A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

Descriptions of the decaying house symbolize Miss Emily's physical and emotional decay, and as well as her mental problems. The representation between herself and her house is shown through constant neglect and unappreciation. In one point that Faulkner makes, the house is described to be stubborn and unrelenting, as Miss Emily is also portrayed on many occasions. Examples of her stubbornness is not letting the "new guard" attach metal numbers above her door when the town began to receive free mail service, when she refuses to believe that her father is dead, and refuses to pay her taxes. Just as the house seems to reject progress and updating, so does Miss Emily, until both of them become decaying symbols of their dying generation.

Duncan-Richards 5 Susan struggled to get out of the culturally defined norms in the society. She wanted her marriage to be different but instead it wasn’t. Her traditional marriage drove her insane. Her marriage was lack of communication which caused her to distance herself from her family secretly. She escaped to room nineteen as Ozsert , S (2004) “A Passage to Freedom” stated by Khun Zhao (2012) the room is “a shelter from housework, children and unfaithful husband.

She was denied any strenuous activity and he forbids her to do any work until she was well. Her husband’s sister cared for her child while she was recovering as she was convinced it was the right th... ... middle of paper ... ...inst the social norms, although they may not have been ready to face the consequences. The male dominant society had repressed the women and their intellectual abilities so far to the point of retaliation. Confinement to the domestic sphere provided no outlet for work. Edna and the narrator were unable to pursue or didn’t have time for their artistic crafts because of societal and domestic constraints.

Yet, she hid herself from the townspeople. Without any interaction except for Tobe (servant) she alone created a character that no one wanted to like. Emily's character gave off an impression that she didn't want company however, the irony is she needed the company. This company that she lacks would have helped her move on from her father's death, Homer's rejection, and her loneliness.

She continues to function like a regular human being, but she did not have all the mechanical equipment she needs to move forward in her life. Emily’s father has shown a lot of domination over his daughter’s life and this could have been the reason for her not being as close to anyone within the community. According to the critics, “To protect her, he must turn (trope) against her, leaving her untouched and inviolate” (Arensberg and Schyfter 127). This means Mr. Grierson has to be tough with his daughter but not bring any harm to his daughter. Emily would carry this behavior into her adulthood leaving her to show no signs of empathy towards another individual.

There is a real sense that Pecola cannot participate in traditions, or receive wisdom from previous generations, because her family life is so unhealthy. When her own body begins to change, she can only fear it. Her mother has not taken care to prepare her for those changes, in sharp contrast to Mrs. MacTeer, who has fully prepared ... ... middle of paper ... ...Pecola as an individual. She instead sees Pecola as an abstracted representative of a whole social class, a social class she hates, and consequently she was merciless and cruel to Pecola. While everyone continue to treat Pecola bad in every way, Pecola retreats further and further from the real world into madness.

In A Rose for Emily, the author seems to describe that such isolation can cause someone to do appalling acts. Miss Emily has a hard time adjusting to the present time era. She wants everything to stay like the old South and cannot adjust to any change. Also, Miss Emily cannot handle the gap between generations because she believes everyone and everything should stay as is and it should never change because that is all she knows about. In A Rose for Emily, the gap between the generation of Colonel Sartoris and the new board of alderman is bridged by Miss Emily's life.

In the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude it can be seen that the genealogy of the Buendia’s had a great affect on their current lifestyles. Ursula’s great-great grandmother was still having nightmares of Sir Frances Drakes attack, and this is the start of the Buendia-Iguaran genealogy. It was her nightmares that led to the family to moving into Macondo, a place isolated and “showed on no map” (Garcia Marquez 13). This is also the start of their isolationist way of life. The Buendia’s past has also affected how Ursula lived because of their isolationist lifestyle she was afraid of having a child with a deformation that she “wore a system of leather straps and was closed in the front by a thick iron buckle,” (Garcia Marquez 21) and never consummated her wedding with her husband which resulted in his ridicule.

Edna doesn’t fit in this “mother woman” society. She wants to be unique and above the rest of the females. To add on, the writer argues, “An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish. It was like a shadow, like a mist passing her soul’s summer day…” (The Awakening 9). The thoughts of Edna are confounding to herself since she doesn’t know what she wants in life.

The dust inside the house appeared everywhere and was virtually undisturbed. The dust covering everything and being undisturbed leads the reader to think that even inside her home, Emily resists changing, or even moving, anything. Her unwavering resistance to change also, along with other things in the story, symbolizes Emily's inability to cope with change in any asp... ... middle of paper ... ...ory, the house ages along with Emily. When she was young and beautiful, the house was ornate and beautifully designed "for the era." By the time Emily dies, the home is dark, broken down, and completely out of place in the now modernized town of Jefferson, just like Emily.