Writer Introduction

1. Presented by: Saima Perveen
Roll # 55190

2. William Faulkner was an American
Nobel Prize winning author, one of
the many influential writers of 20th
century born in New Albany,
Mississippi September 25, 1897.
He was the eldest son of Murry
and Maud Butler Falkner
He had three younger brothers
Jack, John Faulkner, and Dean Swift
Falkner.

3. He grew up in one of the poorest states which
at the time had 25 % of families below the
poverty line.
When he was four years old his entire family
raised moved nearby town oxford where he lived
on and off for the rest of his entire life.
He aspired to be like his great-grandfather
who was also a writer.
He was quarterback on his high school football
team however never graduated.

4. After dropping from university, Faulkner
worked in carpentry and sporadically as a
clerk at his grandfather’s bank.
He had always dreamed of becoming a
pilot in the army however was declined
because of his height. ( 5’5”)
He later became a member of the Royal
Canadian Air Force.

5. He remained in this Canadian Air Force
through World War I but never saw flying time
in combat
For a span of twenty years he worked in
Hollywood writing screen plays and novels.

6. During banking Faulkner met Estelle Oldham.
At the time of their meeting, she was both popular
and exceedingly effervescent and immediately stole
his heart
The two dated for a while, but another man, named
Cornell Franklin, proposed to her before Faulkner did.
Estelle took the proposal light-heartedly, partly
because Franklin had just been commissioned as a
major in the Hawaiian Territorial Forces and was
leaving soon to report for duty.

7. Estelle hoped it would dissolve naturally, but
several months later, he mailed her an
engagement ring.
Estelle’s parents bade her to accept the offer,
as Franklin was a law graduate of the
University of Mississippi and came from a
family of high repute.
In April 1929, Estelle Oldham divorced.

8. In June she and Faulkner were married.
Estelle brought to the marriage two
children, Malcolm and Victoria.
In January 1931, Estelle gave birth to a
daughter, Alabama.
The child, born prematurely, lived only
a few days.

9. Faulkner’s first collection of short stories,
These 13, would be published in September
and dedicated to “Estelle and Alabama”
The Sound and the Fury (1929) being ranked
number six on the Modern Library’s 100 best
English- language novels of the 20th century
list.

10. SARTORIS / FLAGS IN THE
DUST, 1929
THE SOUND AND THE FURY,
1929 (ranked # 6 on the Modern
Library’s 100 best English- language
novels of the 20th century list)
AS I LAY DYING, 1930
A ROSE FOR EMILY,1930
SANCTUARY, 1931
THAT EVENING SUN GO
DOWN,1931
LIGHT IN AUGUST, 1932
ABSALOM, ABSALOM!, 1936
THE WILD PALMS, 1939
THE HAMLET, 1940
THE PORTABLE FAULKNER,
1946
INTRUDER IN THE DUST,
1948
KNIGHT'S GAMBIT, 1949
COLLECTED STORIES, 1950
REQUIEM FOR A NUN, 1951
A FABLE, 1954 (Pulitzer Prize)
THE TOWN, 1957
THE MANSION, 1959
THE REIVERS, 1962 (Pulitzer
Prize)
THE FAULKNER-COWLEY
FILE, 1968
FLAGS IN THE DUST, 1973
THE MARIONETTES, 1975
MAYDAY, 1977
Literary
Work

11. The Sound and the Fury (1929), a complex book
exploring the downfall of an old southern family as seen
through the eyes of three brothers, one of whom suffers
from severe mental retardation.
As I Lay Dying (1930), the story of a poor family’s six-
day journey to bury their mother. Told from fifteen
different points of view and exploring people’s varying
perspectives of death, the novel was a masterpiece of
narrative experimentation.
Absalom, Absalom! (1936), which is told by four
speakers offering different interpretations of events.

12. Faulkner wrote about stories that corresponded with his
own life, like his problem with drinking, and his
fantasies, including a strange obsession with rape, incest,
suicide and greed.
Oxford was model town for many of his writing
Faulkner was greatly influence by the history of his
family and region which he lived
Mississippi marked sense of humour, his sense of tragic
position of blacks and whites
House he shared with his wife, Estelle Oldham
Franklin which shows similarities to the house in “A
Rose for Emily”.
Writing
Style

13. Uses jumbled time sequences doesn’t follow
traditional pattern
Uses stream-of-consciousness narration
(creates the impression that the reader is
eavesdropping on the flow of conscious
experience in the character’s mind, gaining
intimate access to their private “thoughts”).
Uses southern dialect
Famous for page-long sentences, and other
difficult techniques to show what he called
“the human heart in conflict with itself.”

14. Faulkner died July 6th 1962 after suffering
from a coronary occlusion (Liukkone, Petri).
Upto his death he worked as a writer-In-
Residence at the University of Viginia in
1957.