Response to the Film William Faulkner, a Life on Paper
My first response in general to the film is how utterly scary many of the people interviewed were. Coming from Central Florida, I can honestly say I am not from the Deep South, as there were several instances where someone was speaking in the film and I simply could not figure out what they were saying through their accent. Of the people interviewed who were not locals from Mississippi, many of the Hollywood representatives were decidedly more intelligible yet no less intimidating, many of them men I would not want to be stuck talking to in a party. But aside from such characters, the film created an interesting portrait of Faulkner the father. One could certainly see intent on the filmmakers’ part to cast Faulkner the father in the shadow of Faulkner the author.
The film shows interviews with two of Faulkner’s daughters: one full and one stepdaughter. Intriguingly, the latter of these is shown speaking on camera only once, a scene in which she characterized her stepfather’s severe drinking problems and how scared she was of her stepfather during those experiences. Jill, his full daughter, seemed to go along with these sentiments. She recalls one time she tried to stop him from drinking, to which he responded with the most memorable line of the film: “Nobody remembers Shakespeare’s child,” which apparently was effective in discouraging any further attempts to stop his drinking. Jill seems ambivalent of her father. On the one hand, she knows she is on camera speaking about her famous and beloved father, and is thus expected to like him. And indeed, she does effectively convey some sense of love for her father. But she simultaneously embeds a disconnectedness from her father. If she had not repeatedly referred to him as Poppy, one would never catch on that she was his daughter. Her revelations and reminisces seem hardly familial, but rather read the same way all of the other memories of him do: enigmatically and unfamiliarly.
The film suggests Faulkner does not feel disappointed in having a daughter rather than a son, and I might go so far as to believe that this characterization of the unfamilial child would have existed for a son as well.
The British policies having to do with the American colonies that passed between 1763 and 1776 were an attempt by Britain to have the colonists pay for the French and Indian War and an attempt to keep the colonies subservient to British rule. However these policies backfired and cause the colonist’s to resist British authority and strengthened their commitment to republican values in government. The policies implemented new taxes in order to raise funds and caused what the colonists believed to be injustices to go unchecked by the government, as well as causing the colonists to turn to republican ways of self-governing. The colonists felt as if they were not being properly represented in the British parliament, which led to them turning towards
The nature vs. nurture controversy is an age old question in the scientific and psychological world with both camps having evidence to support their theories. The controversy lies in which is more influential in the development of human beings. While there is no definitive answer for this, it is interesting to look at each of them separately.
Growing up in the South, Faulkner gives a good perspective on what it was like for
The British policies having to do with the American colonies that passed between 1763 and 1776 were an attempt by Britain to have the colonists pay for the French and Indian War and an attempt to keep the colonies subservient to British rule. However these policies backfired and cause the colonist’s to resist British authority and strengthened their commitment to republican values in government. The policies implemented new taxes in order to raise funds and tried to keep the colonists powerless against British rule, as well as causing the colonists to turn to republican ways of self-governing. The colonists felt as if they were not being properly represented in the British parliament, which led to them turning towards of republican government.
...s may never agree on a conclusive degree to which both nature and nurture play roles in human development, but over the years, more improved studies have shown that both are crucial aspects. With all the knowledge we are gaining from these studies, it would be quite limiting to believe that a criminal and his actions are the sole result of heredity. Even in people who do not commit crimes, genes themselves are affected by the prenatal environment. Undoubtedly, the fetus experiences changes in environment, forcing possible changes in heredity and reactionary response. We are likely to never find the answer to how much or how little either, nature or nurture, impacts our lives, but at least we can agree that they both do, in fact, have major roles. Our development is not the culmination of heredity alone, but of a tangled web of experiences and genetics entwined.
Faulkner starts his story by showing the amount of respect that is shown at Emily’s funeral. It is said that the entire town attended this event, but also that some only showed up to see what the inside of her house looked like because no one had been inside in over ten years. “The men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant- a combined gardener and cook- had seen in at least ten years”(pg.542). He explains this to show the mysterious interest of Emily. By explaining the mystery in Emily, he carries a dark tone that mystifies the audience.
