The Tall-Tall Tale of William Faulkner

Gavin D. Respress
ENG 1102

Troy University

The Tall-Tall Tale of William Faulkner

The brilliant author William Faulkner stood only five feet, six inches tall, but he is enormous in size in relations to American literature. Faulkner was a prominent writer from the state of Mississippi, who became a Nobel Prize winning novelist and an excellent short story writer who is admired worldwide as one of the best writers of the twentieth century. He is giving credit for transforming the deep-south region of Mississippi in to a fictional setting, where he explained, tested and explored “the old verities and truths of the heart.” In less than a decade, Faulkner accomplished more artistically than most writers have accomplish in their entire lifetime. In fact, his greatest creative triumph is during the period of The Sound and the Fury in 1929 to Go Down, Moses in 1942. This essay will discuss how William Faulkner became a legend of American literature, writing a series of novels, in spite of never graduating from high school or attending college, while living in the poorest state in America and balancing a large family and financial setbacks during the Great Depression.
William Faulkner was the first of four sons born to Murry and Maud Butler Falkner in New Albany, Mississippi on September 25, 1897. His parents named him after his great-grandfather who was killed eight years prior in a battle in the streets with a former business partner. His great-grandfather, William Clark Falkner was a planter, businessman, Civil War colonel, railroad financier, lawyer, politician and a best-selling writer, as well. He wrote the novel The White Rose of Memphis, which brought him much success both professionally and financially. At the age of four, young Faulkner and his parents moved to Oxford, Mississippi, where signs of his artistic talent started to be displayed. William started drawing and writing poetry at a very early age, but around the age of twelve he began to get extremely bored with academics. Some of his initial literary were romantic, which was carefully demonstrated on English poets Thomson, Housman, Burns and Swinburne. At a young age, William also met two individuals who ended up playing a significant role throughout his life: his childhood sweetheart (Estelle Oldham) and Phil Stone, who mentored him with literature. He also had an African American nanny, he called “mammy”, who raised him from birth, which he adored and a left positive impressions on him. In fact, he gives her recognition for his passion with the politics of sexuality and race.
Although, William performed extremely well in school, his boredom caused him to quit without earning a high school diploma. Immediately after dropping out of school, he worked as carpentry and on occasions worked as a clerk in his grandfather’s bank. Faulkner later tried to join the U.S Army Air Force, but was rejected due to his short statue. However, he was accepted in the British Armed Forces-Royal Air Force (RAF) by lying about his birthdate and location of birth and faked an accent in order to pass himself off as British. This is also when he changed his birth name from Falkner to Faulkner, thinking it looked more like a British name. Faulkner never served in a war, but led people from Oxford, Mississippi to believe he did. In fact, he purchased an officer’s dress uniform with a pair of wings for his breast pocket indicating he flew solo. Faulkner was not shy about embellishing war combat stories to his family and friends, as he told fake stories of his adventures and injuries, stating a silver plate in his head left him constant pain. However, his brief timing in the RAF did provide him with material for his fiction writings, particularly his first published novel, Soldiers’ Pay, written in 1926.
