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Background: the South (from Resources For American Literature)
William Faulkner (1897-1962) is most widely known for his epic portrayal, in some twenty novels, of the tragic conflict between the old and the new South. The majority of Faulkner's works are centered around his hometown of Oxford, in Lafayette County, Mississippi. However, in Faulkner's fictional literature, the setting is renamed Jefferson, in Yoknapatawpha County. In addition, names from Faulkner's family, such as Sartoris, consistently appear throughout his work. In fact, his great-grandfather William Clark Falkner- the "Old Colonel" -was the model for Colonel Sartoris in various novels. Overall, Faulkner's numerous stories encompass the time period ranging from pre-Civil War days through the early 1960's. This author's fiction recreates more than a century of Jefferson life. People of all sorts come into sharp focus in his literature. Despite his complex and usually confusing style, the "old verities and truths of the heart" are nearly always emphasized.
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