William Faulkner is considered one of the greatest Southern writers in American literature. An innovative Modernist, Faulkner's stories take place in the American South and often use multiple narrators to explore the social tensions between generations, social classes, and races.
William Faulkner
William Faulkner is considered one of the greatest Southern writers in American literature. An innovative Modernist, Faulkner used experimental stylistic devices sometimes compared to the writing of the Irish literary giant, James Joyce. Faulkner’s focus on Southern history and culture and his fearless exploration of their complex legacy earned his works a firm place in the American literary canon.
Born in 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi, Faulkner grew up steeped in family history, learning at a young age the legend of his Confederate great-grandfather who died in a duel. The history of his family and region became the basis for his best writing, although he took some time to realize this. A high school dropout, Faulkner worked dozens of odd jobs while trying to establish himself as a writer. He wrote wrote several short stories, essays, novels, and even some poetry in his twenties, but it wasn’t until he was encouraged to write about his native region that he found success, publishing the popular The Sound and the Fury in 1929.
The Sound and the Fury, along with more than 20 other short stories and novels, is set in the fictional region of Yoknapatawpha County. Although the county and its people are based on the inhabitants of Faulkner’s own region, the characters and their histories were painstakingly invented. For his own authorial purposes, Faulkner wrote fictional family trees and Yoknapatawpha history going back hundreds of years. This background allowed him to work fluidly within his fictional world, creating a seamless tapestry of a realistic civilization as he jumped from character to character, decade to decade throughout his stories. Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha works garnered fame for their bold and often brutal portrayal of the South’s idiosyncrasies and deep-seated prejudices. Through the lens of various unlikely characters, he exposed the social tensions between generations, social classes, and races. His protagonists range from wealthy Southern aristocrats, to poor white single mothers, to orphaned black children trying to find their way in society.
Perhaps more striking than Faulkner’s subject matter, however, was his style. His radical experiments with voice, perspective, and structure successfully added depth to his writing. Faulkner’s stories are generally character-driven, with relatively little action in the story’s present timeline. He used multi-voiced narration, often relying on stream-of-consciousness first-person monologues to convey parallel stories which jumped around between characters and time periods. This narrative flexibility allowed him to reveal the psychological complexity of his characters and present layered historical and emotional perspectives informing the story’s action. He wrote with accurate Southern speech and dialect and varied his sentence length and complexity to reflect both simple and complex characters. He is known for using long descriptive lists to great effect, defying the traditional writing precept that too many adjectives and adverbs weaken writing. Faulkner’s bold style and uniquely American subject matter won him many awards during his lifetime along with a lasting position as one of America’s literary giants.
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Try it for Free!Famous Works of William Faulkner
- The Sound and the Fury
- Absalom, Absalom!
- Light in August
- As I Lay Dying
- “A Rose for Emily”
- “Barn Burning”
William Faulkner Quotes
“Your illusions are a part of you like your bones and flesh and memory.”
”An artist is a creature driven by demons. He don’t know why they choose him and he’s usually too busy to wonder why. He is completely amoral in that he will rob, borrow, beg, or steal from anybody and everybody to get the work done.”
“I draw no petty social lines. A man to me is a man, wherever I find him.”
How Tos about William Faulkner: Who Was He?
How can I create an engaging lesson using a picture encyclopedia page about William Faulkner?
Choose key images and facts from the Faulkner picture encyclopedia to introduce students to the author. Select content that matches your grade level and lesson objectives for maximum engagement.
Discuss Faulkner’s significance in American literature through classroom conversation.
Ask open-ended questions about Faulkner’s contributions and themes. Encourage students to share prior knowledge and make connections to other authors or historical periods.
Incorporate visual learning by analyzing images of Faulkner’s life and works.
Display photos, book covers, or timelines from the picture encyclopedia and guide students to observe and describe details. Use visual prompts to spark discussion and deepen understanding.
Facilitate a creative writing activity inspired by Faulkner’s style or themes.
Invite students to write a short story or poem using elements found in Faulkner’s works, such as Southern settings or complex characters. Provide examples from the encyclopedia page for inspiration.
Assess learning with a quick formative check using facts from the picture encyclopedia.
Pose comprehension questions or organize a short quiz based on Faulkner’s biography and literary impact. Use student responses to guide further instruction or review.
Frequently Asked Questions about William Faulkner: Who Was He?
Who was William Faulkner and why is he important?
William Faulkner was an American author known for his influential novels and short stories about the American South. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature and is celebrated for his innovative narrative techniques and deep exploration of Southern culture.
What are some famous works written by William Faulkner?
Faulkner wrote many acclaimed works, including The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and Light in August. These novels are studied widely for their complex characters and unique storytelling.
How did William Faulkner's writing style impact literature?
Faulkner's use of stream of consciousness, shifting perspectives, and experimental structure greatly influenced modern literature. His style challenged traditional storytelling and inspired countless writers.
Why do teachers and students study William Faulkner's works?
Teachers and students study Faulkner to understand American history, Southern identity, and literary innovation. His books offer valuable lessons on complex themes and creative writing techniques.
What is unique about the setting in William Faulkner's novels?
Faulkner often set his stories in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, a detailed representation of the Southern United States. This setting allowed him to explore local culture, history, and social issues in depth.
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