is he more than anyone else who teaches Ike to have respect, almost a great reverence, for nature” (Monahan, 2002). This is portrayed in the various ways in which Sam points out to Ike the ways of the forest, instructing him that to be able to be accepted as a part of the wild, he must lose the tools of the white man. “Only then does he gain admission to the sight of the bear, which appears to him as ‘dimensionless,’ the incarnation of timeless space and limitless time” (Ozdemir, 1996). Although he is a person of color in the world of the white man, in the world of the forest, Sam is of a respected and noble race and lineage. However, this is not the only characteristic he shares with the bear. “If Old Ben is to be vanquished by the human being and by time, so must also Sam Fathers. The White has already defeated his people, Indian and Black; it remains for him to synchronize his bodily death with that of Old Ben” (Ozdemir, 1996). The enduring nature of the primitive forest in the face of man’s entry is shown by the continued survival of Old Ben and his consummate skill in being able to avoid the hunters whenever he wishes. Old Ben is allowed to take the occasional cow, pig or bunch of corn from those who live in or along the edge of the forest, but when he takes a colt, he is considered as having invaded the lands of the civilized, bringing white hunters to the conclusion that he must die. When he is finally brought in, Ike counts 52 lumps which are the bullets and lead that have been fired into the bear throughout his long lifetime, not to mention the damaged paw that distinguishes his tracks from the time he escaped a bear trap. Even though the bear is eventually brought down, it is only through the courage, tenacity and wild nature of the dog Lion, who has never been broken of his own wild nature, that he allows himself to be cornered. “The bear […] deliberately lets himself be caught and killed; death being a safe retreat from man gone amok” (Monahan, 2005). Despite the fact that it is Lion who finally corners Old Ben and Boon’s knife that finally kills him, this killing leads to Lion’s own death as a result of injuries sustained, but a death that probably would have happened regardless. “Lion, an animal forced to yield its power and instincts at the control of man, ultimately leads to his failed survival within nature. The death of Old Ben brought on by Boon Hogganbeck leaves an ambiguous answer to whether the bear’s death was right or wrong, or whether there was something more complex behind the death” (Foster, 2005). At no point in the story does Lion seem to accept the ultimate superiority of man, acceding to man’s wishes more out of a resignation to reduce hassle than a desire to please any of them. However, Lion is able to gain control over the white man’s world in that he subdues the other dogs while still providing them with a newfound courage, inspiring fear in those who have seen him and in capturing the missing spirit of Boon. Thus it is through the careful interplay of characters and events that Faulkner is able to weave together elements of Time, Nature and Color to present a uniquely well-rounded set of stories that both stand alone and that work together to deliver a careful analysis regarding widely held ideologies from the American south that can be translated into other portions of the globe. With stories such as “A Rose for Emily,” “The Bear” and “Ad Astra”, he illustrates popularly held conceptions and analyzes them in ways that work to break stereotypes, examine motives and explore relationships among a wide variety of people. A shining example of American ingenuity, Faulkner emerges as one of the country’s most talented and prolific writers despite the fact that he was one of the least educated and worldly. Works Cited British Library Board (The). “India Office Records: Family History Sources.” The British Library. (n.d.). March 25, 2006 Cowley, Malcolm. “Introduction.” The Portable Faulkner. New York: Penguin Books, 1977. Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” The Portable Faulkner. New York: Penguin Books, 1977, pp. 433-44. Foster, Lindsey. “Faulkner’s The Bear.” University of California – Santa Barbara. (November 16, 2005). March 25, 2006 < http://english.ucsb.edu/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=000033> Johnson, C.W.M. “Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’.” Explicator. Vol. 6, I. 45, May 1948. Keith, Amy. “Reality: Fact or Perception.” Dalton State College. (2004). March 24, 2006 Knickerbocker, Eric. “William Faulkner: The Faded Rose of Emily.” Mr. Renaissance. (March 15, 2003). March 24, 2006 Martin, Reginald. “Faulkner’s Southern Reflections: The Black on the Back of the Mirror in ‘Ad Astra’.” African American Review. (Spring 1993). March 25, 2006 Monahan, Kerrin Ross. “The Old Man and the Bear.” Write Between the Lines. Vol. 1, I. 4, Summer 2002. Ozdemir, Erinc. “The Thematic and Structural Function of Time in William Faulkner’s ‘The Bear’.” Journal of American Studies of Turkey. (1996). March 25, 2006 < http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/~jast/Number3/Ozdemir.html> Padgett, John B. “William Faulkner.” University of Mississippi English Department. (2005). March 23, 2006 < http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/index.html> Outline I. Introduction Thesis statement - He wrote primarily from his experience growing up in the south and within his archetypal setting, he was able to establish clearly defined allegories such as Time in “A Rose for Emily”, the strength of the southern black man in “Ad Astra” and the struggle of the natural against the civilized in “The Bear.” II. Biography Topic sentence - Faulkner is one of the least educated and least experienced writers of his time. A. Childhood B. Young adult C. Struggling writer D. Success III. A Rose for Emily Topic sentence - Time plays a very palpable role in “A Rose for Emily.” A. Old = Past 1. Miss Emily 2. Inanimate objects 3. Tobe B. We = Present 1. Plural narrator 2. Homer C. Tug of War 1. Past’s victory over present – Emily over Homer 2. Present’s victory over past – decay with advance of years IV. Ad Astra Topic sentence - The way in which the subadar is compared to the captured German soldier as opposed to the way in which he is compared with the rest of the soldiers illustrates that the reason black and white are not brothers is due to the American obsession with color rather than focusing on the true attributes of the man of color. A. German and Subadar as separate and higher class within their own societies 1. appearance 2. conversation 3. background 4. lack of identity B. Subadar as less than white Allied soldiers 1. Oxford 2. Rank 3. treatment within group V. The Bear Topic sentence - This struggle between the lasting power of nature versus the killing forces of man are richly symbolized in the figures of Old Ben, Lion and Sam Fathers on the part of nature as they are defeated and contained within the white man’s world. A. Sam B. Ben C. Lion VI. Conclusion Read More