Faulkner Conway and Dillard

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Fulfilling the Writer’s Duty: Conway or Dillard? On December 1950, William Faulkner delivered his Nobel Prize speech. He said that, the award was not given to him for who he was, but for his work. In his speech, he explained his ideas of literature and of being a good writer. For him, a writer could never be successful if he did not write about his emotion and thoughts, as well as his experiences. He states his idea of a writer’s duty by saying, “The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.” For him, the writer’s duty is to guide the reader in difficulties of life by showing him a path to overcome these hardships. Both Annie Dillard’s “an American Childhood,” and Jill Conway’s “the Road from Coorain” novels contain Faulkner’s ideas and fulfil the writers’ duty. Even though the matters of their works differ, both of them are valid examples to define Faulkner’s idea of a writer’s duty. Annie Dillard’s autobiographical novel, “an American Childhood” is successful in delivering the writer of a duty. The main theme of the book is for one to be conscious about himself and about the world around him to lead a happy life. Throughout the book, Dillard guides the reader to a joyful life by showing him that he can find happiness in every little thing, just like a child does. She makes the reader see the world in the eyes of a child, thus makes him remember his own youth with the similarities between the lives they led. The connection between her and the reader is successfully delivered by the clear and familiar language as well as the metaphors she uses. Her preference of clarity and the familiar tone of the passages provides a fluent reading throughout the book. Also, Dillard’s informal narrative contains humorous remarks about her childhood experiences and feelings that portray the innocent

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