The Critique of Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"

554 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literary elements used in a rose for emily

The definition of denial is “a condition, in which someone will not admit that something sad, painful, etc., is true or real”.-Webster’s Dictionary There are points in our lives in which we are all in denial, and Miss Emily is no exception. In “A Rose for Emily”, a women who has had loveless life falls in love with a man and then he mysteriously vanishes, we learn latter that he died on their wedding and she has kept his body. The author, Faulkner won a Nobel peace award, in his speech he said, “I feel this award was not made to me as a man, but to my.” Through his work of “A Rose For Emily” Faulkner expresses honor, compassion, and pity.
Faulkner articulates honor in the story by Miss Emily trying to keep her father “alive”. Miss Emily struggled with a loss, her dad died and “She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body” She was clearly upset and wanted to keep her father alive. Just as anyone would be upset, maybe not to the extremes of holding the body hostage, but holding on to the memories so tight that you believe the person is just around the corner. However, Faulkner teaches us that it is not always in your best interest to hold on, Hermann Hesse agrees “Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.” Hesse
Passion is a vital component of Faulkner’s writing and is apparent in “A Rose for Emily” by her love for her betrothed. “I’ve come to know that what we want in life is the greatest indication of who we really are”-Evans This quote identifies what Miss Emily truly wanted, love. Again Miss Emily keeps Homer Barron’s body when he dies, “The man himself lay...

... middle of paper ...

...ty her by her misfortunes. It is obvious the Faulkner wants you to learn from his reading as he said once, “I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it.”

Works Cited

Brainy Quote. N.p., 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. quotes/quotes/h/hermannhes384604.html>. Buzz Feed. Buzz Feed, 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. louispeitzman/william-faulkner-quotes-that-will-take-your-breath-away>. Good Reads. Goodreads, 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. quotes/tag/want>. Merriam-Webster. Merriam Webster, 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
.
Notable Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
p/pity_quotes.html>.

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast A Rose For Carily And What We Talk About Love

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose For Emily” it portrays the love of a woman who is disturbed and cannot

    Read More

  • Essay on the Structure of William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" is a story that uses flashbacks to foreshadow a surprise ending. The story begins with the death of a prominent old woman, Emily, and finishes with the startling discovery that Emily as been sleeping with the corpse of her lover, whom she murdered, for the past forty years. The middle of the story is told in flashbacks by a narrator who seems to represent the collective memory of an entire town. Within these flashbacks, which jump in time from ten years past to forty years past, are hidden clues which prepare the reader for the unexpected ending, such as hints of Emily's insanity, her odd behavior concerning the deaths of loved ones, and the evidence that the murder took place.

    Read More

  • Plot Development in Good Country People and A Rose for Emily

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some readers might find the title of Faulkner’s story, “A Rose for Emily,” ironic. As a Symbol, the rose usually signifies romantic love. Assuming that Faulkner is well aware of a rose’s symbolic meanings, why does he wish to name his story about a doomed and perverse love affair? Faulkner causes the reader to believe this is a classic love story. Faulkner then overturns the reader’s expectations by offering an unconventional heroine. Generally love stories involve a young woman, pure and beautiful, worthy of receiving love. In this story, however, the heroine is old and decrepit. Emily is introduced first at her funeral where everyone from the town has come to pay respects. Emily then is described as “a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town”. (Faulkner 681) This meaning that the townspeople viewed her as more of a monument to the town that has been there for as long as they can remember and won’t be moved. Emily throughout the whole story is criticized for the way that she thinks she is more important than everyone else, but it takes a society to judge a person at the top in order for there to be any social ladder. When Emily meets Homer she again is criticized for being seen with someone who comes from a lower part of society, but she is also being criticized for thinking she is better than everyone else. The townspeople make her feel like an outcast, and that is why she isolates herself from the rest of society. Society criticizes her for what she does, but it is the society that makes her do it. When Emily buys the rat poi...

    Read More

  • Depression In The 1800s in Rose for Emily and Yellow Wallpaper

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the seductive factors of William Faulkner’s society in “A Rose for Emily” is the traditional and adamant mental attitude of the main character in the novel. Miss Emily Grierson was stern in her ways and refused to accept change. She was known to be a hereditary obligation to the town. When the next generation and modern ideas came into progress she creates dissatisfaction by not paying her taxes. For many years and through the time of her death she would receive a tax notice every December and it would be returned by the post office a week later unclaimed. When the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily was opposed to the new idea. She herself did not allow them to fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mail box to it. She has no tolerance when it comes to modern ideas. Depression and anguish increased within her causing major conflicts after her father’s death. Being left alone and without any close family to seek support from, she dwelled in disbelief. As custom from the town all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, but Miss Emily met them at the door with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead. For three days she was inclined to disbelieve and what had happened while minister and doctors tried to persuade her to let them dispose of the body.

    Read More

  • Faulkner's Rose For Emily is a Portrait Of The Post War South

    1943 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • William Faulkner and Frank McCourt: Emotional Writings

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Faulkner claims it’s the writer’s duty to focus on the universal feelings of love, honor, pity, pride, compassion, and sacrifice. Unfortunately, modern writers no longer concern themselves with “the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself” (Faulkner). These authors only wish to illustrate the story, thinking the lesson lies in the conclusion. However, the greater morals remain with the characters’ responses to these adversities, so the story is only a vessel in which the “universal truths” are conveyed. Using the emotional appeals of the story, the author must “help man endure by lift his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past.” All people have felt and understand these emotions, but by ignoring them, modern writers have not left a “scar” on readers. Faulkner hopes to enlighten these young writers so that they continue the meritorious work of helping man to endure. Without Faulkner’s standard of good literature, all emotion will be lost in modern informative literature.

