Theme Of Death In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily
analytical Essay
1416 words
Emily’s thoughts were a mystery to everyone in her town. Her reactions and actions towards the concept of death were unusual for many of the townspeople and the readers. A psychoanalytical critic would view this story about Emily’s psyche, thoughts, emotions and her experiences that led her to be the person she became. The first concept that resulted in Emily being an extremely independent woman was probably due to how strict her father was. He rejected all her suitors and never found anyone suitable enough for his daughter. The next, which was probably the biggest shock for Emily, was her father’s death, where she even kept his dead body for three days because she couldn’t seem to let go. The townspeople then pitied her and all the rumors she probably heard about her and the circumstances that led her to her downfall. The last concept that confirmed her mental illness and strange behaviors was the fact that she killed Homer Barron and slept with his corpse, probably every night. As previously mentioned on here and in “A Rose for Emily,” Colonel Sartoris rejected all …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how emily's thoughts were a mystery to everyone in her town, and her reactions and actions towards the concept of death were unusual for many of the townspeople and the readers.
- Analyzes how colonel sartoris rejected all of emily's suitors, but once the new southerners moved into the old town, his approval for them was vanquished.
- Analyzes how faulkner used symbolism and imagery to show how ugly the effect of abuse and abandonment is done on an individual.
- Analyzes how faulkner presented the impact of her father's death, which led to her disillusions.
- Analyzes how the townspeople's ignorant behavior towards emily shows how she was a "victim of cruelty." they sympathized for her but never did anything to comfort her.
- Analyzes how emily harbored homer barron's corpse for several years, and possibly poisoning him for his body. emily had necrophilia or was compelled with some feeling towards bodies of the men she loved.
- Analyzes how in william faulkner's novel "a rose for emily," the central character, emily grierson, goes through tremendous tribulations that involve abandonment and death, and uses psychoanalytic criticism and figurative literary devices.
Through psychoanalysis, the readers can see Emily as a victim to the expectations that had to be followed by everyone. Her actions led her to do what she did, which was ultimately not her fault. She went through death and isolation which led her to harvest the body of her loved ones. The rumors and gossip about her led her to isolate herself from the town, which made her an introvert. Truly the circumstances that fell in her way and the unsupportive neighbors that she had is the most logical explanation for her downfall, which shows how Emily was never at fault for her
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- William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily : Her Father is to Blameanalytical essayA Rose for Emily - Her Father is to Blame 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how william faulkner's a rose for emily tells the story of a young woman who is violated by her father’s strict mentality.
- Analyzes how the story takes place during the reconstruction era from the late 1800's to the early 1900’s in jefferson, mississippi.
- Analyzes how the town grew a great deal of sympathy towards emily, although she never hears it. gossip and whispers may have been the cause of her hideous behavior.
- Analyzes how miss emily stayed out of the public eye after the two deaths because she was finally alone. she isolates herself from civilization, using her butler, tobe to run her errands.
- Analyzes how miss emily is shy about her old fashioned beliefs and her strong confederate beliefs. she refused to allow modern change into her depressed life.
672 wordsRead More - Life is sad and tragic; some of which is made for us and some of which we make ourselves. Emily had a hard life. Everything that she loved left her. Her father probably impressed upon her that every man she met was no good for her. The townspeople even state “when her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad…being left alone…She had become humanized” (219). This sounds as if her father’s death was sort of liberation for Emily. In a way it was, she could begin to date and court men of her choice and liking. Her father couldn’t chase them off any more. But then again, did she have the know-how to do this, after all those years of her father’s past actions? It also sounds as if the townspeople thought Emily was above the law because of her high-class stature. Now since the passing of her father she may be like them, a middle class working person. Unfortunately, for Emily she became home bound.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the power of fear in faulkner's a rose for emily.
- Analyzes how individuality showed her ability to rise to the occasion, to overcome her dependency, when the action was the only solution available.
- Analyzes how emily had a hard life. her father's death was sort of liberation for her. she could date and court men of her choice and liking.
