William Faulkner

Short biography of William Faulkner

(1897-1962) American novelist, short story writer, poet, and screenwriter. Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, the first of four sons of Murry Falkner (who renamed himself Faulkner in 1918) and Maud Butler. His great-grandfather had fought as a captain in the Confederate army, and both his grandfathers and uncles were planters or businessmen. In 1898 the family moved to Oxford, the county seat of Lafayette County, where Faulkner’s father worked first as a clerk for a bank and then as a businessman. Faulkner’s mother died when he was five, and his father was distant and cold. Faulkner identified with his maternal uncles, John Wesley Thompson and Dean S. Butler, who were kind and loving to him. It was with these men that he developed his lifelong love of horseback riding and hunting.

Faulkner was an average student in high school and did not apply to college, although he later claimed that he had been admitted to the University of Mississippi. Instead, he joined the British Royal Flying Corps in 1918, but after training at Camp Taliaferro in Texas, he was discharged without seeing action in World War I. He returned home and enrolled at Ole Miss in 1919. Faulkner was an unenthusiastic student and was barely passing during his first year, but he improved his grades during his second year and became a member of the university’s literary club, The Rezonators. Faulkner also became acquainted with Sherwood Anderson, to whom he later dedicated Mosquitoes.

After two years at Ole Miss Faulkner left to work on a merchant ship, the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, or Yazoo, as it was known. During his stint as a worker on the Yazoo, Faulkner was constantly writing, and in June 1920 he had a poem published in the Ole Miss Annual. In July he returned to Oxford, and in September 1920 he resumed his studies at Ole Miss. In his third year he began to study under Phil Stone, a young attorney and fellow member of The Rezonators, and Faulkner became intensely interested in literature. In 1922 Faulkner was elected vice president of The Rezonators, and in the following year he was elected president.In February 1922 Faulkner published a poem, “L’Apres-Midi d’un Faune,” in the Rezonator, and in May he had three poems published in the Ole Miss Annual. In June he met Estelle Oldham, and they were married in June 1929. Faulkner completed his course work in June 1924 and wrote his master’s thesis on the poetry of John Donne, but he did not receive his degree until June 1947.After his marriage to Estelle and the death of his father, who had suffered

General Essay Structure for this Topic

1. The Sound and the Fury: An Introduction
2. Faulkner’s Use of Stream of Consciousness in The Sound and the Fury
3. The Significance of the Title of The Sound and the Fury
4. The Character of Benjy in The Sound and the Fury
5. The Character of Quentin in The Sound and the Fury
6. The Character of Jason in The Sound and the Fury
7. The Character of Dilsey in The Sound and the Fury
8. Themes in The Sound and the Fury
9. The Sound and the Fury and the Modernist Novel
10. Faulkner’s Legacy: The Sound and the Fury and Beyond

Important information

Spouse: Estelle Oldham (m. 1929–1962)

Short stories: A Rose for Emily, Barn Burning, Dry September, That Evening Sun, Knight’s Gambit