The Styles of William Faulkner

William Faulkner, one of the foremost American novelists in history, is also one of the most heavily criticized. Many critics feel that his style displays brilliant originality, while others complain that his writing is too verbose and difficult to understand. In my paper, I will describe the most important aspects of Faulkner s style, but also mention those for which he is reprimanded for so often.

One of the first styles he displays in many of his novels is the repetition of words. In one of his works, Absalom, Absalom, he uses the word demon over and over again to describe one character s mania. In the same novel, he continually uses another word, indolent, to characterize another character. He also repeats such words as outrage, grim, ruthless, fury, and fatality in Absalom, Absalom, to represent the story s significance and tone. In addition to this novel, he uses the tactic of repeating words in many of his earlier works (Beck 53-54).

Another aspect of Faulkner s style is his use of lofty words. He uses bombastic words in order to impress the significance of a particular situation upon the reader. One such instance occurs in Absalom, Absalom, when a character is recounting a past love: [ . . . ] it was the stinking mausoleum of love, it was the stinking catafalque of the dead corpse born between the olfactoryless walking shapes of the immortal unsentient demanding ancient meat. Using lofty words allowed Faulkner to convey a sense of importance, or to make an impression, on the reader.

One of Faulkner s strong points was his ability to make his characters seem real to his readers. He does this by going into great depth describing his characters, making a mental image of them for the reader. In one of his novels, he describes one character s appearance and dress as follows:

He wore a new gray homburg hat, not raked like in the department store cuts but set square on the back of his head so that (not tall, with blue eyes in a square thin profoundly sober face) he looked out not from beneath it but from within it with open and fatal humorlessness, like an early Briton who has been assured that the Roman governor will not receive him unless he wear the borrowed centurion s helmet.

The thorough description of characters was a staple throughout Faulkner s works.

Faulkner also displays a keen ability, using his artistry to overcome the limits of most natural speech, such as monotony and redundancy. Many regard this as the most successful aspect of his style of writing; it makes the story more interesting for the reader. He puts flair into the dialogue for a couple of reasons. One is to make his characters appear well educated and, at times, humorous. Another reason he displays is to augment the effect of a lack of agreement or cooperation. All of Faulkner s characters have the same mental range manner; however, their speech may display this differently. A character s speech might range from erratic rambling to elaborate irony, but they are all equal. This is one of Faulkner s greatest accomplishments in his lyrical style.

Many of Faulkner s works can be compared to a number of classical works. For instance, The Mansion draws parallels to Shakespeare s Macbeth, in which the main character struggles to, but cannot, escape the consequences of his evil. Faulkner s Mosquitoes is similar to Keats Ode on a Grecian Urn in which one object draws everyone s attention. Another comparison occurs in Absalom, Absalom. This novel occasionally draws comparisons to Homer s The Odyssey. One of the characters in the novel, Addie, seeks revenge on a man who has betrayed her, much like Agamemnon s former lover in The Odyssey. These similarities, plus many others in Faulkner s works, add to his literary style.

Many critics look upon Faulkner s method of narration as a step backwards in technique. However, as Beck states, it can be seen as a progression in that it is a new type of presentation.

Authors generally use two ides in fiction: either a material drama, like Hemingway s The Sun Also Rises, or a complete flow of consciousness, like in Joyce s Ulysses. In both works, each author attempts to be different, but they are really sticking to the mold. Faulkner is being progressive in his works by either mixing the two ideas, or not using them at all.

Faulkner also had a very complex, mysterious, incomplete view of life. This is seen clearly in his writing style. His stories, like his vies of life, often have complex, mysterious, and incomplete meanings. All his involved and prolonged sentences, confusing scenes, and complex characters contribute to this ambiguity in Faulkner s works. There is really never any clear-cut meaning or objective behind Faulkner s works.

