Thema: william faulkner

THEMA: WILLIAM FAULKNER
Plan
1 Intraduction.
2. William Faulkner life
3. William Faulkner work.
4. William Faulkner goes to Hollywood
5. A rose for amily- William Faulkner.

Introduction

War. Incest. Racism. Necrophilia. Mental illness. Suicide. In his collection of books, short stories, and poems, William Faulkner tackled nearly every aspect of life—from the mundane to the sensational—in the American South. One of the most highly regarded novelists of the twentieth century, Faulkner was a brilliant, innovative, and notably eccentric man with a taste for whiskey (Faulkner began to drink heavily at the age of seventeen) and fragmented narratives. Throughout his life, Faulkner was something of a misfit, notorious for his haughtiness and his tendency to invent stories about himself.

In his writing career, however, Faulkner's unorthodoxy led to great success: by pioneering new techniques in form and style, Faulkner helped revolutionize the notion of the "narrative" and, in the process, produced some of the greatest works of American literature. His story is all the more compelling considering that he never even graduated from high school! Although Faulkner received many awards and accolades, he lived most of his life in obscurity; he was not regarded as an author of any real importance until he was nearly fifty years old. In addition, his personal life was a mess—he continually struggled with alcoholism, debt, and repeated bouts of infidelity. The story of William Faulkner's life is thus a tale of perseverance, failure, creativity, and success.

In his work, William Faulkner created some of the most enduring and detailed portraits of life in the American South. His novels, which explore family dynamics, race, gender, and social class, have riveted—and challenged—readers for over sixty years with their iconic characters, intricate plotlines, and myriad shifts in time. Some of the greatest authors of the twentieth century, including Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Joyce Carol Oates, Albert Camus, Jose Luis Borges, Toni Morrison, and Cormac McCarthy, cite Faulkner as a major influence on their work. If you've ever read a book that doesn't move from point A to point B but, instead, from point A to point Z to point T and back, you should keep reading. Faulkner is one of the guys who did it first.

