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A Rose for Emily People who read about William Faulkner (1897-1962) know that he did not lead an easy life. He had the bad habit of drinking way too much, but above all he was very lonely. In his short story “A Rose For Emily,” Emily becomes very important because it represents in some way Faulkner himself. Even though she was perceived as an idol from the town, she felt very lonely. Everyone in town considered Emily as monument, and if you describe something as a monument, you mean that it is a very good example of the results or effects of those qualities, such as her father. Her father was a great person who was respected by everyone, and the town thought that Emily would take her father's place. After Emily’s father’s death, the situation changed, but people in town did not notice it. Emily became depressed. People also thought that she had a strong personality because she dominated the neighbors. Of course, the town members, who are perhaps represented by the unnamed narrator, were ready to get rid of this weight, but in some way they were tied down. Her father was the last that surrounded her. They found it impossible to directly confront her - to evict her for not paying taxes to approach her about the awful stench coming from her house. Also, when she went to the drugstore and requested the best poison that exist, arsenic, the pharmacist asked her “Why she wanted this poison?” He proceeded and said “The law requires you to tell what you are going ...
"William Faulkner: The Faded Rose of Emily." Mr. Renaissance. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2011 .
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.
In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” the main character named Emily is a women of high status and is the gossip of the town. Emily was thirty and remained unmarried. Soon she found a Northern man named Homer Baron and was spending most of her time with him until the town didn’t see him after he stepped foot into the house of Emily. The narrator/detective revealed at the end a very disturbing attribute about what was held in Emily’s house. However, William Faulkner’s idea of a detective story is far from becoming visible as the traditions make it stand. Based on William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” he used a unique style to re-create detective genres that clearly made him an extraordinary writer
Back in the day when I was very little, I remember that my dad used to take care of me. He would never let me run around the house when glass could off break and hurt me. As I kept growing up my father started to give more freedom but also gave me more responsibilities; like he wanted me to do the chores of the house, not all of them but some. I knew they were not mine to do but I still help. When I went off to college and I had to do all by myself, I realize that my father did good on making me do my laundry, chores and etc., when I was young. Besides I knew that I had to do my chores for me to go out with friends. Although I had this kind of responsibilities at a young age I can say that it helped in life. But because some parents overprotective their children and they are not exposing to real life, children might not know how to function in society when their parents die.
William Faulkner takes us back in time with his Gothic short story known as, “A Rose for Emily.” Almost every sentence gives a new piece of evidence to lead the reader to the overall theme of death, isolation, and trying to maintain traditions. The reader can conclude the theme through William Faulkner’s use of literary devices such as his choice of characters, the setting, the diction, the tone, and the plot line.
William Faulker’s "A Rose for Emily", is a story told from the viewpoint of a
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 A Rose for Emily tells a story of a young woman who is violated by her father’s strict mentality. After being the only man in her life Emily’s father dies and she finds it hard to let go. Like her father Emily possesses a stubborn outlook towards life, and she refused to change. While having this attitude about life Emily practically secluded herself from society for the remainder of her life. She was alone for the very first time and her reaction to this situation was solitude.
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.
Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Shorter 5th ed. Ed. R.V.Cassill. New York: W.W. Norton & Comp., 1995.
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 William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose For Emily,” he tells a story in which Emily Grierson’s life is told by an unknown narrator. The Narrator tells how in Emily’s life, she has kept to herself inside her house for the majority of her life, causing the townspeople to grow more and more curious as the distance from her grew. He tells of her unsuccessful love life and how eventually they would find Homer Barron, the only man that she had showed interest in, dead, laying in a bed, in a room that had collected a large amount of dust.
The protagonist in the story was the town in which Emily lived in. Society expected her to behave in a certain way; like a lady because of the family background she came from. She apparently was raised in a wealthy family. The town saw Emily as “a fallen monument'; after her death (414). When she was alive, the town thought of her as “a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town';(414). The town had no chose but to deal with Emily. When the town started to change Emily refused to do so and it was apparent that the town saw her house as “an eyesore among eyesores';(414). The town was very interested in her relationship with Homer Barron a foreman that was working on the contract for paving the sidewalks in the town. They were pleased at first but later they kind of had mixed feelings saying that she as “a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer';(417).
The theme of "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner is that people should let go of the past, moving on with the present so that they can prepare to welcome their future. Emily was the proof of a person who always lived on the shadow of the past; she clung into it and was afraid of changing. The first evident that shows to the readers right on the description of Grierson's house "it was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street." The society was changing every minutes but still, Emily's house was still remained like a symbol of seventieth century. The second evident show in the first flashback of the story, the event that Miss Emily declined to pay taxes. In her mind, her family was a powerful family and they didn't have to pay any taxes in the town of Jefferson. She even didn't believe the sheriff in front of her is the "real" sheriff, so that she talked to him as talk to the Colonel who has died for almost ten years "See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson." Third evident was the fact that Miss Emily had kept her father's death body inside the house and didn't allow burying him. She has lived under his control for so long, now all of sudden he left her, she was left all by herself, she felt lost and alone, so that she wants to keep him with her in order to think he's still living with her and continued controlling her life. The fourth evident and also the most interesting of this story, the discovery of Homer Barron's skeleton in the secret room. The arrangement inside the room showing obviously that Miss Emily has slept with the death body day by day, until all remained later was just a skeleton, she's still sleeping with it, clutching on it every night. The action of killing Homer Barron can be understood that Miss Emily was afraid that he would leave her, afraid of letting him go, so she decided to kill him, so that she doesn't have to afraid of losing him, of changing, Homer Barron would still stay with her forever.
The character Miss Emily Grierson herself is a symbol of a monument. Emily was said to be a monument in an article titled “Fallen monuments and distorted relics,” the author says “when Emily Grierson passes away the community comes to pay their respects not out of genuine sadness about her death, but more due to “a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument.” Emily was always in her house due to her dads over protectiveness she never really left her house because of that Emily is just like a monument it doesn’t move it doesn’t go anywhere it stays in the same spot till something happens to it just like Emily she stays in her house till she passes away that’s why she is described as a