A Rose, Lastly

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A Rose, Lastly “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner is a short story based on the life and death of Emily Pierson, the sole descendent of a long line of aristocrats in the town of Jefferson Emily Pierson has lived a sheltered and lonely life protected by men. Her father was very protective and after her father’s death, the townsmen protected her from others and herself. In contrast, the townswomen judged her and meddled mercilessly in her life. The story spans three generation’ s and is narrated by the townspeople in a random episodic order, the stories enfolded have a confessional quality albeit filled with excuses and cruelty. Emily died a lonely spinster. As a young woman, her father spurned all potentials suitors away, and in her thirties, the town sabotaged what was her last chance of love and happiness. She becomes a recluse and never spoke to anyone. Her main human contact for over thirty years is that of her butler/cook Tobe. It is discovered after her death, that Emily Pierson was also a murderer. Section one is “A Rose for Emily” begins with Miss Emily Grierson’s funeral. The narration immediately establishes the kind and accommodating demeanor of the men, the coldness of the women. “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house” (139). The opening statement also establishes that Emily was a celebrity of some sort, being depicted as a monument, though a fallen one. The narrators reveal their role in her life”: Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (140). The men from generation to ge... ... middle of paper ... ...ion above stairs which no one had seen in forty years, and which would have to be forced. They waited until Miss Emily was decently in the ground before they opened it” (147). Homer’s body is discovered in a room made to be a wedding chamber. Why do they make sure that Emily was decently in the ground before opening the room” The town is already aware of what transpired and finally feels sorrow and guilt for their role in Emily’s pitiful life. In “A Rose for Emily”, though the town speaks as a whole, the story communicate that the townswomen are ultimately responsible for Emily’s death. The arrangement of events in the story is narrated for the town to give reasons for their actions, to defend themselves, but, in the end, they had a rose for poor Emily. Works Cited Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily" Literature A Pocket Anthology. Ed.4 R.S. Gwynn New York

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