Faulkner, Douglass, and the Writer's Duty

In William Faulkner's famous Nobel Prize speech he speaks of the writer's duty, something that pertains to writers all across the world. Faulkner specifically points out that he dislikes writing “leaving no scars”, and then continues to define what he thinks is the modern writer’s duty. The writer's duty is to write of things that are timeless, explore basic human values, and reach the audience through a unique approach. These three characteristics of the writer's duty are clearly demonstrated in a passage that quotes Frederick Douglass in James W. Davidson’s The Best Fourth of July Speech in American History.

Douglass’s speech discussed the topic of black injustice that is timeless and still currently relevant through the usage of rhetorical questions. He explains to the audience that this freedom that they celebrate on the fourth of July is not

He asks the audience “Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?”. When he uses the word “us” he speaks of the black community. The Declaration of Independence demanded that the colonists were to be given complete freedom from Britain; Douglass questions the audience about why he and every other black in America are not granted this same freedom that the whites spoke of in the Declaration. By doing this not only does Douglass question slavery itself, but he questions everyone's perspective of freedom and fairness. He later asks “Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery?”. He argues that freedom is such a basic value that is absolutely ridiculous that he should even have to justify it in the first place. In saying this Douglass is asking how the whites even have the authority to take away something so elementary, and why he should have to fight for something that is a given birthright to all