William Faulkners Biography - Essay Example

Introduction William Faulkner is undoubtedly one of the most influential novelists in American history. The Pulitzer Prize he was awarded testify to this claim. This author released a substantial number of books, poems and even short stories. These works were about one hundred productions. His influences, content of wok and other details of his life will be examined in the subsequent portions of the essay. (Amazon, 2006) Early life Source: Amazon (2006): William Faulkner (1897-1962), retrieved from http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/faulkner.htm accessed on 11th May William Faulkner was Murray Faulkner and Maud Faulkner's first born child. Most of his life revolved around Mississippi where he spent his earliest years in New Albany and then later moved to Oxford (the towns were all located in Mississippi). Faulkner was a multitalented individual even at a tender age; he was active in sports as he played for his high school football team. His interests in literature were depicted during his early years. Upon reaching puberty, this renowned author started writing poems. However, after his teens, Faulkner began loosing interest in formal studies and eventually decided to quit school. A few years later, Faulkner was to meet one of the most inspiring literary artists in his lifetime; Phil Stone. Additionally, Faulkner met the love of his life in those early years; she was known as Estelle Oldham. The later mentioned girl had a romantic relationship with Faulkner but never committed her life to him because she was betrothed to someone else. Stone- his literary mentor- had seen some of Faulkner's earlier poetic works and realized that he had great potential to make it in the world of literature. Faulkner's first job was a in New Haven where he worked briefly in an Arms Company. Thereafter, he tried joining the Army but his physical appearance did not allow him to progress. Afterward, he joined the Canadian Royal Air force. His life in the Air force did not last long since the world war ended just soon after he had joined them. In order to keep track of his experiences, Faulkner decided to purchase some Air force accolades. This experience in the Army was one of the most influential aspects in his literary works. One of his novels; Soldier's pay: which was published in '26 indicated some of his fictional experiences in the war. In the year 19919, Faulkner got a chance to join a university. He was able to accomplish this even despite the fact that he had dropped out of high schools. This future author was very active in his university forming clubs and other similar associations. (Amazon, 2006) However, Faulkner never completed his studies. Instead he opted for odd jobs. He worked as a postmaster, bookstore assistant and even as a Scoutmaster. All these jobs did not suite his outgoing personality and he was forced to resign or quite. Literary works In the early twenties, Faulkner began by writing some essays that formed part of the New Orleans collection. He then embarked on his first literary novel called Soldier's pay. After completing this novel, it was published by Live right. Thereafter, Faulkner decided to move to Italy and then Paris. These served as great influences in is second novel; Sanctuary. The second novel was published in the year 1926 and was entitled Mosquitoes. It mainly talked about some of the earlier influences in the army but this book was not one of his best productions. Failures in the latter novel resulted in improvements in his next pieces of work. He was advised to stay true to his roots and this is exactly what he did in his subsequent works. Faulkner realized that he could create greater influences if they depicted native aspects of his community. This third publication seemed very interesting to Faulkner but not to his publishers. His first publisher refused to wok with him and so did many other publishers. After a frantic search for a publisher, Faulkner finally got a willing one in the year 1926. However, the novel was only released after excessive editing and changes made to his title. Three years later, Faulkner released one of his most brilliant works; The Sound and the Fury. This time, the novel was not changed in any manner. Instead it depicted exactly what its author wanted to highlight. It was rich in style and language. He was telling the story of a family of four brothers who were heading towards a downfall. He managed to change form one period of time to another tactfully. The four main characters reveal their perspectives of their lives and how they fell from glory. (Amazon, 2007) Immediately after this novel, Faulkner was urgently in need of money. This was due to the fact that he had had just married his high school sweetheart-Estelle. She had divorced her husband and was not available. She brought two children form her first marriage and this exerted considerable pressure on Faulkner. He used to work for long hours at a power [plant in order to make ends meet. He released a novel made solely to generate income but his publisher thought that the novel was not fit for publishing. In light of this rejection, he wrote another novel in a period of six weeks about his visit to France; it was called 'As I lay dying'. Faulkner describes a low class family located in a fictional county called 'Yoknapatawpha'. They were faced with numerous natural and emotional problems when trying to transport their matriarch's body for burial. In that fateful, year, Faulkner fuelled his need for more finances by purchasing a house on credit. His first short story was also published in a local production called Forum magazine. Other magazines and newspapers that published his woks were; Saturday Evening Post and American Mercury. He therefore became a permanent employee in the former mentioned magazine in order to get stable financial support since sales form his novels were not that reliable. Faulkner then released another novel called Sanctuary in the year 1931. This was one of the most influential works he released to date. It was a shocking yet captivating at the same time. He also released some short stories that he dedicated to his wife and belated daughter. His daughter only lived for a few number of days before she passed on. In the next year, he published another novel called 'Light in August'. It centered on the life of a biracial child who had no parents. It also focused on a girl who was trying to look for the father of her unborn child. (The Mississippi Writers, 2007) Later in 1932, Faulkner took up a totally different role from his conventional one as a novelist; he became a screen writer based in Hollywood. Faulkner was wise enough to establish his name among Hollywood's' influential personalities. He wrote a script for the movie ''Today we live' IN the year 1933. In another fateful year 1933, Faulkner