- Analyzes how faulkner depicts emily and her family as a high social class. she carried her self with dignity and people gave her respect, based from fear of what she could do to them.
- Explains that emily didn't socialize much, but she had a gentleman friend, homer barron, who was 'commoner' and did not fit the social standards of her father.
- Analyzes how emily poisoned homer for fear of losing him and being left alone. the "rose" for emily, faulkner talks about in the title of this fictitious story, was found in her tomb-like bedroom.
909 wordsRead More - Through psychoanalysis, the readers can see Emily as a victim to the expectations that had to be followed by everyone. Her actions led her to do what she did, which was ultimately not her fault. She went through death and isolation which led her to harvest the body of her loved ones. The rumors and gossip about her led her to isolate herself from the town, which made her an introvert. Truly the circumstances that fell in her way and the unsupportive neighbors that she had is the most logical explanation for her downfall, which shows how Emily was never at fault for her
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how emily grierson, in william faulkner's novel "a rose for emily," was left alone after her father died, and kept her future lover, homer barron, for years.
- Analyzes how colonel sartoris rejected all of emily's suitors, but once the new southerners moved into the old town, his approval for them was vanquished.
- Analyzes how faulkner used symbolism and imagery to show how ugly the effect of abuse and abandonment does on an individual.
- Analyzes how the death of emily's father, who loved her deeply, led to her disillusionment and depression.
- Analyzes how the town's actions, feelings, and motives are scrutinized, which shows how emily was a "victim of cruelty".
- Analyzes how emily harbored homer barron's corpse for several years, and possibly poisoning him for his body. emily had necrophilia or was compelled with some feeling towards bodies or dead bodies.
- Analyzes how in william faulkner's novel "a rose for emily," the central character, emily grierson, goes through tremendous tribulations that involve abandonment and death, and uses psychoanalytic criticism and figurative literary devices.
- Analyzes how william faulkner used southern gothic traditions to set the story and its ordeals based on its southern roots.
1837 wordsRead More - Power Of Death In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emilyanalytical essayIn William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily”, the reader is immediately introduced to the scene of a funeral for Ms. Emily Grierson, an old woman from a small southern town who has passed away due to old age. The narrator – one of the townspeople who remains anonymous to the reader – recounts the story of Ms. Emily’s life from a young woman to an old spinster. The narrator relates major events thematically throughout the story that have occurred within Emily’s life that have formed her into the woman she is, including the death of her father and the implied abandonment by her lover/fiancée. Through the use of a thematic storyline, the major plot points and the development of Emily’s character, the reader is shown that the power of death
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how william faulkner's "a rose for emily" introduces the reader to the scene of a funeral for ms. emily grierson, an old woman who has passed away due to old age.
- Analyzes how faulkner makes death relevant from the beginning to the end of the story through multiple incidents of loss that emily endures.
- Analyzes how emily's father chased away all the suitors who could have pursued her, believing none of the young men to be good enough for her. she is faced with the unknown without her father since this is her first time being truly alone.
- Analyzes how emily's obsession with necrophilia and desire for control is revealed to the reader at the end of the story, revealing that she has sunken into an eccentric and mentally unbalanced person.
- Analyzes how the symbolic death of traditional values to new age thinking and modern beliefs is prolonged in the story.
- Analyzes how emily grierson's death-haunted life has modeled her into the eccentric and mentally ill woman she has come to be. her desire to control even death manifests itself in grotesque themes of necrophilia.
1064 wordsRead More - Emily Grierson's Path To Insanity In A Rose For Emilyanalytical essayEmily’s struggles due to her father include “personal grief, a restricted social life, socio-economic decline, and romantic misfortune” combined with “a long history of trauma and repression” (Argiro 445). Coming from an aristocratic southern family, Miss Emily was well off money-wise, but extremely oppressed by her father in the aspects of her romantic life and getting to make friends outside her home. Although, Emily’s strange behaviors are noted throughout the short story, they become amplified after the death of her father. She does not grieve right away, which causes the rest of the residents of her town to speculate why. However, after Emily’s breakdown three days later, the narrator recalls the people of the town remember how Emily’s father would scare away any man who would want her (235). Emily’s mental health begins deteriorating at this moment, as her longing for companionship cannot be held in any longer. After her breakdown, Emily secludes herself to her house more than usual and is described to have gained weight and chopped all of her hair off. And still, she becomes hopeful when worker Homer Barron comes to town and shows an interest with
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes emily grierson's path to insanity in william faulkner’s a rose for emily.
