William Faulkner
William Faulkner is viewed by many as America’s greatest writer of
prose
fiction. He was born in New Albany, Mississippi where he lived a life
filled
with good times and bad times. However, despite bad times he would
become known
as a poet, a short story writer, and finally one of the greatest
contemporary
novelist of his time. William Faulkner’s accomplishments
resulted not only
from his love and devotion of writing, but also from
family, friends, and
certain uncontrollable events. William Faulkner’s life
is an astonishing
accomplishment; however, it is crucial to explore his life
prior to his fixated
writing career. In 1905, Faulkner entered the first
grade at a tender age of
eight, and immediately showed signs of talent. He
not only drew an explicitly
detailed drawing of a locomotive, but he soon
became an honour-roll student:
"His report card would show no grades below
Perfect or Excellent" (Blotner
21). Throughout his early education he
would work conscientiously at reading,
spelling, writing, and arithmetic;
however, he especially enjoyed drawing. His
deportment at school was very
high, but it was not as high as it was at home.
When Faulkner got
promoted to third grade, skipping the second grade, he was
asked by his
teacher what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he replied,
"I want to be a
writer just like my great granddaddy" (Blotner 23). At
last, (in 1914)
Faulkner took interest in poetry, but no one in Oxford could
tell him what to
do with his poems. Meanwhile, Faulkner, who is very talkative,
would always
entertain Katrina Carter and Estelle Oldham by telling them vividly
imagined
stories. Eventually, Faulkner grew very fond of Estelle in fact, if he
heard
her voice he would deliberately attempt to be spotted by Katrina in
hopes
that she asks him to join her. Estelle soon became the sole inspirer
and
recipient of Faulkner’s earlier poems. Coincidentally, a gentleman named
Phil
Stone would fall in love with Estelle’s friend, Katrina. As a
result, Katrina
had told Stone about Faulkner and his poetry. So one
afternoon, Stone walked to
Faulkner’s home to get acquainted, and during
his visit he received several
written verses from Faulkner’ poetry
collections: "Anybody could have
seen that he (Faulkner) had talent...it was
perfectly obvious" (Blotner
44). Stone not only became Faulkner’s close
friend, but also a mentor to the
young writer at the beginning of his career.
Stone immediately gave the
potential poet encouragement, advice, and models
for his study of literature.
For example, Stone would give practice
drills in punctuation, as well as lecture
Faulkner on goals and grammars.
Meanwhile, Faulkner’s main interest in school
became athletics such as
football and baseball, thus his grades started to
deteriorate: "Bill showed
absolutely no interest in the education being
offered...He gazed out the
windows, and answered the simplest questions with
‘I don’t know’" (Blotner
39). Eventually, he would quit both
athletics and school altogether. In 1919,
his first literary work was
acknowledged and published in The New Republic.
The poem is a forty-line verse
with a French title that acknowledges the
influence of the French Symbolist,
"L’Apres-Midi d’un Faune." In September,
Faulkner would enroll in
the University of Mississippi, and during his
academic years it did not deter
him from writing more poems. The
Mississippian, the student paper, published
"Landing in Luck" by Faulkner-
the story is a nine-page short story
created from his direct experience in
the Royal Air Force flight training in
1916. He has also written several
other poems such as "Cathay", which
is published in the Oxford Eagle and
"Sapphic", which is published in
The Mississippian. During the summer,
Faulkner became a house painter in Oxford,
and in the beginning of autumn he
enrolled in the University of Mississippi;
however, his early pattern of
school started to take toll. Faulkner began to cut
classes and finally just
stopped going. Although, this time he participated in a
drama club called
"The Marionettes", and began to publish book reviews
in The Mississippian. In
the summer of 1921, Faulkner decided to take a trip to
New York to
receive some professional instructions from editors and critics,
since Stone
was busy with his academic studies. Faulkner stayed with a man
named
Stark Young, where they shared an incredibly small apartment.
Later, Young
introduced Faulkner to Elizabeth Prall of the Doubleday
bookstore to see if she
wanted some help prior to the Christmas rush.
Reluctantly, Prall accepted and
never regretted her choice since. "Faulkner
made a good clerk-polite,
interested, and one of the best salesman in the
store... All the customers fell
for him like a ton of bricks" (Blotner 105).