William Faulkner was a Nobel Prize–winning novelist who wrote challenging prose and created the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. He is best known for such novels as 'The Sound and the Fury' and 'As I Lay Dying.'
Who Was William Faulkner?
Much of William Faulkner's early work was poetry, but he became famous for his novels set in the American South, frequently in his fabricated Yoknapatawpha County, with works that included The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying and Absalom, Absalom! His controversial 1931 novel Sanctuary was turned into two films, 1933's The Story of Temple Drake as well as a later 1961 project. Faulkner was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature and ultimately won two Pulitzers and two National Book Awards as well.
(William Faulkner: Marriage and Children.
In 1929 Faulkner would reconnect with Estelle Oldham, who had recently divorced her first husband. They would have two daughters, Alabama and Jill, only the latter of whom survived beyond infancy. Estelle and her two children from her previous marriage moved with Faulkner to what would be their lifelong home, Rowan Oak, a large house in Oxford that currently serves as a museum devoted to Faulkner's work. He worked odd jobs and sold stories to magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post. Faulkner's royalties from his books were meager. The Great Depression brought economic strife for all Americans, and Faulkner, like many, struggled financially. Occasionally battling alcoholism and depression, Faulkner eventually sought a way to gain financial ground. Hollywood seemed like a natural place for his storytelling acumen, so Faulkner would spend several years traveling back and forth between Los Angeles and Mississippi writing and adapting scripts for film.
William Faulkner Goes to Hollywood
Once in Hollywood, Faulkner found his skills as a writer put to great use and was under contract with various studios, including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and 20th Century Fox, from 1932 to 1945. His adapted one of his stories, "Turnabout," for the script for the 1933 film, Today We Live. He would adapt many of his writings into films during these years, including his 1931 novel about a University of Mississippi rape case, Sanctuary. Other adaptation scripts would follow for his own novels, Absalom! Absalom! and The Hamlet. While in LA, he would begin an affair with Meta Carpenter, a script person and secretary at MGM, who would be the first in a line of extramarital affairs he would continue for much of his life.
Afflicted by Estelle’s engagement, Faulkner turned to new mentor Phil Stone, a local attorney who was impressed by his poetry. Stone invited Faulkner to move and live with him in New Haven, Connecticut. There, Stone nurtured Faulkner's passion for writing. While delving into prose, Faulkner worked at the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, a distinguished rifle manufacturer. Lured by the war in Europe, he joined the British Royal Flying Corps in 1918 and trained as a pilot in the first Royal Canadian Air Force. He had earlier tried to enlist in the U.S. Forces, but was rejected due to his height (he was slightly under 5' 6"). To enlist in the Royal Air Force, he lied about several facts, changing his birthplace and surname — from Falkner to Faulkner — to appear more British.
Faulkner trained on British and Canadian bases, and finished his time in Toronto just before the war ended, never finding himself in harm's way. A man of skilled exaggeration, Faulkner embellished his experiences and sometimes completely fabricated war stories for his friends back home. He even donned the uniform of a lieutenant to bolster his reputation and wore it when he returned to Mississipi.
Early Writings
By 1919, Faulkner had enrolled at the University of Mississippi. He wrote for the student newspaper, the Mississippian, submitting his first published poem and other short works. However, after three semesters as an entirely inattentive student, he dropped out. He worked briefly in New York City as a bookseller's assistant and for two years as the postmaster for the university, and spent a short stint as the scoutmaster for a local troop.
In 1924, Phil Stone escorted a collection of Faulkner’s poetry, The Marble Faun, to a publisher. Shortly after its 1,000-copy run, Faulkner moved to New Orleans. While there, he published several essays for The Double Dealer, a local magazine that served to unite and nurture the city’s literary crowd. In 1926, Faulkner succeeded in having his first novel published, Soldiers' Pay. As soon as it had been accepted for print in 1925, he sailed from New Orleans to Europe to live for a few months at Le Grand Hôtel des Principautés Unies in Paris. During his stay, he wrote about the Luxembourg Gardens that were a short walk from his apartment.
Back in Louisiana, American writer Sherwood Anderson, who had become a friend, gave Faulkner some advice: He told the young author to write about his native region of Mississippi — a place that Faulkner surely knew better than northern France. Inspired by the concept, Faulkner began writing about the places and people of his childhood, developing a great many colorful characters based on real people he had grown up with or heard about, including his great-grandfather, William Clark Falkner. For his famous 1929 novel, The Sound and the Fury, he developed the fictional Yoknapatawpha County — a place nearly identical to Lafayette County, in which Oxford, Mississippi, is located. A year later, in 1930, Faulkner released As I Lay Dying.
Famed Author
Faulkner became known for his faithful and accurate dictation of Southern speech. He also boldly illuminated social issues that many American writers left in the dark, including slavery, the "good old boys" club and Southern aristocracy. In 1931, after much deliberation, Faulkner decided to publish Sanctuary, a story that focused on the rape and kidnapping of a young woman at Ole Miss. It shocked and appalled some readers, but it was a commercial success and a critical breakthrough for his career. Years later, in 1950, he published a sequel that was a mix of conventional prose and play forms, Requiem for a Nun.
Personally, Faulkner experienced both elation and soul-shocking sadness during this time in his career. Between the publishing of The Sound and the Fury and Sanctuary, his old flame, Estelle Oldham, divorced Cornell Franklin. Still deeply in love with her, Faulkner promptly made his feelings known, and the two were married within six months. Estelle became pregnant, and in January of 1931, she gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Alabama. Tragically, the premature baby lived for just over a week. Faulkner’s collection of short stories, titled These 13, is dedicated to "Estelle and Alabama."