decided to release another of his novels for movie production. This was after tremendous pressure from his family. His father passed away in that year and he had to take care of his brother and mother. He also published a collection of poems called A Green Bough; this was his last production in that sector. In '34, Faulkner released 'Doctor Martino and others' in the fourth month. He also made a number of short stories that were featured in The Saturday Evening Post. The latter move was necessary because Faulkner was blessed by a daughter called Jill. IN the next year, his brother passed on and he had to take care of his niece. Faulkner collaborated with Hawks to create another movie for 20-th Century Fox Company. While attending to his duties, Faulkner met a young lady by the named Carpenter. He had an extra marital affair while he was doing this. The movie later produced was called 'Road to Glory'. (Amazon, 2006) In 1926, Faulkner released another novel called Absalom Absalom. Many have argued that his was a demonstration of how certain people have the ability to interpret facts in such way that they create their own stories. This was depicted by the fact that the story was narrated b the protagonist's sister in law. She was not fond of the main character and paints a very negative picture of him. There are also other three characters who talk in depth about this novel bringing their own perspectives about the situation at hand. The novel was centered on a powerful and influential character called Supten. Faulkner describes him as a wealth creator and one who had the vision of creating vast resources for his family and others to come after him. The novel addresses issues of race, history and kinships. In the following year, Faulkner kept producing other movies for 20th Century Fox. He produced Gung Din two years later but made Slave Ship in 1937. Thereafter, Faulkner worked on If I forget Thee, Jerusalem. The latter novel was quite exceptional in terms if its quality because of the fact that most of the characters belonged to two types of categories. Sometimes, he would bring in one character from a different category and then mix him or her with another. Faulkner released. In the year '38, Faulkner released a collection of some of the stories he released to the Saturday Evening Post. Most of the short stories revolved around the same theme. They were describing the families of a Colonel called Sartoris. The author got inspiration for his role from his own grandfather who happened to be a Colonel and who was also killed by a gunman. The activities in the novel occurred after the Civil war and most of the issues were told from the Colonel's son's point of view. In that same year, Faulkner was also able to release Bran Burning. This was the first in trilogy. The trilogy was quite different form his other productions because it centered on an emerging breed of families. These were families that care more about commercial success rather than family honor. (The Mississippi Writers, 2007) In 1940, he released the trilogy and in the following year he started working on another set of his work. Here, Faulkner made episodes related to his former pieces of work. Most of them focused on one hundred years in Yoknatawpha County. He talks about land issues, responsibilities revolving around the environment and other social issues such as incest. This book was released in the year 1942 and was called Go Down, Moses and other stories. Because some of the proceeds from his novels started dwindling Faulkner started writing for Hollywood but this time he made a contract with Warner Brothers. He produced the movies The Big Sheep and The Southerner ere released in '45 and '46 respexctively. In 1946, Faulkner released the novel Portable Faulkner, which was another rendition of some of his earlier works. This novel led to Faulkner's rise into fame again; since most Americans had lost interest in his work. This led to interest in some of his earlier works; that now drew people's attention. In 1949, Faulkner released the book Intruder in the Dust. He was still working on another novel called a fable. The alter novel took about ten years before completion. Thereafter, he was able to release then later that year he also released Knight's Gambit. In that year, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature and was awarded this very prestigious ward in the year 1950. However before 1950, Faulkner in collaboration with Williams-who later had an affair with him- wrote a novel. The following were some of the awards he received for his works Howells Medal-1950 Nobel Prize for literature-1950 National Book Award-1951, 1955 Silver Medal of Athens Award-1959 Gold Medal for fiction-1962 (Amazon, 2007) Thereafter, Faulkner did a documentary based on his life and was still continuing with his novel A Fable. Faulkner was still experiencing a number of complications surrounding his alcoholism and also persistent back pains. He then did some work with Hawks on 'Land of the Pharaohs'. At that time there were some productions about his life; one in the Mississippi, another in Holiday magazine. Faulkner then became a state figure appearing in numerous public functions. He made a lot of speeches in the world over; some were conducted in Japan, Italy, London and Paris. He then Published Big Woods. He talked about problems in society even touching on race; an issue that brought a lot of controversy. Thereafter, he was admitted to University of West Virginia where he participates in se influential committees such as one supporting Pound's liberalization. He then published the book 'The Town' in '57. He published 'The mansion' two years later and Reivers in '62. Faulkner experienced numerous accidents form horses and this caused him many health problems. The problems would eventually cause his death in the year 1962 where got a heart attack and passed away. (The Mississippi Writers, 2007) Conclusion Faulkner's contributions were immense. He produced almost all aspects of Literature; essays, novels and magazine publications. He started on a number of novels then started writing for magazines. Later on, he secured contracts with Hollywood producers in several movies. The latter parts of his life were characterized by numerous public speeches and accolades. He lived a full life with a child and wife who later acknowledged that Faulkner did not just belong to them; he was the world's. (Amazon, 2006) Reference: Amazon (2006): William Faulkner (1897-1962), retrieved from http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/faulkner.htm accessed on 11th May The Mississippi Writers (2007): William Faulkner, retrieved from http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/ accessed on 11th May Amazon (2007): William Faulkner, retrieved from http://www.gatewayno.com/culture/Faulkner.html accessed on 11th May Read More