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Paper short abstract

William Faulkner’s novels reflect folk customs, humor, and beliefs he learned in Mississippi. Influences appear in As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and The Bear. This paper explores his use of folklore sources and Southern dialect in shaping modern narrative art.

Paper long abstract

William Faulkner is one of the greatest American novelists, whose interest in folk customs and beliefs is clear. Growing up in Oxford, Mississippi, he was a town boy but knew the countryside well. He learned country talk from hunting with his father, listening to political campaigns with his uncle, and hearing Civil War, Native American, and hunting stories from his Mammy Callie. These early experiences shaped the humor, imagery, and folklore in his works.

The southeastern frontier preserved traditions of humorous and absurd tales, while Black communities told ghost and animal stories. Though Faulkner never directly admitted such influence, traces appear in his fiction. In As I Lay Dying, Cash’s cement leg and Anse Bundren’s remarriage reflect folk humor and absurd logic. His creation of Yoknapatawpha County grew directly from his hometown.

In 1929, he bought an old home in Oxford and named it Rowan Oak, a tree believed in folklore to protect against witches and evil spirits. In The Sound and the Fury, plants such as jimson weed, narcissus, and honeysuckle reflect Southern and Black folk beliefs. Narcissus suggests renewal, love, and destruction, shaping both symbols and character names such as Narcissa Benbow in Sartoris and Sanctuary.Wildlife also carries symbolic meaning. In The Bear, Old Ben reflects Native American traditions, where the bear represents sacred identity. The story shows men confronting nature and mortality.

This project has two parts: first, to trace folklore sources in Faulkner’s fiction; second, to analyze his use of Southern humor and dialectal speech.