    Read More

  • The Sense Of Hope In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hope can be derived from several different aspects of the story; Emily’s personal life, the revolution of time, and even for the end of the story. The reader is struck with an immense sense of hope for Emily as soon as sympathy for the character is established. Statements such as, “We did not say she was crazy then,” from A Rose for Emily, give the reader hope that Emily isn’t actually crazy, and still has the possibility for a positive future. (Rose 821) Despite the gothic atmosphere of the setting, optimism remains present, which is truly incredible. Regardless of the start of the story (Emily’s funeral), the reader contains hope for Emily’s life. Also, the reader can sense a hope for the passage of time bringing greater things. It is apparent that Emily is stuck in her father’s era, but there is a hope that she will move on and find a better life. This hope can be seen as parallel to feelings of the townspeople. As Renee R. Curry stated in her article, Gender and authorial limitation in Faulkner 's "A Rose for Emily,” in response to Emily’s purchase of arsenic, “When Miss Emily clearly continues to live, the community refuses to invest in an alternative interpretation about the arsenic. They simply forget it or suppress it.” (Curry) The town refuses to believe anything about her purchase, and this is paralleled by the reader’s hope that she didn’t really kill Homer, even with an omniscient point of view. Faulkner truly lifts the reader’s heart by providing such a large sense of hope for someone like Emily. This highlights the possibility that there is hope for every human being, even the

    Read More

  • A Haunting Past in Faulkner's A Rose of Emily

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    Up to the very end of Miss Emily’s life, her father was in the foreground watching and controlling, and Miss Emily unrelentingly held on to the past. She went as far as keeping a loved one’s body locked upstairs in her home for years. While admiring her loved one’s body from up close and afar, she managed to maintain a death grip on the past.

    Read More

  • How Is Miss Emily Grierson And A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faulkner writes “A Rose for Emily” in the view of a memory, the people of the towns’ memory. The story goes back and forth like memories do and the reader is not exactly told whom the narrator is. This style of writing contributes to the notions Faulkner gives off during the story about Miss Emily’s past, present, and her refusal to modernize with the rest of her town. The town of Jefferson is at a turning point, embracing the more modern future while still at the edge of the past. Garages and cotton gins are replacing the elegant southern homes. Miss Emily herself is a living southern tradition. She stays the same over the years despite many changes in her community. Even though Miss Emily is a living monument, she is also seen as a burden to the town. Refusing to have numbers affixed to the side of her house when the town receives modern mail service and not paying her taxes, she is out of touch with reality. The younger generation of leaders brings in Homer’s company to pave the sidewalks. The past is not a faint glimmer but an ever-present, idealized realm. Emily’s morbid bridal ...

    Read More

  • Characterization within A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    By using strong characterization and dramatic imagery, William Faulkner introduces us to Miss Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily”. The product of a well-established, but now fallen family, Emily plays common role found in literature- a societal outcast, who earns her banishment from society through her eclectic behavior and solitary background. Often living in denial and refusing to engage with others, Emily responds to her exile by spending the remainder of her life as a mysterious recluse that the rest of society is more content to ignore rather than break social customs to confront her. Emily’s role as an outcast mirrors a major theme of the story, that denial is a powerful tool in hiding a secret, however, the truth will eventually emerge. The mystery surrounding Emily’s character and the story’s memorable imagery creates a haunting tale that lingers with the reader.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Plot in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “A Rose For Emily”, by William Faulkner, plot plays an important role in how

    Read More

  • Faulkner's “A Rose For Emily”

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Faulkner’s tale “A Rose for Emily” there are many historical elements throughout the story; Faulkner uses them to give an authentic feel to the story and to add to the setting. A recurring theme that I found was reference to the reconstruction of the South after the Civil War. The setting of the South after their demise in the Civil War adds character to the story and to the characters. The attitudes people had and the way people treated Emily with respect was a tradition of the “Old South” that is presented throughout this tale.

    Read More

  • Letting Go in A Rose for Emily

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    have a very negative effect on that person’s life. In Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily,” everything that a person knows is gradually taken away from her gradually

    Read More

  • The Influence Of The Denial Of Insanity In Literature

    2100 Words  | 5 Pages

    Faulkner was known for his southern literature which comes as no surprise as this short story takes place in Mississippi in the late 1800‘s. This gothic-fictional story is told by different narrators of different generations who tell the story of a woman named Emily Grierson whos mental trauma is caused by depression and loss. Emily is a woman who came from an upper-class family. She grew up with her father who made it impossible for her to settle down with any man because none of them were good enough for her. This scarred her and caused her to become dependent and attached to her father. The first example of her mental deterioration is shown after the passing of her father when she denys his death for three

    Read More

  • A Victim of Society in A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, Emily, the protagonist, is shown as someone who’s life is falling apart and brought down by society. Emily in this story could be described as a victim to society and her father. Emily Grierson’s confinement, loss of her father and Homer, and constant criticism caused her, her insanity.

    Read More

More about The Critique of Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"

Open Document