The birth of the modernist movement in American literature was the result of the post-World War I social breakdown. Writers adopted a disjointed fragmented style of writing that rebelled against traditional literature. One such writer is William Faulkner, whose individual style is characterized by his use of “stream of consciousness” and writing from multiple points of view.
World War I had a more profound effect on society than wars prior. With new deadly weapons, like poison gas, high death tolls, and the first occurrence of total war, shocked the world, tearing people between the modern and the tradition. Traditional society was torn down by the destruction of the war. As with most literary movements, writers reflect the world through their writing. And while America wasn’t quite as affected by war as Europe was, the modernist movement still made its way to American literature through European influences. Modernism made its way to American through American writers living in Europe, they were also known as expatriates. Writers like Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and Ernest Hemingway were considered the “high” modernists. These writers, who lived in Europe because of military service or other reasons, saw the direct aftermath of the war, and used different writing techniques to rebel against traditional society, since society had become all but traditional. They began using techniques like fragmented sentences, symbols and images instead of lengthy metaphors to present bigger ideas. The idea of “black and white” distinctions between ideas like good and evil no longer existed; everything was up to the individual’s reasoning for the answer. The style of these expatriates trickled into America, where modernist writer W...
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...ting. Faulkner also wrote from multiple points of view. As mentioned before, in As I Lay Dying, the novel is told from the point of view of fifteen characters. Hemingway, to use him as a contrast again, wrote from one point of view. This gives the reader an inside look at the psychology of multiple characters, and shows the reader how they all deal with death, like in As I Lay Dying, differently .
Though not an expatriate writer, or even a writer who served overseas, Faulkner is one of the quintessential modernist writers. It’s not his subject matter that makes him a modernist, as he didn’t write about war or the 1920’s (like Hemingway and Fizgerald), but it was his style of writing that makes him a modernist writer. The disjointed fragmented stories that jump through time and space are of the style that makes him stand out as an American modernist author .
In the passage, Indian Education we start off by following Victor who is a Indian boy from the Reservation, from first grade up to high school. Even though he is bullied in first grade, Victor finally gets payback when he gets even on Frenchy SiJohn by shoving his face in the snow and then starts punching Frenchy over and over again. Victor undergoes bad luck as the next two years he has two mean teachers in second and in third grade that do not like him very much, but luckily in fourth grade, he has a teacher named Mr. Schluter who inspires him to become a doctor so he can heal his people in the tribe. The next year life takes a turn for the worse as Victor’s cousin begins sniffing rubber cement. If it was not for his new friend Randy the
The 1920's had many influential writers in literature. While reaching this time period it is almost certain that the names William Faulkner, Earnest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald will be found. Each of the writers has their own personal style of writing and each one of the lives has influenced what they write about to even the way they each portray their literature.
Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner refuse to surrender to the temptation of writing fanciful stories where the hero defeats the villain and everyone lives happily ever after. Instead, these two writers reveal realistic portrayals of death and the downfall of man. Remarkably, O’Connor and Faulkner’s most emotionally degraded characters fail to believe that an omnipotent deity controls their fate. This belief directly correlates to the characters’ inability to follow a strict set of morals or value human life. On the other hand, one might expect Faulkner and O’Connor’s “Christian” characters to starkly contrast the vile heathens who deny the existence of God. However, these characters struggle to follow their own standards of morality.
Life with an abusive out of control parent often leads the offspring to grow up quicker than their years. In William Faulkner’s Barn Burning, one is taken on the journey of Colonel Sartoris Snopes (Sarty) growing up and maturing quicker than need be. Young Sarty is faced with the difficult decision of being loyal to his bloodline or to be loyal to himself. Ultimately Sarty had the strength and courage to break free from the verbal chains of fear that his father placed upon him and do the right thing, by telling on his father. This paper will highlight the two main events that were responsible for providing Sarty with the confidence and courage to do the right thing.
