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By Kiranmayea Yenugudati
Posted on July 1, 2024
Illustration Title: Barn in Winter
Illustration By: Kaitlyn Q
Medium: Digital
Year: 2024
At the time of war, social destruction, and violent conflict, would you have lost hope in pure emotions and the future of humankind due to universal fear? William Faulkner presented his “The Duty of the Writer '' speech on accepting his Nobel prize for his literary contributions on December 10, 1950. He took his public stance to address the young writers of all genders. Faulkner pleaded with the writers of the future to relearn compassion, value and love in their works. The Second World War deconstructed people’s hope and he called upon writers to revive the public’s spirit. Faulkner used word choice and rhetorical devices like ethos and pathos to persuade the audience what the ‘duty’ of a writer is. William Faulkner’s claim was told in an emotionally appealing way with his impactful rhetorical choices that influenced writers to inspire hope for the future, after the effects of war.
Primarily, William Faulkner uses pathos to evoke certain emotions in his audience and successfully convey his message. He states, “Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear” when reiterating the effects of the Second World War (Faulkner). Faulkner also adds “Young men and women already dedicated to the same anguish and travail” (Faulkner). Using words such as “fear,” “anguish,” and “travail” show the audience that Faulkner is someone who understands and empathizes with them (Faulkner). Creating this bridge through common emotions will allow the audience to trust the speaker, thus making it easier to positively influence them. As the speech progresses, Faulkner gives his insight on the emotions that have been buried due to the aftermath of war, and a writer should “help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the […] compassion […and] sacrifice which have been glories of the past” (Faulkner). By eliciting these specific emotions such as “compassion” and “sacrifice” it influenced future writers to write about these things again. Faulkner started an emotional revolution by explaining that it is the “duty” of the writer to express these emotions to society as whole through literature. The author made an absolute sentimental effect on the audience; pathos is an effective tool to reiterate emotions and effectively make his claim through trust.
Additionally, with the use of ethos, Faulkner aims to show his character of the audience and himself by using social morals as pillars of his argument to impact his intended audience. “A life’s work in the agony and sweat of the human spirit, not for glory and least of all for profit.” This statement portrays him as someone who works for the human spirit, and not for money or self-happiness, thus creating an authorial position in the minds of the audience members. Furthermore, Faulkner states that, “There is only one question: When will I be blown up?” By questioning the climate of opinion,- Faulkner intends to bring the forgotten themes such as the “conflict within the heart” back into the literary world (Faulkner). Faulkner was successfully able to create an idealistic and moral persona to remind the writers of values they have forgotten.
Lastly, William Faulkner also employs the persuasive technique of word choice to further convince writers to re-learn optimistic emotions into their literary pieces. The author makes powerful word choices throughout his speech, such as, “I believe that a man will not merely endure: he will prevail” (Faulkner). Making these contradictory word choices assists Faulkner to restate the immense difference between them. He says that humans will not suffer, they will prove the opposite forces wrong, again urging the audience to change their outlook on the future. Making clever and relevant word choices at the right times aids Faulkner to steadily persuade his audience.
In conclusion, William Faulkner successfully influenced future writers during the war, and helped them regain hope in the evolution of humankind. He achieved this by using rhetorical devices such as pathos to carefully appeal to delicate emotions, ethos to create a sense of character and another literary technique such as word choice to enhance his appeal even more. William Faulkner played a significant role in the post-war emotional revolution, in which literacy changed the scope of society. Faulkner did what no one else could do, alter the mindset of aspiring writers and scare them away from fear, and instead encourage hope in a war-torn country.
Works Cited
William Faulkner – Banquet speech. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize
Outreach AB 2024. Sun. 30 Jun 2024. https://
[Writing Editor's Note]
As writers, we must always realise our intentions and purpose of everything we put on the page. Faulkner's speech reminds us that providing hope in dark times is the writer's duty. The author re-illustrates and proves Faulkner's point with formal and rhetorical language.
[Writing Editor: Reese W.]
[The End]