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.

             Phil Stone, Faulkner'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.