William Faulkner, recognized as one of the greatest writers of all time, once made a speech as he accepted his Nobel prize for writing in which he stated that a great piece of writing should contain the truths of the heart and the conflicts that arise over these truths. These truths were love, honor, pity, pride, compassion and sacrifice. Truly it would be hard to argue that a story without these truths would be considered even a good story let alone a great one. So the question brought forward is whether Faulkner uses his own truths of the heart to make his story "Barn Burning." Clearly the answer to this question is yes; his use of the truths of the heart are prevalent
In his book, As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner pioneers new and interesting literary forms. His most obvious deviation from traditional novel writing was the new style of narration in which he used all the main characters as the narrator at one point or another. This allowed the reader to gain insight into the character’s thoughts, and also to prove very interesting and entertaining. Faulkner also ignores all boundaries that sane people have placed upon the English language to keep it readable. Faulkner forges his own set of rules for syntax that allow for a very choppy yet elegant stream of consciousness in the character’s narration. Lastly, Faulkner makes incredible leaps away from established textual formatting to again make his own way of doing things. He makes chapters of only one sentence, he makes lists of thoughts that were numbered; in other words he flexed the usual methods to fit his ideas of stream of consciousness and character development. Faulkner is quite revolutionary in all of his methods, especially for the time period in which he wrote it.
William Faulkner was a well-esteemed author of the 20th century who used many literary techniques to display messages in his writings. In his short story, A Rose for Emily, he used literary tools such as point of view, physical plot structure, and symbolism to develop his theme that the past is always wound into the present.
The time period has largely influenced the works of Faulkner. Through out the 1900's the traditional form of writing began to expand and evolve. Experimentation and individualism became morals and were thought to affect all authors of the time period. This general time period experienced a spectrum of cultural shocks. The first of the drastic changes of society was World War 1, which was supposedly the “War to End All Wars.” However, this war was so gruesome that it affected society as a whole and sunk the nations into a period of unknown fate. Authors such as Faulkner lived for these moments to have the ability to build on the depression and write stories such as, “A Rose for Emily.” The time period experiences drastic advancements and changes that greatly influence the content of the story.
The Modernist Fiction period took place during the 1920’s and revolutionized the American way of life in literature, economically, and socially. There was a national vision of upward mobility during this time that represented the American Dream. The upward mobility was seen through the consumerism and materialism that dominated this decade economically. Popular novels of this time reflected the mass consumerism in the lives of those wrote them. During the American Modernist Fiction period, Americans became increasingly materialistic throughout the roaring twenties; therefore, the American Dream was to obtain upper class status through the possession of material goods, which was reflected in many of this period’s works.
The modernist style of writing is one of disillusionment, frustration and loss of hope. The modernist writers did not try to point out silver linings or brighter futures, instead they explored the depths of the sorrows of life in the time of the great depression and the long road to recovery from it. Most of these writers blamed the modernization of America for the stock market crash that brought on the great depression. Likewise, modern politics drew America into not only one, but two world wars. At the same time, modern intellectual advancements challenged or usurped traditional beliefs and values.
At the conclusion of his short story “Barn Burning,” William Faulkner strongly implies that Abner Snopes burns yet another barn, although whether he does or not is never made absolutely clear. In any case, his young son, Sarty, has run to warn the owner of the barn, Major De Spain, about his father’s intentions:
William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War.
William Faulkner lived from 1897- 1962, during this time he wrote many amazing novels and short stories that are still relevant to this day. Of his many short stories the ones being analyzed for their theme, characterization and style are “Barn Burning” and “A Rose for Emily”. These 2 short stories are good representation of Faulkner’s writing techniques as well as represent him as an author. Faulkner grew up in an area in Mississippi and attended the University of Mississippi. After he did various jobs until he started his writing career. During the time these were written Faulkner had shut himself into his home in Oxford, Mississippi becoming a recluse. This was how the majority of his writing career was spent and is why his stories are about
The post World War II period had an enormous impact on American society and literature. Many important events occurred and affected directly the movement of American literature. During this period, American Literature reflected the movement of disillusionment, and portrayed the lost generation. Many WWII writers adapted new approaches and philosophies in writing their novels. They portrayed the lost generation, an anti-war perspective and explored the true meaning of “war hero”.
History, current events, and social events have really influenced American Literature. Authors have been influenced by the world around them and that has reflected in their works. This can be seen throughout the many eras studied in this class. It can also be seen in all types of literature such as playwrights, fiction, non-fiction, and poems. It can also be seen in all of the different writing styles such as, realism, modernism, and post modernism. It is important that American Literature has been influenced this way because Authors have shown us their personal views and insight to situations one would not get out of a history textbook.