Faulkner also had a tendency to use very full sentences, a product of his elaborate descriptive imagery. In one of his stories, one of his characters, who is constantly bothered by petty problems and annoyances, jumps into his car:

[. . . ] whereupon without sound or warning the golfbag struck him across the shoulder with an apparent calculated and lurking viciousness, emitting a series of dry clicks as though produced by the jaws of a beast domesticated though not tamed, half in fun and half in deadly seriousness, like a pet shark.

This whole long, intricate sentence was used only to describe the action of the golfbag falling on Faulkner s character, but the way Faulkner describes it makes it seem that much more threatening. Faulkner also uses full sentences occasionally to provide a character s speculation. In one of his stories, he uses a sentence that is over three hundred words long to describe a character s attitude towards an event that has occurred.

Like other well-known authors such as James Joyce and William James, Faulkner uses a method known as stream of consciousness in many of his works. This technique makes the feelings of a particular character known. However, instead of dividing their thoughts into many

shorter sentences, Faulkner uses one very long sentence to relate the character s feelings, as if the character s thoughts were streaming out of his or her conscious. Faulkner, however, does not make the same mistake that many writers who used this technique did, and that was to remove the drama or narrative from the work. One of his best uses of stream of consciousness came in The Sound and The Fury, in which he uses the technique in the first two sections of the book to outline a clear-cut plot for the rest of the novel.

At times, Faulkner s use of the English language is very poor. He often uses words which have a completely different meaning than what he intends. He is notorious for overelaborate sentence structure, adding clauses where they don t belong, and using parenthesis over and over again. Readers are annoyed and distracted by this and often have to read one sentence many times to understand what Faulkner is trying to say. This style of writing is opposite form what Faulkner wanted, which was a continuation with no stops or pauses. It is very difficult to comprehend.

Time plays a key role in Faulkner s novels. In one of them in particular, The Sound and The Fury, clocks and watches provide a reference to time, which helps guide the central action. At the end of the story, each character s concepts of time are integrated, and Faulkner essentially leave sit to the reader to decide what really happened and how it was presented. The time sequence is kept in the story, but the characters can not decide the effect of the time relationship, the reader must decide it.

Another technique Faulkner uses is allusion. However, unlike writer sof his time who used allusions to song titles, random images and catch line in their work, Faulkner used those same allusions for a title for one of his short stories or novels. He tried to stay away from using the actual allusions in the same work.

Rather than go along with his contemporaries, who used the English language perfectly, Faulkner aims to uncover the imperfections in it. He clearly agrees with the thoughts of one of his characters, who describes the English language as the meager and fragile thread by which the little surface corners and edges of men s secret and solitary lives may be joined for an instant. Faulkner does use the language simply and correctly at times, however, he does not let that get in the way of his desire to use words the way he wants to.

Another technique Faulkner employs is called unity of action, or in other words, a substantial plot. This is not seen in all other literature because there is usually an understandable plot and because characters act in a drama that has a beginning, climax, and ending. The need for any other unifying devices is unnecessary. This is clearly seen in As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury. Examples of unity of action in The Sound and the Fury include a closely intertwined plot, unity of time, setting, symbolism and motives. None, however, is predominant to the others.

One of Faulkner s major faults is that he has very strong biases, and he lets them shine through in his works. Faulkner conceives that history, sociology, sexual psychology, moral analysis, and a sense of religion combine to form and image of reality. Through his characters, Faulkner displays his feelings towards many things. He uses derogatory words to describe women, sees sex as merely satisfaction with no love involved, and regards money as the only thing that is valuable in the world. He also has a strong hatred towards African- Americans and homosexuals, among others. Faulkner does not pretend to portray the picture of the happy Southern society, because he knows that that society never existed.

Most of Faulkner s works also contain a certain number of flashbacks. He uses these to fill up and describe previous events, because oftentimes he begins a story right in the middle of it. Sometimes, he uses flashbacks to develop a very interesting scene which entertains the reader and makes him or her become much more interested in the story.