FREE ESSAY ON WILLIAM FAULKNER

WILLIAM FAULKNER

In William Faulkner's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, he says, "He writes not of love but
of lust, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, and victories without hope
and worst of all, without pity or compassion." William Faulkner is referring to "He" as
the typical writer today. The idea conveyed in this sentence is a writer writes a story
of lust, pure instinctual passion, and should write of tragedies in which they have
gained nothing. Also, a writer should write about false victories. This statement
disagrees with two short stories Faulkner has written, "Spotted Horses" and "Barn
Burning."
In "Spotted Horses," Flem Snopes shows no compassion when he takes the Armstid's money
and spits at Mrs. Armstid. Also, Mrs. Armstid feels defeated when she does not win the
horses even though she never wanted them.
In "Barn Burning," Ab Snopes burns up his rich boss' barn. The boss loses something that
has value something to him. This goes with what Faulkner thinks a writer should write
about. Ab, who burns the barn, shows no remorse or compassion as to what he did. Also,
the boss didn't really lose anything of value to him because if he's rich then he can
just buy another barn. 
Faulkner believes that a writer should not write about love, but of lust, and if someone
loses something it should not be anyone of value to him or her. Faulkner does write about
these things in "Barn Burning" and "Spotter Horses."