Although, William did not complete high school, he enrolled in the University of Mississippi in Oxford due to a special program catering to war veterans. While at the University of Mississippi, he had his first poem L’Apres-Midi d’un Faune” published in The New Republic. Also, as a student he drew artwork for the university’s yearbook and had many of his short stories and poems published in the school’s newspaper. In the fall semester of 1920, Faulkner wrote a play titled The Marionettes for a dramatic club he helped found on campus. Although, he was very active in campus activities, William dropped of school in November 1920. In the next several years, Faulkner went on to write poems, reviews and text pieces for the local newspaper. Stark Young, a novelist in Oxford, influenced William to take a job in New York City as a manager of a bookstore. During this brief time, he also served as a postmaster of a post office and a scoutmaster for a local troop.
In 1924, Phil Stone endorsed a series of Faulkner’s poetry, The Marble Faun, to a renowned publisher. Immediately after the success of running one-thousand copies, Faulkner moved to New Orleans, where he published a series of essays for the magazine, The Double Dealer. This magazine source fed the hungry locals who loved literature. Yet, following this success Faulkner moved to from New Orleans to Europe, where he lived in Paris for several months. It was during this stay he wrote a respected piece about the Luxembourg Gardens, which was a short distance from the apartment in which he lived. Faulkner then settled back in Louisiana, where he became friends with Sherwood Anderson: he encouraged the youthful writer to write about his birthplace-Mississippi. It seemed apparent to Anderson that Faulkner would have more experience about MS than he would northern France. Young Faulkner was actually inspired by the ideal, so he readily started writing about people and places in his childhood life.
Once Faulkner started writing about his experience in Mississippi, he was able to generate an abundant of creative characters based on actual people he either grew up with or heard about. His great-grandfather, William Clark Falkner was often a main character. In fact, one of Faulkner’s famous novels, The Sound and the Fury, was inspired by a small county which Oxford, Mississippi, is located. And just one year later (1930), Faulkner released his novel As I Lay Dying.
Faulkner spoke with a strong southern speech and became known for his accurate dictation of the English language. Although, his boldness for enlighten issues that many Americans writers refused to address is what brought him the most attention. For instance, Faulkner repeatedly wrote about slavery, Southern aristocracy and “the good old boys club”. A piece entitled Sanctuary, which most considered the breakthrough of his career, stunned and horrified some readers. This 1931 novel shed light on a story that focused on the raping and kidnapping of a young woman at Ole Miss was a huge commercial success. Also during this period, Faulkner reunited and married within six months his childhood friend, Estelle Oldham. He was madly in love with her. William and Estelle soon after were expecting their first child-their daughter was born late 1931. The couple named her Alabama. Unfortunately, the young couple was struck with devastating tragedy when Alabama died a few days after her birth. Her father dedicated a collection of short stories; he titled These 13 to her and Estelle.
In 1932, Faulkner finished the novel, Light in August, which tells the story of the county of Oxford, Mississippi (Yoknapatawpha County) outcasts. Within this novel, he shared with readers’ history about Joe Christmas, a man with tentative racial makeup and Joanna Burden, a woman who supported the right to vote for African Americans-she was killed in the town square. The Light in August also shared stories of Lena Grove, a focused and unwavering young woman who was searching for her child’s father and Rev. Gail Hightower, a pastor who ultimately commits suicide. Due to all the shocking stories revealed in Light in August it was listed as one of Time magazine’s 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
After publishing many more remarkable novels,

