Lust is destructive. It is easy to become accustomed to the feel of lust, yet difficult to escape its entangling grasp. Just as thorns act as a barrier for predators from a rose, so lust stands in the way of those desiring love. In William Faulkner's short story, "A Rose for Emily," the sheer, engulfing power of lust is highlighted through Emily Grierson, a prude, southern woman of the high class, who will do anything to make her sweetheart remain with her, even if that means murder. Emily's past of living a controlled life contributes greatly to the relentless pursuit of her own desires for love; she lives a seemingly free life that, unbeknownst to Emily, is ultimately controlled by the destructive power of lust.
Emily's childhood and early
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She desperately desired to pursue a life of love and happiness but because of her father, knew of no other way to live her life beyond his control. “Being left alone, and a pauper, [Emily has] become humanized” (3) in the eyes of the townspeople due to freedom from her father’s authority. She was free to be her own person and live her own life. Shortly after her father’s death, an opportunity for Emily to pursue love is given when Homer Barron, a lively, middle class Northerner, comes to the town. Being an outsider, Homer knew nothing of Emily or of her past, leaving Emily an open door to the pursuit of a uncontrolled love. He is the first man to know Emily without knowing her father first, allowing her to choose him based off of her own desires. Soon after his arrival, the town began to see “[Homer] and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in [a] yellow wheeled buggy” (4), their first glimpses of Emily outside of her house since the death of her father. The presence of Homer in Emily’s life has a significant impact on her reputation and character. As a woman of high class, it is seen as untraditional and pitiful for Emily to be seen with Homer. Yet, her relentless pursuit of her free desires causes Emily to manipulate such societal expectations into a step up for her to get what she wants without question. “It was as if she demanded more than ever the recognition of her dignity as the last Grierson [and] to reaffirm her imperviousness” (4). Emily’s idea of love for Homer is merely shaped by the controlling love from the only other man in her life- her father- of whom stood as barrier between Emily and real concept of
In Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose For Emily” it portrays the love of a woman who is disturbed and cannot
Emily was drove crazy by others expectations, and her loneliness. ““A Rose for Emily,” a story of love and obsession, love, and death, is undoubtedly the most famous one among Faulkner’s more than one hundred short stories. It tells of a tragedy of a screwy southern lady Emily Grierson who is driven from stem to stern by the worldly tradition and desires to possess her lover by poisoning him and keeping his corpse in her isolated house.” (Yang, A Road to Destruction and Self Destruction: The Same Fate of Emily and Elly, Proquest) When she was young her father chased away any would be suitors. He was convinced no one was good enough for her. Emily ended up unmarried. She had come to depend on her father. When he finally died, ...
William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Emily" is perhaps his most famous and most anthologized short story. From the moment it was first published in 1930, this story has been analyzed and criticized by both published critics and the causal reader. The well known Literary critic and author Harold Bloom suggest that the story is so captivating because of Faulkner’s use of literary techniques such as "sophisticated structure, with compelling characterization, and plot" (14). Through his creative ability to use such techniques he is able to weave an intriguing story full of symbolism, contrasts, and moral worth. The story is brief, yet it covers almost seventy five years in the life of a spinster named Emily Grierson. Faulkner develops the character Miss Emily and the events in her life to not only tell a rich and shocking story, but to also portray his view on the South’s plight after the Civil War. Miss Emily becomes the canvas in which he paints the customs and traditions of the Old South or antebellum era. The story “A Rose For Emily” becomes symbolic of the plight of the South as it struggles to face change with Miss Emily becoming the tragic heroin of the Old South.
One great puzzle in "A Rose for Emily," highlighted by Faulkner's language is the exact nature of Emily's relationship with Homer Barron. That is because Homer himself remains such an enigma. With an initial reading of the story, Homer appears to be an average kind of man. Those things about him that Faulkner reveals to us, such as his being "a Northerner [and] a day laborer"(279), while highly uncomplimentary in the eyes of the people of Jefferson, warrant little attention from a modern reader. We are glad for Emily and do not begrudge her the companionship, but contrary to Hal Blythe's view of Homer in his article, he never appears to be an "aristocratic and . . . chivalric . . . courtly lover"(49). He is, in fact, a construction worker whom the little boys of Jefferson followed to hear shout at the "niggers"(Faulkner 279). Little about him is aristocratic or chivalrous, because his relationship with Emily is h...
After Emily's father dies, we find her becoming involved with a gay man named Homer Baron who she probably believes she will eventually marry. It is her continual relying on a male figure that gets Emily into this situation. It is the setting in which she lye that has this impact on her thought and understanding.
