William Faulkner's Speech

In the year 1950 William Faulkner was at the pinnacle of his writing career, he had many popular novels written and had just been nominated for the Nobel Prize. When Faulkner took the stand to give his acceptance speech he had more to say than just his thanks and gratitude, he had a message. This message was tailored to the writers and poets of the future; more specifically their duties in society. He knew his time would pass and was afraid the art of writing might die off if there was no one to preserve it. Faulkner tells them that it is their duty to reveal the universal truths of their era and write about “the conflicts of the human heart.”, more importantly he advises the writers of the future to write from a more positive perspective in order to keep the spirit of the people high. …show more content…
He gave it during America’s cold war with the Soviet Union, a time where the fear of being killed in a nuclear war was very real. Paranoia was reigning supreme and America was in disarray. Faulkner’s speech was the wake up call that many writers needed. Many writers were having a hard time writing about anything but death and depression; whereas in Faulkner’s mind they need to be writing about the positive emotions such as love and compassion. He drives this point home when he declares “It is his [the writer's] privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of the past” (Faulkner). With this definitive statement he intended to call the writers to arms in a way. The writers are in charge of providing a distraction for the public. Faulkner knew that in that time the public needed something to take their mind off of the fact that nuclear war could happen at an