Dissecting Emily: A Psychological Study of Faulkner's Protagonist

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The Unseen Turmoil: A Conflict Analysis of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” The village people bust down the door on the second floor of Emily’s house in shock as they find more than they bargained for — the skeleton of Emily’s former lover. William Faulkner shows the readers what Emily struggles with from the beginning of her life until the end. He paints a vivid picture for his audience of who she is and the type of person the people in her village viewed her as. Her life creates the unique situations which influences her thought process and the actions that she takes. In “A Rose for Emily” the central conflict is Emily’s thoughts and emotions, which influence her actions. For instance, Emily’s resilience when letting go of her father …show more content…

This is evident from the text, “upon a chair hung the suit, carefully folded; beneath it two mute shoes and the discarded socks.” She made sure to keep the room nice and neat. The room is kept nice and pristine for her love; just like he was alive. Her mind could not handle the fact of losing someone she loved, and she knew that Homer would be leaving due to the fact that the road work was done. Emily could not cope with the that, so she did what she could to keep him forever — kill him. This way, in her mind she would never have to lose him. She continued to her death to treat his room with care because her mind could not bare to lose someone important to her. Finally, in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” the people of the town finally get to see the internal struggles that Emily faces come to fruition. The town gets to see the real Emily, not the hermit they all thought of her. He narrates to the reader the turmoil internal turmoil that she has suffered since she was a child. Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, her misguided thoughts and led her to the drastic actions that she took. The main conflict throughout the story is the internal feelings and thoughts which influence her actions. Emily’s private battles set the stage for the horrifying death of her

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