Screenwriting
After publishing several notable books, Faulkner turned to screenwriting. He started with a six-weeks contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and co-write Today We Live. After Faulkner’s father died, and in need of money, he decided to sell the rights to film Sanctuary, later titled The Story of Temple Drake (1933). That same year, Estelle gave birth to Jill, the couple’s only surviving child. Between 1932 and 1945, Faulkner traveled to Hollywood a dozen times to toil as a scriptwriter. Uninspired by the task, he did it purely for financial gain.
Death
In January 1961, he willed all his major manuscripts and many of his personal papers to the William Faulkner Foundation at the University of Virginia. On July 6, 1962, coincidently the same date as the Old Colonel’s birthday, William Faulkner died of a heart attack. He remains a revered writer of the rural American South, having expertly captured the immense complexities of both the region’s beauty and dark past.

Suicide Prevention Model Emotional First Aid (ERAN) is an action-theory based model which provides emotional support to crisis victims via telephone or online (Gilat & Shahar, 2009). This model is designed by the Israeli Association for Emotional First Aid (ERAN) to “maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of online suicide prevention” (Gilat & Shahar, 2009). In the event of a crisis, individuals need a social support system that can aid in maintaining mental stability. Social support is considered an interpersonal interaction comprised of one or more of the following: emotional relationships, approval, information sharing, and instrumental help (Gilat & Shahar, 2009). Studies have consistently revealed that adults and adolescents who report few social contacts, feelings of rejection, and small satisfaction are at greater risk of engaging in suicidal behavior when their support system is diminished (Gilat & Shahar, 2009). ). As for the role of social support in the event of a suicidal crisis, it can act as a risk factor when the support is not present, as well as a protective measure when the support is evident (Gilat 7 Shahar, 2009). Gilat and Shahar (2009) note that on the contrary of the internet being used as a trigger to suicidal behavior in individuals (as it may be “glorifying” or encouraging the behavior) there are two major possibilities of suicide prevention available on the internet today. Relevant knowledge and psychological help are the two factors that may impact the outcome of a suicidal individual seeking some form of help on the internet (Gilat & Shahar, 2009). “Knowledge about suicide, such as statistics, risk factors, and warning signs” can be found on websites belonging to suicide prevention organizations, such as the Isaraeli Association for Emotional First Aid (Gilat & Shahar, 2009). The use of online support groups can theoretically be explained by the Action Theory approach which is based on the “interdisciplinary notion that individuals actively shape their own interpersonal environment” (Gilat & Shahar, 2009). The Emotional First Aid (ERAN) Model is based on the following four components: 1. Variety of sources including emotional support that is offered by online support group, personal chat, email, and telephone hotline; 2. Use of paraprofessionals (volunteers with specialized training as crisis interventionists) to carefully address messages sent by troubled individuals; 3. Professional Supervision: A mental health professional is responsible for recruiting, selecting volunteers, and providing supervision on the job and 24 hour consultation; 4. Professional and ethical codes implemented by ERAN to maintain the anonymity of callers and volunteers while focusing on the risks of suicide and attempting to save lives (Gilat & ShaHar, 2009). Although online support groups receive little recognition as a major suicide prevention intervention, empirical evidence is directed to the benefits gained by participants who focus on psychological problems in the virtual world (Gilat & Shahar, 2009). However, Gilat and Shahar (2009). emphasized that further research is needed to evaluate the value of internet paraprofessional volunteers and their interactions with individuals who are experiencing true crises.

References
Gilat, I., & Shahar, G. (2009). Suicide prevention by online support groups: An action theory-based model of emotional first aid. Archives Of Suicide Research, 13(1), 52-63. doi:10.1080/13811110802572148
Facilitation Skills and Techniques (2013). CP 6610 Guidelines for assignment 2-Suicide prevention consultation. Master Syllabus, p8.

CP 6610 Guidelines for Assignment 2 – Suicide Prevention Consultation
(Handout)
1. Identify consultation model
(Student will identify the model and how it is appropriate to the consultation scenario)
Instructors will assess whether students accurately identified one of the following models.
Expert- handle problems so consultee is free to manage other business
Prescription- consultants say what is wrong and what needs to be done about it
Mediation- coordinate services of variety of people who are trying to solve a problem
Collaboration- function as facilitators of problem-solving process 2. Identify the level of consultation:
(Student will identify the level and focus of consultation)
Instructors will assess whether the student accurately identified the following levels:
1. Case consultation (refers to client issue or therapist issue)
a. Client-centered-goal is to enable the consultee to deal more effectively with current situation and similar situations in the future.
b. Consultee-centered- goal is to collaboratively id. Consultee difficulties in working w/ certain types of clients and to help dev skills to deal more effectively with current situation and similar situations in the future

2. Ad-hoc Consultation (refers to issue after problem occurred)
a. Community-centered-goal is to enable an ad hoc consultee to deal more effectively w/community problems encountered while developing a temporary program of mental health services.
b. Consultee-centered-goal is to identify collaboratively the ad hoc consultee’s problems generated in providing temporary mental health services and to take steps to help the consultee develop skills in dealing with these problems.
3. Administrative consultation (refers to programmatic issue)
a. Program-centered-goal is enable the consultee to deal more effectively with specific parts of a mental health program and to improve the consultee’s abilities to function with similar program problems in the future.
b. Consultee-centered- goal is to identify consultee problems generated by implementing a mental health program and to develop collaboratively the consultee’s skills in dealing with similar problems.

3. The student demonstrated and understanding of a suicide prevention model.