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William Faulkner

William Faulkner. American Modernist “A Rose for Emily”. Oxford, Mississippi. Based Yoknapatawpha County (setting of nearly all of his stories) on this town. Recall Louise Erdrich—“Little Spirit Sun”—greatly admired and imitated Faulkner’s style. Regional Writer.

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William Faulkner

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  1. William Faulkner American Modernist “A Rose for Emily”

  2. Oxford, Mississippi • Based Yoknapatawpha County (setting of nearly all of his stories) on this town. • Recall Louise Erdrich—“Little Spirit Sun”—greatly admired and imitated Faulkner’s style

  3. Regional Writer • Like Mark Twain, he wrote about the • SOUTH

  4. Fun Facts: • Never finished high school • In 1918, he enlisted in the British Royal Flying Corps and was sent to Canada for training. • Never sent to combat due to the end of the war • Wrote during the modernist time period • Moved to New Orleans where he published his first novel, Soldier’s Pay. • Spent the remainder of his writing time in Oxford, Mississippi • For many years, Faulkner was dismissed as an eccentric • Awarded the Nobel Prize following the publication of Intruder in the Dust (1948), a novel in which he confronted the issue of racism.

  5. Faulkner’s Style: • Yoknapatawpha novels featured themes including the decay of traditional values as small communities became swept up in the changes of the modern age. • 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.”

  6. Major works: • 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. • The Unvanquished (1938) • The Hamlet (1940) • Screenplays: Gunga Din (1939), ToHave and Have Not (1945), and The Big Sleep (1946)

  7. What is the title of the story? Why do you think the author chose this title? Rose: How many types of roses are there? What can each type symbolize? What connotations do “roses” have? Emily: to strive, excel or rival What comes to mind? Red love Yellow friendship Pink Youth, love White purity “A Rose for Emily”

  8. Setting • Jefferson in Yoknapatawpha County • An important city in the county • Occurs from 1875-1920 chronicling the life and death of Emily Grierson (the protagonist)

  9. Father has falling out with relatives Emily is in denial about her father’s death for three days Finally Emily gives in and lets them bury her father Emily was sick after her father’s death Goes out little after her fathers death (1894) Colonel Sartoris remitted Emily’s taxes b/c she is sick The town let the contracts for paving the sidewalks and began the work Foreman Homer Barron, a Yankee, comes to town. Homer and Miss Emily drive on Sunday (hook?) Town gossips about Miss Emily and suspects marriage Homer is found to be a gay drunkard Baptist minister calls on Emily Emily’s cousins come in response to a letter from minister’s wife; Emily buys rat poison, the arsenic Emily orders a complete man’s toilet Town believes Homer and Emily will marry Homer Barron leaves town Cousins depart Homer Barron comes back Homer Barron disappears (1896) Smell developed Complaints are filed and men go over, sprinkle lime and are seen by Emily and leave Miss Emily grows fat and hair turns gray until it is a vigorous iron-gray Emily, who is fat, old and gray, gives china painting lessons at age 40 for 6-7 years (1906) Colonel Sartoris dies Negro ages (1926) Next generation mail her a tax notice w/ no reply Next generation send a formal letter, with reply that she no longer leaves the hosue Next generation visits—she kicks them out; Emily refuses to pay (Emily is 50 years old) Tax notices sent each year Emily gets sick and dies at the age of 74 (resolution?) Negro let ladies in and disappeared Two cousins come Funeral happens Open the untouched room Find rotting corpse Find iron-gray hair on pillow next to dead corpse (climax) Chronologically

  10. Conflict: External • Protagonist vs. • Man? • Technology? • Nature? • Society? • Supernatural?

  11. Short Story analysis • Mood • The mood is very dark, and kind of mysterious. The reader is left wanting to know what is going on and what is in the house and why Emily is such a curiosity. • Tone • dramatic and perhaps a little allusive. There is definitely an air of judgment about it and a pride that is unmistakable in a town gossip. • Theme • Prosperity: started out in favor but fell because she was too proud • Beauty is in the eye of the beholder • Pride is vanity • Gossip is damaging

  12. Figurative Language • Symbolism • Rose • Rose vs. rose • Flashback • Foreshadow • Characterization • Protagonist • House • Town

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