The Resistance to Change

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Recommended: symbolism in faulkners a rose for emily

As a person one might find that we follow a specific routine on the day to day basis. Sudden changes to these routines feels weird and out of place. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” based in a fictional town called Jefferson taking place during the twentieth century. The time period is indeed an important factor because southern tradition was above all of the highest importance. This short story gives the audience details of life during that time in which they followed the values of southern tradition and the importance to never stray away from those traditions. The context of the story is laced with subliminal messages of humanities resistance to change. In Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” the lead character is the center piece of resistance to change. Emily’s image is described on multiple accounts revealing a steady change in her life. Early on in the story the narrator a member of the civilization describes her as, “small, fat woman in black” (Faulkner 30). He mentions her appearance again by saying, “When we saw her again her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl." (Faulkner 31). This statement is made after the untimely death of her father. The subject of her image is mentioned one last time saying, “She had grown fat and her hair was turning gray...pepper and salt-iron gray." Keys 2 (Faulkner 33). This is of course after Emily’s lover Homer Barron went missing. The change in Emily’s clothing is the authors way of saying change is inevitable. Emily’s psychotic personality disorder is made completely obvious through the details of the story. Before his death Emily’s father refused to allow her to reach sexual maturity by preventing her from loving any man below their class. This caused sexual ... ... middle of paper ... ...who refuse to change with the times become lost in time. Works Cited Dilworth, Thomas. "A Romance to Kill for: Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily'". Studies in Short Fiction. EBSCO Publishing. 36.3 (2003): 251-262. Academic Search Complete. Blinn College, Bryan, Lib. 18 Oct. 2007 Faulkner, William. "A Rose For Emily". Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 10 (2007): 29-34. Kurtz, Elizabeth Carney. "Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily'". Explicator. Heldref Publications. 44.2 (1986): 40. Academic Search Complete. Blinn College, Bryan, Lib. 18 Oct. 2007 Schwab, Milinda. "A Watch for Emily". Studies in Short Fiction. EBSCO Publishing. 28.2 (1991): 215-217. Academic Search Complete. Blinn College, Bryan, Lib. 18 Oct. 2007 . http://voices.yahoo.com/human-fear-change-faulkners-rose-emily-1578411.html

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