How Does William Faulkner Use Ethos In Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

Upon listening and reading William Faulkner's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, it is immediately deduced that he provides his vast audience of the epitome of himself. William Faulkner is not someone, but everyone. His humanistic approach to writing and thought has allowed him to hide complexity within simplicity, and for this, he is memorable: his work is a true testament to the unbreakable nature of the human spirit in the face of enormous hardship and consequence; a look into the human mind that is simultaneously interesting and uninteresting. This, along with so much more, is prevalent in this speech, which perfectly conveys the responsibilities of the writers in 1949.

Throughout the speech, Faulkner utilizes ethos and pathos to create a

Faulkner allows these devices to explain for him the physical incapabilities of the then modern day writers to truly write, for " ...the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself..." This philosophical notion that allows the audience to feel a personal connection with the conflicts within this heart is then completed with a metaphor emphasizing the pressure and responsibilities of writers of the era, as " ... [the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself] alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat." Although the act of writing may not be as toilsome as Faulkner insists, this metaphor allows the audience to understand his vision that writers alone can reinstall the previous truths of a world at

Throughout his speech, Faulkner's voice remains relatively constant, delivering with very little variation in style or tone. However, Faulkner's lacking oral delivery allows his words to be heard and interpreted for what they are and what they mean, as opposed to being remembered in correspondence with their presentation and appearance. This being said, Faulkner did utilize delivery devices such as pauses, and small changes in speed. In introducing his acceptance of this award, Faulkner humbles himself in stating, "I feel as though this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work," in a slow and emphatic tone. Slow speech while presenting this humble statement ensures that Faulkner holds the attention of the audience by peaking their interest. This sort of emphatic speech is then enhanced further when Faulkner states, "He writes not of the heart but of the glands. [pause] Until he relearns these things, he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man." This pause allows the audience to absorb what has been said and create the link to the next key statement in the conclusions of his speech where he rapidly lists that it is the writer's job to, "help man endure by lifting his heart by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and