During his stay in New York,
Maud Faulkner and Stone became very worried
about Faulkner and his financial
troubles. Meanwhile, Stone immediately went
to work on behalf of his friend, and
soon became the Assistant District
Attorney. As a result, Stone used his
political powers and appeals to
influence U.S. Senator Harrison to promise
Faulkner a decent job as a
postmaster at the university substation. Faulkner’s
job would last him
between 1922 to 1924 with an annual salary of fifteen hundred
dollars. Even
as postmaster, Faulkner still found time to write and publish a
short prose
poem "The Hill", in The Mississippian. This poem was a
great importance to
Faulkner as it served to be the beginning of the rural
setting of his future
Yoknapatwpha novels, and his first objective to "real
life" characters. As a
result of friends and unexpected events, William
Faulkner would soon
write novels. Consequently, he realized his career faced the
best of times
and the worst of times. However, it became clear that his writing
would
eventually become his life long happiness. During the late months of
June
through November in 1923, there was a correspondence between Faulkner
and the
Four Seas Company, a publisher in Boston, concerning Faulkner’s
manuscript
entitled "Orpheus and other poems". Unfortunately, the publication
of
the poems was futile without a financial contribution, which he was unable
to
provide. However, Stone helped Faulkner by writing to the Four Seas
Company in
hopes of offering Faulkner’s manuscript "The Marble
Faun".
Reluctantly, it was accepted and by the end of the year the
company published
1,000 copies of his novel, which was dedicated to
Faulkner’s mother, and
prefaced by Stone. In May, Faulkner finished the
typescript for Soldier’s Pay,
which he sent to the publisher Horace
Liveright, who gave Faulkner two hundred
dollars in advanced pay. He used the
money to pay for his trip to Europe. While
in Paris, Faulkner began to work
on the novel Elmer; unfortunately, it was never
completed, but exists today
in several versions. After arriving in England,
Faulkner decided to go
back home. Upon his arrival in New York, he immediately
began his next novel
Mosquitoes, which was published a year later by Boni &
Liveright. In
September of 1927, Faulkner finished yet another novel entitled
Flags in
the Dust; however, it was rejected in the following month, and was
returned
in December. Afterward, Faulkner received the go ahead by his
publishing
company to send his typescript to another company, which is now
Harcourt,
Brace. Unfortunately, even though the novel was published, it was
reduced to
110,000 words and the title Flags in the Dust was finally replaced
by
Sartoris instead. Within the same month, Faulkner began The Sound and
the Fury,
which was finished by October. The published novel soon became a
critical
success with only 1,789 copies. In 1928, Faulkner broke ties with
Harcourt,
Brace, and signed a new contract with a new publishing house of
Jonathan Cape
& Harrison Smith, which entitled them to Faulkner’s new
novel entitled,
Sanctuary. Faulkner took the typescript and decided to
correct the proofs on his
honeymoon with his wife, Estelle. Finally,
Faulkner’s novel, Sanctuary, was
soon published, and in astonishment 6,457
copies were sold. As a result,
Faulkner soon realized that he is now the
most important figure in American
letters. William Faulkner deserved every
single award given to him, because of
his intense love and dedication to
literature. Nevertheless, it is just as
important to know what he has won, as
well as how he won them. Therefore, in
examining and analyzing Faulkner’s
work it will help us understand and
appreciate his gift of writing.
Throughout Faulkner’s life he has won many
awards on behalf of his talent for
literature, and the following are just a few
of his awards: (1950) Nobel
Prize for Literature, (1950) American Academy’s
Howell’s Medal for
Fiction, (1951) National Book Award for Fiction, (1951)
Legion of Honour
in New Orleans, (1955) Pulitzer Prize, (1957) Silver Medal of
Greek
Academy, (1962) Gold Medal for Fiction from the National Institution
of
Arts & Letters. Even though Faulkner won all these awards, there
was at
least one award that had many conflicting views by many American
critics. That
award pertains to the Pulitzer Prize awarded to Faulkner’
novel, The Fable.
The story takes place within a fortress city of
Chaulnesmont, two days after the
mutiny of a French regiment. The chief plot
is set when a regiment of soldiers
refused an order to fight knowing that the
attack would not be successful. The
theme of sacrifice is the central meaning
of the novel. Is it on the grounds of
military necessity or expediency, or on
the grounds of personal sacrifice for
some universal ideal; as a result, the
main question asked is what is actually
achieved by sacrifice. Several
critics have pointed out the dualism that runs
throughout A Fable, in which
there are presence of good and evil, guilt and
innocence, and bravery and
fear. Despite America judging Faulkner’s novel as a
failing accomplishment of
its literary goals, A Fable was for the European
readers: "The most important
novel...a literary masterpiece" (Blotner
595). As we have seen, William
Faulkner’s interest in writing was so intense
that the meaning of "giving up"
never crossed his mind. As a result,
whenever he experienced hard times there
would always be family and friends to
aid him in his career. In any event,
Faulkner proved that with great dedication
and devotion anybody could achieve
their goals.