William Faulkner\u27s public and poetic voices: A discussion of the human condition

William Faulkner claimed that his fiction failed to show that man will prevail, the standard that he set for literature in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. However, this statement and others by Faulkner can be misleading without an understanding of Faulkner\u27s terms. A study of his speeches, essays, public letters, and interviews (Faulkner\u27s public voice) in conjunction with his major fiction (his poetic voice) clarifies what Faulkner meant by immortality, evil, fear, and failure and thereby demonstrates that both Faulkner\u27s fiction and his nonfiction do in fact illustrate his belief that man will prevail.