William Faulkner

Alex Jones

Mr. McClung

English 102

04/27/15

The Faulk(ner) in our Stars

“I want to be a writer like my great-granddaddy.” Deciding upon one’s vocation comes easier to some than others. This was the case for a young William Cuthbert Falkner (as his name was then spelled), who knew what he wanted to do at the tender age of nine. Although it was a relatively short life, William Faulkner lived an exciting one. He held in his mind messages and subjects that no author dare touch upon during the time in which he wrote. With traditional southern themes and a southern gothic style of writing, Faulkner’s works were nothing short of bold, interesting and thought provoking. From a failed poet to a renowned novelist; a binge drinker to a binge drinking Nobel Prize recipient, William Faulkner made the most out of his life as an author.

Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897 in the town of New Albany, Mississippi. His parents, Murry and Maud Butler Falkner, named him after his paternal great-grandfather, William Clark Falkner, who was shot by a business partner in Ripley, Mississippi in 1889. Although his family was quite wealthy, they lost most of their financial power after the end of the civil war. This led to Faulkner’s family moving to Oxford, which became the basis for the fictional town of Jefferson in many of Faulkner’s literary works. Much of Faulkner’s inspiration can be attributed to his great-grandfather, which can be seen in his early novels such as Sartoris and The Unvanquished, where Colonel John Sartoris is clearly a representation of William Clark Falkner.

Over the course of his life, William Clark Falkner was many things. He worked as a railroad financier, politician, soldier, farmer, businessman, lawyer, and later in life he was a best-selling author, known for his novel The White Rose of Memphis. After serving in the Civil War and pursuing a career in law, Falkner started the Ripley Railroad Company in 1862. By many, he was known as the Old...