In “A Rose for Emily” Emily's father is overprotective and gives up on the idea of any man being good enough for his daughter, keeping her from finding true love and living her own life. It is a story of loneliness, feelings of being controlled, and depression. Until after her father's death, Emily, left with nothing but their home, that seems to symbolize the old south itself as it "had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies.” Emily refuses to accept the fact of her father's passing. Soon enough, Emily meets Homer Barron, a man holding a temporary contract to work in the town. Several town members notice the time Emily and Homer spend together and assume they will marry with no hesitation. As time goes by, nobody has seen Ho...
Emily’s father rose her with lots of authority, he might had ruined her life by not giving her the opportunity to live a normal lady/woman life; but he build a personality, character and a psycho woman. Mister Grierson was the responsible for Emily’s behavior, he thought her to always make others respect her. Homer’s actions of using her as a cover to his sexuality was not respectful at all, Emily did not know any better and poison him to death.
Homer was the main representative of Yankee views towards the Griersons and the entire South, a situation of the present. Emily held the view of the past as if it were a rose-tinted place where nothing would ever die. Her world was already the past. Whenever the modern times were about to take hold of her, she retreated to that world of the past, and took Homer with her. Her room upstairs was that place, a place where Emily could stay with dead Homer forever as though no death nor disease could separate them.
One may have heard the simple saying that “Love can make you do crazy things.” Many adults can confirm that the saying proves true; one could even spend a few hours watching CSI type of shows that portray the stories of two love-struck people becoming cold-hearted killers just to be with their significant other. Why would they be so desperate to be together that they would kill anyone who got in between them? Desperation so serve that they would even kill a loved one? It could be that as children they were deprived of love and nourishment that children normally receive. This deprivation of love led them to cling to anyone that made them think they were being love. In A Rose for Emily and Tell-Tale Heart a character murders someone who they love. The two works, share similarities and differences when it comes to the characters, the narratives point of view and reason for killing a loved one.
When her father passed away, it was a devastating loss for Miss Emily. The lines from the story 'She told them her father was not dead. She did that for three days,' (Charter 171) conveys the message that she tried to hold on to him, even after his death. Even though, this was a sad moment for Emily, but she was liberated from the control of her father. Instead of going on with her life, her life halted after death of her father. Miss Emily found love in a guy named Homer Barron, who came as a contractor for paving the sidewalks in town. Miss Emily was seen in buggy on Sunday afternoons with Homer Barron. The whole town thought they would get married. One could know this by the sentences in the story ?She will marry him,? ?She will persuade him yet,? (Charter 173).
Along with the passing of her father Emily is then allowed the freedom to finally think for herself and then comes Homer Barron, a man whose Emily’s father would have disapproved of if he was still alive. As Donald Akers stated that Emily dating a northerner as a, “reasonable, explanation for her relationship with Homer would be that is her way of rebelling against her dead father. During his lifetime, her father prevented her from having an “acceptable” suitor. Thus, she rebels by associating with a man her father would have considered a pariah: a Yankee day-laborer” (“A Rose for Emily”). That excerpt suggests since Homer was a Yankee, it was completely against the Griersons legacy to marry a northern man having the post Civil War mentality, so Homer would have never been the perfect suitor for Emily. Regardless to say Emily quickly fell in love with Homer and she couldn’t bare the humiliation of Homer leaving her since he was not the marrying type. Within all of the things happening around Emily and all of the mixed internal feelings Emily repressed throughout the years, especially not having many
Some changes in life are inevitable such as the aging process and death. Any day can be one’s last day walking or breathing, and for some the object of letting go of someone held for so long is tragic. It may even seem like the deceased person is still alive and everything is operating as normal or that it was all a big dream. In William Faulkner’s, “A Rose For Emily” the idea of Emily Grierson letting go of the only man she’s ever loved and cherished, in her father, leaves her torn apart. Looking to fill the fresh wound inside her heart, Emily sought desperate measures to ensure that the next man she loved would never leave her.
William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” displays themes of alienation and isolation. Emily Grierson’s own father is found to be the root of many of her problems. Faulkner writes Emily’s character as one who is isolated from the people of her town. Her isolation from society and alienation from love is what ultimately drives her to madness.
In “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, Emily Geierson is a woman that faces many difficulties throughout her lifetime. Emily Geierson was once a cheerful and bright lady who turned mysterious and dark through a serious of tragic events. The lost of the two men, whom she loved, left Emily devastated and in denial. Faulkner used these difficulties to define Emily’s fascinating character that is revealed throughout the short story. William Faulkner uses characterization in “A Rose for Emily”, to illustrate Miss Emily as a stubborn, overly attached, and introverted woman.
In the short story “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, Emily, the protagonist, is shown as someone who’s life is falling apart and brought down by society. Emily in this story could be described as a victim to society and her father. Emily Grierson’s confinement, loss of her father and Homer, and constant criticism caused her, her insanity.