Fallen From Grace Emily Grierson, a woman of stature and nobility of the once proud South; transformed to a mere peasant, through the fall of the Confederacy and the changes that ensued. Tragic in a sense, the story of her life as told from the author; William Faulkner, in his short story - "A Rose for Emily." (Faulkner 74-79). First published in the popular magazine of his time in 1930, The Forum; Faulkner tries to maintain her self image throughout the story through the narrators eyes as being repressed in nature through her upbringing in society prior to the war and the circumstances of the times as they unfold - while struggling to fill a void of emptiness inside. Born and raised in a grand house on a once grand street in Jefferson Mississippi, her status amongst the townspeople was above all. Faulkner; through his narrator, describe her as a woman of her times nobelesse oblige (Faulkner 77); her father raised her as a real "Lady", exhibiting generous and responsible behavior associated with noble birth or rank he thought she so deserved. A rather small-framed woman rose with this notion from her father; that no man in the town or area was worthy of her hand, despite all that beckoned upon her doorstep. These circumstances contributed to her demise, following the tragic death of her father in 1894. While in her mid 30's and still single when he passed, she refused to believe the reality of his leaving for three days, the citizens who paid visit in his honor begged and pleaded to finally convince her to rest his soul through burial. With no family to speak of; due to the falling out her father had with her only relatives living in Alabama years earlier - regarding the settlement of her Great Aunt Lady Wyatt's est... ... middle of paper ... ...mbrace under the rotted nightshirt which he wore. On the pillow next to him was the indentation of a head, which bore a single strand of long iron-gray hair. Throughout the story, Faulkner so painstakingly attempted to maintain as much attention to detail so the reader would not loose sight of her plight of the times. The poor woman, once a pillar of society in her fathers' eye, had no one left once he was gone. Her feeble attempts to maintain a sense of serenity and purpose were always shutdown from within herself. While the world changed outside, Miss Emily's mind never changed from that early state that was bore in her soul. Works Cited Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." Literature: An Introduction To Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. 3rd Compact Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2003. 74-79.
In Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, there is a constant theme of protection for Emily Grierson, because she was a woman living in the south after the civil war and the requirements that were placed on women enable to be honorable. That is to say that, women needed to be protected by the men of the community during that time in history and women’s actions were constantly under watch to see if a woman was honorable and worthy of protection or not. Within the story, there are many instances in which this is shown. Faulkner also shows the reader a gender split between the men and women and how they felt towards Emily.
Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. 549-51. Print.
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.
The end of the American Civil War also signified the end of the Old South's era of greatness. The south is depicted in many stories of Faulkner as a region where "the reality and myth are difficult to separate"(Unger 54). Many southern people refused to accept that their conditions had changed, even though they had bitterly realized that the old days were gone. They kept and cherished the precious memories, and in a fatal and pathetic attempt to maintain the glory of the South people tend to cling to old values, customs, and the faded, but glorified representatives of the past. Miss Emily was one of those selected representatives. The people in the southern small-town, where the story takes place, put her on a throne instead of throwing her in jail where she actually belonged. The folks in town, unconsciously manipulated by their strong nostalgia, became the accomplices of the obscene and insane Miss Emily.
My Neighbor’s Keeper? William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily is set in the small southern town of Jefferson during the early decades of the twentieth century . At this time, vast and cardinal changes were being made by the upcoming new south to conceal and move from the horrid truths that were a part of the town's history. In lieu of this, Jefferson was at a turning point in which they were having difficulty coming to terms with these changes . Integrating Faulkner's use of character and symbols with other sources, it will be supported that despite of the attempts made to carry Miss Emily and others who expressed denial and fear of modernity, change is an inevitable reality that was unable to be escaped. The author uses Miss Emily, the main character as the prime figure of one who is unwilling to welcome change in any aspect but ironically it was present in her everyday life. To show this, Faulkner references the appearance of Miss Emily on numerous occasions. The first time in which her appearance is noted if is the narrator depicts Miss Emily’s semblance as a “small, fat woman in black" (Faulkner 30). After the reader receiving this description of her appearance, there is another time in which her appearance is mentioned again in the text: “When we saw her again her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl." (Faulkner 31). With this one may receive the impression of Miss Emily being so resistant to change on all aspects aside from traditional norm, the total contrary is the reality of this. Emily trying to appear more feminine, is a total change that she exhibited ever since her father has passed away. Later on in the story, a final mention of Miss Emily’s appearance is described: “She had grown fat and h...
In his short story, A Rose for Emily, well-known American writer and Nobel Prize laureate, William Faulkner, narrates the consequences of people not changing with the times. He lived in the south when slavery was acceptable and includes this in many of his stories. Faulkner’s purpose is to emphasize to his audience that people must accept change and evolve or risk isolation and ultimately dying alone. Faulkner’s views on change are brought out effectively in “A Rose for Emily” through his use of setting, tone, and diction. This paper will explore these strategies used by Faulkner to convey to his audience the importance of being able to adapt to a dynamically changing world. It will also answer the question of whether or not Miss Emily was stuck in the past and unable to move forward.
Faulkner, William. “A Rose For Emily.” An Introduction to Fiction. 10th ed. Eds: X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New Yorkk: Pearson Longman, 2007. 29-34.
---. "A Rose for Emily." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 5th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.
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.
In “ A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner tells the complex tale of a woman who is battered by time and unable to move through life after the loss of each significant male figure in her life. Unlike Disney Stories, there is no prince charming to rescue fallen princess, and her assumed misery becomes the subject of everyone in the town of Jefferson, Mississippi. As the townspeople gossip about her and develop various scenarios to account for her behaviors and the unknown details of her life, Emily Grierson serves as a scapegoat for the lower classes to validate their lives. In telling this story, Faulkner decides to take an unusual approach; he utilizes a narrator to convey the details of a first-person tale, by examining chronology, the role of the narrator and the interpretations of “A Rose for Emily”, it can be seen that this story is impossible to tell without a narrator.
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.
William Faulkner used indirect characterization to portray Miss Emily as a stubborn, overly attached, and introverted women through the serious of events that happened throughout her lifetime. The author cleverly achieves this by mentioning her father’s death, Homer’s disappearance, the town’s taxes, and Emily’s reactions to all of these events. Emily’s reactions are what allowed the readers to portray her characteristics, as Faulkner would want her to be
Faulkner, William. "A Rose For Emily." The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. 91-99. Print.
Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Compact 4th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2000. 81 - 88.
Faulkner starts his story by showing the amount of respect that is shown at Emily’s funeral. It is said that the entire town attended this event, but also that some only showed up to see what the inside of her house looked like because no one had been inside in over ten years. “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, which no one save an old manservant- a combined gardener and cook- had seen in at least ten years”(pg.542). He explains this to show the mysterious interest of Emily. By explaining the mystery in Emily, he carries a dark tone that mystifies the audience.