William Faulkner (born William Cuthbert Falkner), (September 25, 1897–July 6, 1962)

was an American author. One of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, and
was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. His reputation is based on his novels,
novellas, and short stories. However, he was also a published poet and an occasional
screenwriter.

Most of Faulkner's works are set in his native state of Mississippi, and he is considered
one of the most important "Southern writers," along with Mark Twain, Flannery
O'Connor, Eudora Welty, and Tennessee Williams. While his work was published
regularly starting in the mid 1920s, he was relatively unknown before receiving the Nobel
Prize. He is now deemed among the greatest American writers of all time.

Absalom, Absalom! is a Southern Gothic novel by the American author William

Faulkner, published in 1936. It is a story about three families of the American South,
taking place before, during, and after the Civil War, with the focus of the story on the life
of Thomas Sutpen.

* The title refers to the Biblical story of Absalom, a son of David who rebelled against his
father (then King of Kingdom of Israel) and who was killed by David's general Joab in
violation of David's order to deal gently with his son. Another parallel to the biblical is
that Absalom had his half-brother murdered for raping Tamar, his sister (and half-sister of
the rapist). In Faulkner's version it is not rape, but seduction.
* The 1983 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records has an entry for what it
claims is the "Longest Sentence in Literature". It cites a sentence from Absalom,
Absalom! containing 1,300 words.
* Faulkner's short story "Wash" tells the story of the birth of Sutpen's illegitimate
daughter to Wash Jones' granddaughter, and of Jones' murder of Sutpen, and then his own
granddaughter, and his great-granddaughter (whereupon he sets fire to the house the
mother and child are in).
* Present is also the link to Absolon in 'The Miller's Tale', written by Geoffry Chaucer.

Like other Faulkner novels, Absalom, Absalom! allegorizes Southern history; the title
itself is an allusion to a wayward son fighting the empire his father built. The history of
Thomas Sutpen mirrors the rise and fall of Southern plantation culture. Sutpen's failures
necessarily reflect the weaknesses of an idealistic South. Rigidly committed to his
"design", Sutpen proves unwilling to honor his marriage to a "black" woman, setting in
motion his own destruction.

Akin to the modern detective story, Absalom, Absalom! also juxtaposes ostensible fact,
informed guesswork, and outright speculation, with the implication that any and all
narratives--any and all reconstructions of the past--remain irretrievable and therefore
imaginative.

By using various storytellers/narrators expressing their interpretations of the facts, it

alludes to the historical cultural zeitgeist of the old South, where the past is always
present and constantly in states of revision by the people who tell and retell the story over
time, which give the story a strong magical-realist element.

The use of Quentin Compson as the primary perspective (if not exactly the focus) of the
novel makes it something of a companion piece to Faulkner's earlier work The Sound and
the Fury, which tells the story of the Compson family, with Quentin as one of the main
characters. Although the action of that novel is never explicitly referenced, the Sutpen
family's struggle with dynasty, downfall, and potential incest parallel the familial events
and obsessions that drive Quentin to suicide.
fitzgerald historical context

Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America,
that emphasizes the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism. Normalcy returned to
politics in the wake of World War I, jazz music blossomed, the flapper redefined modern
womanhood, Art Deco peaked, and finally the Wall Street Crash of 1929 served to
punctuate the end of the era, as The Great Depression set in. The era was further
distinguished by several inventions and discoveries of far-reaching importance,
unprecedented industrial growth and accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and
significant changes in lifestyle.

The social and societal upheaval known as the Roaring Twenties began in North America
and spread to Europe in the aftermath of World War I. Europe spent these years
rebuilding and coming to terms with the vast human cost of the conflict. The Government
of the United States did little to aid Europe, opting rather for an isolationist stance. By the
middle of the decade, economic development soared in Europe, and the Roaring Twenties
broke out in Germany (the Weimar Republic), Britain and France, the second half of the
decade becoming known as the "Golden Twenties". In France and francophone Canada,
they were also called the "années folles" ("Crazy Years").[1]

The spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a general feeling of discontinuity
associated with modernity, a break with traditions. Everything seemed to be feasible
through modern technology. New technologies, especially automobiles, movies and radio
proliferated 'modernity' to a large part of the population. Formal decorative frills were
shed in favor of practicality, in architecture as well as in daily life. At the same time,
amusement, fun and lightness were cultivated in jazz and dancing, in defiance of the
horrors of World War I, which remained present in people's minds. The period is also
often called "The Jazz Age