William Faulkner His Life and Stories: Barn Burning, A Rose for Emily and Dry September
A renowned novelist, William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897 (The Columbia Encyclopedia). Eight years prior to his birth, his grandfather was killed by an ex-partner in business. William Faulkner was the eldest of the siblings. During his school life, William loved sports and was a quarterback in the football team and his passion for writing poetry existed since he was only 13 years old. However he lost interest in school and before he could graduate, he dropped out. Faulkner tried to get enlisted in the army but due to his short height, he was refused and thus enlisted himself with the Canadian Air Force after lying about facts and figures and convincing them that he was British. Although Faulkner did serve with the Canadian Air Force in World War I, the war was over before he could experience any action. However he still related tales of his action in war and injuries to people when he came back after the war. At the University of Mississippi, Faulkner studied literature for a brief period of time and wrote poems as well as drew cartoons for "The Scream" which was the university magazine. Again Faulkner lost interest in studies and soon left the university before he could graduate.
Faulkner presents a psychological condition in Emily and the effects imprisonment can cause once a person is free. "The bisexual possibilities housed in the narrator of "A Rose for Emily" reflect just such capabilities in Faulkner and attest to his attempts to interrogate the gender control inherent in authorship" (Renee R. Curry, p.391). He describes Emily's house as an intimate space. Faulkner portrays in this story his personal stance regarding the patriarchal societies. "A Rose for Emily" shows that in a male dominating society, man controls the women but they do not realize the negative effects which this forceful control can bring about and indeed such actions soon gave rise to feminism. ulkner's friend had helped with the publication of his poetry "The Marble Faun" in 1924. In 1925, Faulkner moved to New Orleans and published many sketches and essays in a magazine by the name of "The Double Dealer". His stories which he related to people about how he fought in World War I were seen to be reflected in his first ever novel called "Soldiers' Pay". Later on he traveled to Europe where he visited Italy, France and England and soon returned back to the United States. "Soldier's Pay" was published in 1926 and Faulkner began writing another novel by the name of "Mosquitoes" which is taken today to be one of the worse works presented by Faulkner. Sartoris, which was later republished as "Flags in the Dust" in 1973, was written in 1929 and it was set in a fictional made up part of Mississippi. Faulkner expresses in the story the prejudices that existed in his own surroundings. He censored the description of the killing of Willie so that the reader does not wander off the actual point that Faulkner is trying to convey. He wanted his audience to know the reasons for such injustices and to cure them. "Faulkner's views are revealed to the reader with the help of numerous details: the society where people commit a crime is cruel" (T. Fedorova). While Willie is a victim to people like Millie, Millie herself is a victim to the male dominated society where the importance of a woman is only till the time she is young and beautiful. Faulkner wishes such elements to be eradicated from the society in which he lives. The story begins with a scene in the courtroom where a case is under hearing against Abner Snopes. Mr. Harris has accused him of burning his barn and due to lack of evidence Abner is released. However the judge asks him to leave the country. For the first time Abner replies and the reader comes to find out the Abner has a voice "cold and harsh". He states that he wishes to leave the country himself. Abner is seen to be referred by people as the "Barn Burner". Privilege to education was not for Colonel Sartoris or his siblings to enjoy and nutrition was another factor missing from their lives. They "could smell the coffee from the room where they would presently eat the cold food remaining from the mid-afternoon meal." William Faulkner stresses on these two missing factors to show the low morale of the people in the book. This is closely related to the low morale of the people of his time that belonged to the middle class. "In "Barn Burning" Abner Snopes is also depicted as a man who is loyal to no one other than himself or his family (which is a mere extension of himself)" (Max L. Loges, p.44). The family is forced to shift from one farm to another as Abner's behavior is considered unacceptable by all the landlords. Eventually Abner ends up burning his landlord's farm. Colonel Sartoris feared that he might end up becoming like his father and he detested this thought. He disliked his father but did not want to be disloyal to his family and thought "our Enemy he though in that despair; ourn! mine and hisn both! He's my Father!" Sartoris wanted to become a better man and a man of truth, something which his father was not. Although Sartoris felt that his
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2617
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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