Faulkners Faults

Faulkner's Faults
The Civil War plays a significant part in the literary world of William Faulkner. Although only The Unvanquished and several short stories deal entirely with the wartime period, this time period plays an important part in a number of his novels. Most of Faulkner’s fiction deals with the defeat of the South or the effects of that defeat. It is rare to find one of his characters who is not conscious of the Civil War. In Douglas Miller’s article he attempts to examine the way in which Faulkner has employed the South’s most significant struggle, both as myth and reality.
Like John Esten Cooke, in many ways, Faulkner presents his version of Southern history from a romantic point of view, even to the point of presenting a storybook version. He dramatizes the exploits of Confederate heroes. But more than a glorification of these heroes is a glorification of the South’s “Lost Cause.” The Confederate soldiers he depicts are usually cavalry officers, ...