- Analyzes how miss emily was seen by her townspeople as a sort of hereditary obligation and symbolizing the old traditions.
- Analyzes how emily grierson's lack of affection from her father throughout her life greatly influenced her character because she learned from his life principles.
- Analyzes how emily grierson's behavior changed after meeting homer barron, a man who deprived her of love and happiness.
751 wordsRead More - A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkneranalytical essayThe central plot of the story is very much about Emily’s stubborn attitude towards change. Before the Civil War, her father, who was from a wealthy and well known family, made a generous contribution to the Southern town, and as a gesture of gratitude, the mayor at that time sanctioned them from paying taxes. Even after her father’s death, she believed that this privilege was still granted. Overall, it was difficult for her to let go of the past and make way for the future, which was very common in the southern people of this time. Her unyielding behavior is also evident when she refuses to accept the death of her father, whom she was very attached to. He was very strict with his daughter, thus becoming the only man in her life, up until Homer Barron, who was Emily’s lover for quite some time. The town use to make up stories of their relationship, not really certain of what was, in truth, happening between them. In fact, they use to make up their own assumptions of Emily, making her out to have a spotless image, which was later conflicted when they finally got a bona fide view of her life. Nevertheless, later in...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that william faulkner was an american writer from oxford, mississippi, who was praised for his novels and short stories, many of which take place in yoknapatawpha county, fictitious setting based on where he spent most of his childhood.
- Analyzes how faulkner presents details that lead the reader to reflect on the main character's mental health.
- Analyzes how the townspeople wanted substantiation of emily's death, so they entered her enigmatic home and found a corpse lying in the bed and her hair on the pillow.
- Concludes that emily is a complex character that is misunderstood by the people around her. she has deep issues within herself that led her to act irrationally but kept it in the privacy of her own home.
- Analyzes how emily's unruliness is attributed to her harebrained aunt, which is prewired into the brain, and her behavior is profound.
887 wordsRead More - A Rose For Emily Analysisanalytical essayThe day after Mr. Grierson’s death, the women of the town call on Emily to offer their condolences. Meeting them at the door, Emily would continue to say that her father was not dead; she continues to keep this up for three days. She finally, after ministers and doctors called on her turned her father’s body over for burial. As many would believe that she was completely insane for doing this, they people of Jefferson, Mississippi did not. They actually felt sorry for Emily, they believed that her father was controlling and would run anyone that came into Emily’s life off. Her friends believe the only reason why Emily kept the body of her father is because that was the only thing she had left to cling to. It was quite some time after her father’s death that the town sees Emily again realizing a long illness that she had suffered after her father’s death. Like many people when they get older they can start to get sick, but Emily’s illness could have come from grief from her father’s death, also it could have been old age as well.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how william faulkner uses "a rose for emily" to show how the south reacted to modern times.
- Narrates how emily kept her father's body for three days after mr. grierson’s death, but the people of jefferson, mississippi did not feel sorry for her.
- Describes how homer barron was a yankee, big and dark, and he worked for the construction company paving the sidewalks in jefferson.
- Opines that emily grierson is guilty for the murder of homer barron. the people of jefferson, mississippi tried to use the excuse that she was just insane.
739 wordsRead More - Personal Decolation In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emilyanalytical essayEmily’s isolation from the townspeople, throughout her life, would have had many negative effects on her psychological development. Her father had an inflated sense of pride; he perceived an exalted power in the value of his family name. He uses this pride to drive away all of Emily’s suitors, leaving her a spinster at age thirty. When he perishes, the narrator feels pity for Miss Emily, even attempting to rationalize the three days she refused to give up his body for burial, and her insistence that he was not dead. “Emily became an emotional orphan in search of the father who had been taken from her” (Scherting 400). Her father was the only relationship available to Emily, and with his death; she has nothing and no one. This makes her intentions to murder and cling to Homer’s body, an act of control because by committing the act in secrecy, no one can destroy her illusions and take Homer away from her like they did her
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how faulkner portrays the story of an isolated and emotionally stunted woman's desperate attempt to not be alone as told through the eyes of the townspeople.
