Born September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi to a well-known Southern family
Created a fictional Southern county (Yoknapatawpha) which served as the setting for many of his novels.
His novels present the deterioration of the South and its aristocratic families.
Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949.
Died July 6, 1962 in Byhalia, Mississippi
Titles and other themes (time, death, narration, nothingness) taken from Macbeth:
"She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing." — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-27)
Part One: April 1928 – Narrated by Benji, aged 33
Part Two: June 1910 – narrated by Quentin, aged 19
Part Three: April 1928 – narrated by Jason, aged 34
Part Four: April 1928 – Faulkner’s narrative voice as third person narrator focused on Dilsey
1898 – Damuddy (grandmother) dies (Benji 3, Jason 4, Caddy 6, Quentin 7)
1900 – Benjy’s name changes from Maury to Benjamin (age 5)
1909 – Caddy (17) becomes pregnant, Quentin (18) leaves for Harvard
1910 – Caddy’s marriage and divorce
1912 – Mr. Compson dies of alcoholism
Jason & Caroline Compson
Children: Quentin, Caddy, Jason, Benji
Damuddy: their grandmother
Uncle Maury, brother to Caroline, has an affair with Mrs. Patterson
Mr. & Mrs. Patterson, neighbors
Roskus: servant, Dilsey’s husband
Versh, Dilsey’s son, cares for Benji the child
T.P., Dilsey’s son, cares for Benji the teenager
Luster, Dilsey’s grandson, cares for Benji the adult