William Faulkner’s life was filled with complications, struggles, and traumas that shaped his writings. Born September 25, 1897 in the rural town of New Albany, Mississippi (Ford and Kincaid, 3), William Faulkner’s life began with struggles. Faulkner was born into a wealthy family that was riddled with alcoholism (Bloom 4-5), no doubt being traumatized by the adult males in his life who failed to fulfill their role: to protect young William Faulkner. His family moved from New Albany to Oxford, Mississippi when he was five years old (Bloom 109). He would spend most of his life here, even modeling the towns in his writings after Lafayette County, the area of Oxford in which he lived (Howe 10). Faulkner was a bright child, entering first grade at the age of eight, and skipping second grade to go directly into third (Bloom