Faulkner's next novel, Light in August (1932), tells the story of Yoknapatawpha County outcasts. In it, he introduces his readers to Joe Christmas, a man of uncertain racial makeup; Joanna Burden, a woman who supports voting rights for blacks and later is brutally murdered; Lena Grove, an alert and determined young woman in search of her baby's father; and Rev. Gail Hightower, a man besieged by visions. Time magazine listed it—along with The Sound and the Fury—as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.
Screenwriting
After publishing several notable books, Faulkner turned to screenwriting. Starting with a six-week contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he cowrote 1933's Today We Live, starring Joan Crawford and Gary Cooper. After Faulkner's father died, and in need of money, he decided to sell the rights to film Sanctuary, later titled The Story of Temple Drake (1933). That same year, Estelle gave birth to Jill, the couple's only surviving child. Between 1932 and 1945, Faulkner traveled to Hollywood a dozen times to toil as a scriptwriter and contributed to or wrote countless films. Uninspired by the task, however, he did it purely for financial gain.
During this period, Faulkner also published several novels, including the epic family saga Absalom, Absalom! (1936), the satirical The Hamlet (1940) and Go Down, Moses (1942).
Nobel Prize Win
In 1946, Malcolm Cowley published The Portable Faulkner and interest in Faulkner's work was revived. Two years later, Faulkner published Intruder in the Dust, the tale of a black man falsely accused of murder. He was able to sell the film rights to MGM for $50,000.
One of Faulkner's greatest professional moments came when he was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, receiving the award the following year. The committee deemed him one of the most important writers of American letters. This attention brought him more awards, including the National Book Award for Fiction for Collected Stories and the Legion of Honor in New Orleans. He also won the 1951 National Book Award for The Collected Stories of William Faulkner. A few years later, Faulkner was awarded the 1955 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction along with another National Book Award for his novel A Fable, set in France during WWI.
Death
In January 1961, Faulkner willed all his major manuscripts and many of his personal papers to the William Faulkner Foundation at the University of Virginia. On July 6, 1962, coincidentally the same date as the Old Colonel's birthday, Faulkner died of a heart attack. He was posthumously awarded his second Pulitzer in 1963 for The Reivers.
Faulkner created an impressive literary legacy and remains a revered writer of the rural American South, having expertly captured the immense complexities of both the region's beauty and its dark past.
A Rose for Emily is the first published short story of William Faulkner, which talks about a
tragic life of an elderly Southern woman Emily Grierson. In the whole story, the none rose
does not appear, the only use of the word is an adjective for two times. The “Rose” in the title
“A Rose for Emily” attracted a lot of attention. This paper will analyze the rose on two main
aspects: the symbolic meaning of rose and who give rose to Emily.
Keywords: Rose, Emily
A Rose for Emily is a typical short story by American writer William Faulkner, which was
published on the issue of Forum in the April 30, 1930. This story talks about a southern noble woman’s tragic life because of the totally changed social system after the civil war. While in the whole story, the none rose does not appear in the story itself, the only use of the word is an adjective for two times. So why did the author still choose “A Rose for Emily” as the title?
Specifically, who gave this rose to Emily? To find out this question, on the one hand, it is
necessary to figure out what the rose stand for. On the other hand, who would like to give the rose to Emily should be analyzed.
Rose is a very beautiful flower, which stands for the love and happiness. In this story, however, Emily suffered her whole life lonely and dolefully, having her love only by staying
with her lover’s corpse. Emily was born a family of the antebellum Southern aristocracy. She was tightly controlled by her father in her private life. Her father refused for her to marry. When her father died at Emily’s around 30 years old, she was still unmarried. She had to live lonely. The better thing is, without the restriction of her father, Emily could search for true love as she wants. When Homer Barron, a Northerner, came to her life, Emily did all her best for the “love”, without thinking of the hatred between the Southerner and the Northerner just after the Civil
War or gossiping among the people in town. Even though Homer said he won’t marry, Emily prepared for marriage. The readers can not know what happened between Homer and Emily, she poisoned him to possess the eternal love by staying with Homer’s corpse. A woman was so longing for love and was crazy when losing love. On this point, a lack of love can be one of the most possible reason for her tragedy. If she can have love, can she have a happier life? A rose for Emily, for the love she deserved to have.
Emily was a martyr for the traditional southern system. As it is said in the novel: “Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care.” (Faulkner, 229) She fight with the whole new system solely, by her house, her refusal to pay taxes. “Only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores.” (Faulkner, 229) After the Civil War, she continued to live as if in the past. For her bravery, for her persistent, for her suffering, a rose for her was regarded as a salute to show the sympathy for her. Faulkner described the title "A Rose For Emily" as an allegorical title: this woman had undergone a great tragedy, and for this Faulkner pitied her. As a salute, he handed her a rose (wikipedia).
According to Greek legends, roses have been portrayed as a gift of secrecy and of
confidentiality, known as sub rosa (wikipedia) On this sense, roses mean secrecy. The story begins with the death of Emily, then little by little, her mysterious life was displayed. Until the end of the story, the readers know the secrecy of Emily’s mysterious life. The narrator help Emily to keep her secrets until her death, just like a protection to her. The rose to Emily just like a symbol of silence between the narrator and Miss Emily
Who Would Like to Give the Rose to Emily?
Based on analyzing the meaning of rose, the person who gave the rose to Emily can be

