The Dream of the Future
(An analysis of A Rose for Emily and William Faulkner’s vision) William Faulkner most definitely may not be a household name, but he is an exquisite name and writer of short stories and in general, phenomenal fiction. Eventually, Faulkner went on to win the Nobel Prize for literature, but his beginnings are still rather intriguing. According to a biography of William Faulkner’s life titled William Faulkner published by Gale Research in Detroit in 1991, Faulkner has had mostly humble beginnings with a few odd exceptions that will make him another unique writer for his time. According to Skei’s biography, Faulkner quit school as a junior to work. Eventually he went to the University of Mississippi for one year as a special student before dropping out. That did not stop him however from his writing (Skei). From that point on, Faulkner has made an incredible name for himself as he has written very many reputable literary pieces. One of his popular short stories titled, A Rose for Emily explores an effect of a character in another one of his stories and the deep roots of a woman in the post antebellum south as she lives out the rest of her days stubborn and avoiding the inevitable coming of era. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Faulkner explains that man needs to endure a lost past and create good fiction by pertaining several essential qualities that are used to lift a soul. That concept, best summarized by Victor Strandberg in his article published to Gale in 2006 that is titled, William Faulkner: Overview says, “In his stories, as in his novels, Faulkner 's distinctive achievement was to combine a penetrating grasp of individual consciousness—getting what he called "the story behind every brow"—with a remarkable breadth of social vision, so as to encompass with equal authority aristocrats and poor whites; black people and Indians; all combined with intense emotion and feeling” (Strandberg). To endure a lost past, as Faulkner put it in his acceptance speech, a good work of fiction such as A Rose for Emily lifts a man’s heart by using elements such as courage, sacrifice, and pity through the characters actions and the story. William Faulkner’s short story titled A Rose for Emily effectively uses the element of courage to create a soul lifting experience of fiction which Faulkner said was important in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech when Emily continuously turns away the city officials trying to collect tax and telling her what to do. …show more content…
With that brief summary, it needs to be kept in mind that several works of earlier fiction by Faulkner contain the esteemed Sartoris family of aristocracy (Wulfman). To make it clear, Emily claims that the famed Colonel Sartoris from the confederacy issued a statement; if you will that Emily and her family do not owe taxes to the city as her father once lent a great sum to the city that was to be repaid through the relinquishing of taxes. In accordance to that, Emily refused to pay her taxes year after year. The other side, the city, wasn’t really sure of that as they constantly bugged Emily until they realized that they were not going to get compliance out of her. That courage that was displayed not only by Emily but by the officials who braved to meet with her and attempt to satisfy her is one element that Faulkner considered necessary to good fiction. It can be debated however if the courage needs to come from the author or from the characters in the story. For example, Mark Twain satirized his entire era and all of their views through his literature. To do that, he must have had a great deal of courage as he was essentially speaking out against what the majority was in favor of. On the other hand, you have A Rose for Emily and the courage demonstrated by the characters. In reflection, it would make sense that Faulkner meant his statement of enlightening oneself through fiction by the use of courage by using both courage in writing, and courage through the characters and the story. Throughout A Rose for Emily Faulkner uses the device of sacrifice to lift a soul and endure the lost past of post-civil war when Emily gives up more and more of her social life and eventually her happiness as her life progresses. Even though
(An analysis of A Rose for Emily and William Faulkner’s vision) William Faulkner most definitely may not be a household name, but he is an exquisite name and writer of short stories and in general, phenomenal fiction. Eventually, Faulkner went on to win the Nobel Prize for literature, but his beginnings are still rather intriguing. According to a biography of William Faulkner’s life titled William Faulkner published by Gale Research in Detroit in 1991, Faulkner has had mostly humble beginnings with a few odd exceptions that will make him another unique writer for his time. According to Skei’s biography, Faulkner quit school as a junior to work. Eventually he went to the University of Mississippi for one year as a special student before dropping out. That did not stop him however from his writing (Skei). From that point on, Faulkner has made an incredible name for himself as he has written very many reputable literary pieces. One of his popular short stories titled, A Rose for Emily explores an effect of a character in another one of his stories and the deep roots of a woman in the post antebellum south as she lives out the rest of her days stubborn and avoiding the inevitable coming of era. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Faulkner explains that man needs to endure a lost past and create good fiction by pertaining several essential qualities that are used to lift a soul. That concept, best summarized by Victor Strandberg in his article published to Gale in 2006 that is titled, William Faulkner: Overview says, “In his stories, as in his novels, Faulkner 's distinctive achievement was to combine a penetrating grasp of individual consciousness—getting what he called "the story behind every brow"—with a remarkable breadth of social vision, so as to encompass with equal authority aristocrats and poor whites; black people and Indians; all combined with intense emotion and feeling” (Strandberg). To endure a lost past, as Faulkner put it in his acceptance speech, a good work of fiction such as A Rose for Emily lifts a man’s heart by using elements such as courage, sacrifice, and pity through the characters actions and the story. William Faulkner’s short story titled A Rose for Emily effectively uses the element of courage to create a soul lifting experience of fiction which Faulkner said was important in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech when Emily continuously turns away the city officials trying to collect tax and telling her what to do. …show more content…
With that brief summary, it needs to be kept in mind that several works of earlier fiction by Faulkner contain the esteemed Sartoris family of aristocracy (Wulfman). To make it clear, Emily claims that the famed Colonel Sartoris from the confederacy issued a statement; if you will that Emily and her family do not owe taxes to the city as her father once lent a great sum to the city that was to be repaid through the relinquishing of taxes. In accordance to that, Emily refused to pay her taxes year after year. The other side, the city, wasn’t really sure of that as they constantly bugged Emily until they realized that they were not going to get compliance out of her. That courage that was displayed not only by Emily but by the officials who braved to meet with her and attempt to satisfy her is one element that Faulkner considered necessary to good fiction. It can be debated however if the courage needs to come from the author or from the characters in the story. For example, Mark Twain satirized his entire era and all of their views through his literature. To do that, he must have had a great deal of courage as he was essentially speaking out against what the majority was in favor of. On the other hand, you have A Rose for Emily and the courage demonstrated by the characters. In reflection, it would make sense that Faulkner meant his statement of enlightening oneself through fiction by the use of courage by using both courage in writing, and courage through the characters and the story. Throughout A Rose for Emily Faulkner uses the device of sacrifice to lift a soul and endure the lost past of post-civil war when Emily gives up more and more of her social life and eventually her happiness as her life progresses. Even though