- Analyzes how the townspeople are unaware of their complicity in homer's death, but upon further deliberation, it becomes apparent that this is not true.
- Analyzes how emily's isolation from the townspeople had negative effects on her psychological development. her father had an inflated sense of pride, which drove away all of emily’s suitors, leaving her a spinster.
- Analyzes how the differences in social standing between miss emily and homer condemned their relationship in the eyes of society.
1142 wordsRead More - Comparing Mary & Emily: The Themes Of Mary And Emilyanalytical essayShe is a patient of asylum, also a prisoner. There are more than one changes in her miserable life. Start from her childhood, her father, that arrogant rich man looked down every person of Jefferson. What he has taught Emily it is his selfish dignity. Emily grows up in this kind of situation. For her teen period, the time girls will have oodles of fantasy and dream of love, her father broke it harshly. He shut those guys who asked Emily for a date out of the door as he thinks they are not good enough for her. Emily just surrenders as a good girl. That causes the first twist of her life when it comes her father's death. Emily thinks he left her alone after keeping her in prison all these years. She doesn't know how to stay with people and it is his responsibility. Thus, she wants revenge, she wants to treat her father like what he has done to her, trapped him. Emily tells the Jefferson that her father was still alive and denied the truth. "After her father's death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all." It is her second change, Emily's lover leave her. We can find out that one more person she loves has abandoned her, again. It brings the following terror, she kills Homer, the unmarried man. Poor Emily cannot bear separation any longer, so she upgrades her action of escaping the truth, leading Homer's death to keep his body like exactly what had happened when her father died. Besides, she sleeps next to him, it shows
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes mary and emily's pathetic fate and stubborn decision. they have both been abandoned by man, both got hurt from love, and both were a maniac.
- Analyzes how mary's life is controlled by a man, womanizer, cheater, because of the guy who abandoned her.
- Analyzes how mary's only friend is the narrator but her heart is always on that man. she assumes he would hand her trophy, the portrait, to mrs. bridgenorth.
- Analyzes how emily, a patient of asylum, is solitary in her tiny, isolated world. her father, an arrogant rich man, has taught her selfish dignity.
- Analyzes how mary and emily's story tells us to let go, it is not giving up. no creature has the ability to alter the changes that have already happened.
- Analyzes how these two pity women live a dismal life. they deny the facts and the truth are, the lamentable changes have happened, it is real.
1004 wordsRead More - Resistance to Change: Miss Emily Griersonanalytical essay...s obsessive with keeping homer by her side forever. Miss Emily becomes mentally unstable and poisons homer. I do believe that the fatalities and changes she goes through have a greater effect on her emotions and actions than the townspeople and readers see without analyzing the story. Argiro states that, “The story is an allegory of misreading signifying backwardness, mystification and psychopathology…” (par.50). Miss Emily is misunderstood by the townspeople and is resistant to the changes around her as well in her life.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the main character in william faulkner's "a rose for emily" lives in a fictional county called yoknapatawpha county. she is misunderstood by the townspeople and is resistant to change.
- Explains that emily grierson is a reserved person and does not associate with anyone in the town. colonial sartoris remitted her taxes dating from the death of her father till the end of time.
- Analyzes how emily's father passed away and she became reserved and in denial of his death. emily stood at the door dressed like any other day and told them that her father was not dead.
- Analyzes how the narrator uses emily's house to represent death in the short story by her father’s death and the foreshadowing that took place at the beginning.
- Analyzes how the town's perspective on emily is that she is slowly becoming crazy and the readers also take on this view point. the fatalities and changes she goes through have a greater effect on her emotions and actions.
811 wordsRead More