concluded into three groups: William Faulkner the author, the people in town and the

Faulkner was an offspring of a southern aristocrat. His great-grandfather was said to be the owner of a big manor. When he was young, Faulkner was told about his great-grandfather’s achievements a lot. He greatly admired his talents, his boldness and his spirit of pioneer. To him, his great-grandfather was the symbol of the past world and the representative of persistent and dauntless previous pioneer in old south (xiao 5). In his many books, he mentioned his great-grandfather or even took him as the original image of his character. He likes to tell about him. While to his father, as the one who made his family declined, he even never mentioned him at all no matter in his books or his speech. Many people said Faulkner had a strong south sense and was proud of his family history (Xiao 2). These factors proved that Faulkner did like the old southern system. He cherished the memory of that world. In the story, Emily is experiencing of losing that world. After the civil war, her world changed totally. In facing to these changes, these women in old south refused to accept this new value entirely. To keep their wholeness, they ignored the changed and changing reality, burring themselves in the isolate world built up by themselves because of incapability of changing the objective world to their needed subjective one (Zhu 85). Emily was one of them, she cuts herself off from time and constructs a room (Burg 388). Faulkner once explained the reason
for his choice of A Rose For Emily as the title, as well as his intention with rose:
[The title] was an allegorical title; the meaning was, here was a woman who has had a tragedy, an irrevocable tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a salute ... to a woman you would hand a rose.” (Wikipedia) Faulkner’s sympathy and esteem to Emily were presented in his words obviously. Faulkner himself was the admirer of the south. He had successfully adjusted himself to the new world. He had no choice but to get used to it. Emily was the unlucky one who failed to adjust her. She still insisted to what she thought of right. She built up a world in the house that her father left her. Her only “southern” house in the town, her way of treating others, her attitude to tax
etc. show her insistence to the old southern world. This kind of insistence may rightly be
what Faulkner want to have but can’t get. On this point, no matter it’s eulogizing or pitying,
it’s no doubt that Faulkner could be the one who gave Emily the rose.
The People in Town
The next group who could possibly give Emily the rose is the town people. At the beginning of the story, Faulkner classified the people in town into two parts. To Emily’s funeral, “the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house”. (Faulkner 229). Rose stands for affection, adoration or admiration. Could the male in town can be the ones giving the rose? The male in town include the new generation and the old one. To the new generation, Emily was a fossil. To the old generation, Emily was a goddess. In the old south, women are described as pure, holy, the best, and the most refined example of their culture (Du 22). Emily was the representative of these women. She was ever the goddess to most men. Thus in the mind of the old male generation, they still respected Emily and still called her Miss Emily. When Emily was a young lady, she had so many wooers, but her father drove away all the young men. Her father may think that none of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. Thus, Emily was not only the Goddess for men; what’s more, she was an unavailable Goddess. After her father died, Colonel Santoris even made up an excuse to help her in fear of hurting her. To help Emily, Colonel Santoris contemporaries sent their daughters and granddaughters to her. After her death, the very old men, some in their brushed. Confederate uniforms believed that they had danced with her and courted her perhaps. They were proud of dancing and counting with Emily. To them, Emily was still the symbol of success, still the Goddess they pursued. So on this point, it’s reasonable that they would be the ones who give rose to Emily.
The Readers
Emily is the only one who insists on the south system in the town. “She never has her own life, and never controls her fate. She just lives in the world according to the norms and standard formed by tradition and society. She is one of the victims of the southern womanhood.” (Du 21) The readers are moved by her bravery, as well as feel sorry for her
stubborn. She suffered so much from the social change. In face up to this change, she, who is supposed to be weak and pure and needing protection, tried to hold fast to the last thing in the old system in her own way, refusing to accept the passing of time and even the death. She regarded herself as “a tradition, a duty, and a care, a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town.” (Faulkner 229) Even situation has changed totally, she still didn’t forget her noble obligation. She was a martyr of the lost south. Faulkner gave Emily the rose to salute her for her irrevocable tragedy; the readers give her the rose to salute her for her adamancy as well as her suffering.
Conclusion
As the above analysis, Emily was deserved a rose. There is not any adornment or sunshine in her whole life, let alone the vitality and rosiness represented by rose. No matter it’s Faulkner himself, the people living in the same town as Emily, or the readers, they all could be the one who gave her the rose to sympathize Emily’s lack of love, to salute her bravery and to pity her to keep her secrets. Acknowledgements My special thanks go to Professor Shi Jian and Professor Ellis Williams of Sichuan University. Their abundant knowledge and patient guidance led me find my interest direction of the field and finally finished this paper with their gentle suggestions.

References

Burg, J. (2000). Using Constraint Logic Programming to Analyze the Chronology in “A Rose for Emily”. Computers and the Humanities (pp. 377-392). Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026594916008

Du, F. (2007). Who Makes a Devil out of a Fair Lady? –An Analysis of the Social Causes of
Emily’s Tragedy in “A Rose for Emily”. Canadian social Science, 3(4), 18-24.
Faulkner, W. (2011). A Rose for Emily (pp. 229-236).
Xiao, M. H. (1999). WILLIAM FAULKNER Soul in Fury. Sichuan: Sichuan People Press.
Zhu, Z. W. (2004). A Study of William Faulkner’s Novel Creation from a Perspective of
Aesthetics. Shanghai: Shanghai Century Publishing (Group) Co. Ltd.
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