Faulkner lives the majority of his life looking back and remembering the past, similar to Emily’s lifestyle in “A Rose for Emily”. Tracey Matthews, author of “Introduction to Faulkner, William (1897-1962)”, writes that “many of Faulkner’s novels and short stories are set in Yoknapatawha County, a fictional area reflecting the geographical and cultural background of his native Mississippi” (104). Never forgetting his home state of Mississippi, Faulkner loves to create fictional characters that live in a made up town in the south. This short story about insecurity and longing bring alive Faulkner’s passion for writing about obsessions. The author embraces modernistic literature in “A Rose for Emily” by exhibiting a changing community leaving many traditions as a thing of the
n. The legal or regulatory obligation imposed on an officer or other person for keeping accurate record of property, documents, or funds. The person having this obligation may or may not have actual possession of th...
Faulkner’s Relationship with his Daughter as Displayed in the Film, William Faulkner: a Life on Paper
Scientists have been changing genomes of plants and animals by integrating new genes from a different species through genetic engineering, creating a genetically modified organism (GMO). Consumers in America have been eating GMOs since 1996, when they went on the market. There are benefits to genetically modifying crop plants, as it improves the crop quality and increases yield, affecting the economy and developing countries. But there are also negative effects from GMOs. Consumption of GMOs has various health effects on both body systems of animals and humans. GMOs also affect the environment, ecosystems and other animal species. The cons outweigh the pros in the case of GMOs.
...most distressed by outcome of a war, could exercise only inadequate control on the issue of armed action against Iraq. Most of the regional actors discarded the U.S. policy towards Iraq with varying intensity as they feared insecurity after Iraq’s disintegration (Reuters, 2003) whereas; Jordan decided not to endanger its rewarding ties with Washington. Another key actor at this level is the Baathi party in Iraq which was based on tribal division, domestic oppression and economic enticement. Under Baathi regime military, bureaucracy and security services was divided into several competing institutions which reinforced Hussein’s dictatorship in Iraq. In the post war Iraq, the USA in collaboration with the Iraq National Congress and the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution started to make Iraq a democracy that is similar to the American political culture and values.
The abrupt end of decade long dominating regime in three weeks had created a political vacuum, that is evident in shifting coalitions and divisions among religious groups, ethnic groups, regional groups and even classes (Barnett et al. 2003, 25). US did not realize, moreover, the depth of the hostility between Kurds and Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, and the members of different tribes and local religious groups. Furthermore, to deal with destruction in Iraq new plan was decided by the US. The plan was to pull out all troops and hand over the responsi...
In 1874, Francis Galton said, “Nature is all that a man brings with him into the world; nurture is every influence that affects him after his birth”. The human body contains millions upon millions of cells and each of these cells contains hereditary information and DNA. However, there is no proof that the information carried in these genes predetermines the way in which we behave. I believe it is our life experiences and what we see and are told that shape the way in which we behave. Therefore, it appears to me that nurturing plays a far more governing and dominant role in a human being’s development rather than nature.
William Faulkner was a famous southern American author who wrote many short stories and novels that were based on events happening in Southern America during his lifetime and greatly impacted his writing. Some of these events include racism, marriage and social classes, and southern traditions and beliefs. Many of his stories take place in Mississippi, his hometown that is said to have greatly impacted his life, and his characters in his story. For example, in his short story “A Rose for Emily,” the story takes place in a fictional town called “Jefferson” in Mississippi. William originally started with his stories taking place throughout the world, until an older female mentor-like influence in his life suggested he started writing about what
If the absent or emotionally unavailable father takes on shades of grandeur for the daughter that knew little of him, one can only imagine the impression left by the father figure whose imagined significance in the eyes of his child is only matched by the reality of his fame. William Faulkner, A Life on Paper conveys an image of the literary colossus that both perpetuates the persona of the great American writer and deflates it. Representing the author as a fallible man who endows the world with a narrative legacy while leaving his own daughter little more than a few candid glimpses into his character, the film relays the commentary of Faulkner’s daughter as she attempts to piece together a sketch of an apathetic, mercurial, and brilliant father. Jill Faulkner Summers pulls from her memory pictures of her father as “extremely courtly and elegant” but lacking a depth and sincerity in his personal relationships: “Pappy didn’t really care about people. I think he cared about me, but I also think I could have gotten in his way and he would have walked on me.” Faulkner’s coarse words penetrated more than the page as well. After imploring “pappy” not to succumb to another drinking bout, Faulkner informs his daughter, “no one remembers Shakespeare’s child”.