William Faulkner's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

On December 10, 1950, William Faulkner delivered his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Today his speech is considered one of the most brilliant and inspiring speeches ever to be read at the Nobel ceremony. Faulkner stressed the "writer's duty" to write only of "the old verities and truths of the heart." He spoke of avoiding writing anything that is not worth writing about. He felt concerned about new writing where authors gave in to America's shallow desires to read "not of love but of lust, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity of compassion." Faulkner wanted his optimistic views on life to be reflected in all writing and the optimism within the "courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity" to assist the human spirit in conquering and becoming something more than it was before. Why is it that writing today lacks so much of the substance that Faulkner speaks about? Is it the American
This universal pressure to make a mark on the world before passing on is displayed well between Russell and his mother. When asked if he wants to be the President, Russell replies with a ‘no' and says that he wants "…to be a garbage man." Numerous times throughout the book, his mother answers in both anger and disappointment "Have a little gumption, Russell." Does his lack of interest in being the president mean that he doesn't have any character? Do his goals have to be unrealistic? They should not have to be. However, in today's society, goals are extremely high. The pressure to be accepted at a great college and become a doctor, lawyer, teacher, or other respectable job is very strong. Including a motif of the pressure to become something makes the book relate to readers' daily lives. While the pressure motif looms over the head of the reader, it also looms over the head of the