William Faulkner's short story “A Rose For Emily” opens the reader into the secluded, odd and depressing life of Miss Emily Grierson as seen through the eyes of people in the town and told through one of the townspeople. The mystery and curiosity from others are highlighted from the very beginning of the story when the the reader is introduced to the death of Miss Emily. From the very beginning sentences, a tone of darkness and curiosity can be felt in the short story. This tone helps to pique the interest of the reader on the reclusive life of the the main character and to enhance the story as it moves along to the climax. Miss Emily lives such a isolated life that very few are a part of. The events that happen and her actions in the story keep the townspeople talking and wondering about her and her home. The people are eager to take a glimpse into the recently departed's house and a tale quickly begins to reveal why people are so fascinated with Miss Emily. Faulkner's use of a inquisitive, gossipy and dark tones help to establish the opinion of Miss Emily to those who live around her and to reveal the already known details she has hidden in her house. A subtle tone throughout the story is one of inquisitiveness or curiosity. This is done through the questioning done by the townspeople and also when the narrator outright says that they are curious. From the very first paragraph it is clear that the townspeople are not interested in Miss Emily's funeral but are wanting to get a glimpse into her house that had not been visited in years. The reader gets their first look into the inquisitiveness of the neighbors when the narrator says “...the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old m... ... middle of paper ... ... starts with the death of Miss Emily and ends with the final discovery of the remains of the one she loved. The dark tones hint through the story that the people already know the fate of the man she loved and give clues as to why it may have happened. Her sad, lonely, and decaying life is displayed through the talk of the town and keeps the reader focused on what is about to be discovered after her death. From the first sentence is is appearent that the reader will know why they want to look inside the home and as the story goes further, the reader begins to have an idea of what the people are expecting to find. This is mostly done with the tones set in the story. The reader is aware and feels along with the town the harsh reality of the situation and through the use of different tones they are able to discover with the town just what they all were waiting to see.
Faulkner first tells that shortly after her father’s death Miss Emily’s sweetheart left her. Everybody in the town thought that Emily and this sweetheart of hers were going to be married. After her sweetheart left her the people of the town saw her very little. Faulkner then tells what might be viewed as the climax of the story next. He explains that one day Miss Emily went into town and bought rat poison. By revealing this so early on in the story it challenges the reader to use their imagination. The readers’ view of Miss Emily could now possibly be changed. It has changed from feeling sorry for this woman to thinking she is going to murder someone.
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.
unravels their curiosity about Emily and what remains in her mysterious home where her funeral
Faulkner begins the story upon the arrival of Miss Emily's burial service. The state of mind is nostalgic as the storyteller thinks back about Emily's home and how it once enraptured the general population of the town, yet now lies in vestiges. We learn Miss Emily has been falling flat in her obligation by not paying duties, which Colonel Sartoris states is because of a credit that was given to the town by her dad. This we learn turns into an issue with Colonel Sartoris' successors and they in the end meet with Emily. The meeting happens at Emily's home, which is old, with worn furniture, and appears to have not been under any fundamental consideration. All through the meeting Emily is uncooperative, demanding the course of action in the middle of her and Colonel Sartoris, and declining to pay charges. Emily eludes the town's authorities to Colonel Sartoris, not realizing that
At the beginning of the story, the reader learns that Miss Emily “is portrayed as ’a fallen monument,’… because she has shown herself susceptible to death (and decay) after all” (West 264). The house can also be perceived as a “fallen monument”(Faulkner 81) as the narrator proceeds to describe the house, magnificent as it once was, and how it has become dilapidated through the years. The same can be said about Miss Emily, as time passed she “looked bloated like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue”(Faulkner 82).
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.
Throughout the story the author uses darkness and light to contrat the story. One of the dark sides of the story is how Emily shuts off the top of her house. It is also dark how many people only go to her funeral to see her house. Her house is a very dark place as she is very mysterious and shut off from people. When she dies people open up her house letting lightness in. Miss Emily's mind is a very dark place. After her father died she was so afraid to be alone she made sure she was never alone for the rest of her life. She has her room set up just as when she first was married. She then realized one way she will never be alone for the rest of her life. She then believes Homer is going to dump her so she w\decides that this will not be a option and she will not ever be without him . Her mind is so dark and she is in such a bad mental place. She went ahead and killed her husband so he could not leave her. She figured this way she would at least have his body to be with her for the rest of her dark life. Every single night she would sleep next to him , what kind of sane person could do such a thing. The smell alone would be to much to handle. The author shows how so much darkness is in her life, and how the darkness represents mystery and evil. There is finally light when everyone figures out what had happened and the mystery was soon gone. The whole town was so shocked how something like that could happen and how that is so dark. The truth would be another representation for light. The author does a good job of showing the darkness and light difference . He also comes along and shows how evil is very very dark thing. He also shows how light is truth and it finally coming into the eyes of
As time went on pieces from Emily started to drift away and also the home that she confined herself to. The town grew a great deal of sympathy towards Emily, although she never hears it. She was slightly aware of the faint whispers that began when her presence was near. Gossip and whispers may have been the cause of her hideous behavior. The town couldn’t wait to pity Ms. Emily because of the way she looked down on people because she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and she never thought she would be alone the way her father left her.
William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” displays themes of alienation and isolation. Emily Grierson’s own father is found to be the root of many of her problems. Faulkner writes Emily’s character as one who is isolated from the people of her town. Her isolation from society and alienation from love is what ultimately drives her to madness.
First, why does Faulkner present the plot in the way that he does? There can be numerous answers to this question, but I have narrowed it down to one simple answer. He presented the story in this way in order to keep the reader guessing and to also provide some sort of suspense. By Faulkner telling the story in the way that he does, the reader has no way of knowing what might be coming up next in the story. The last thing that a reader wants to do is read a boring story that is easy to predict. Faulkner keeps the reader from knowing what might happen next by not placing the events in the actual order that they occurred. He goes back and forth throughout Miss Emily’s life. At the introduction and conclusion of the story, she is dead, while the body consists of the times when she was alive. The body of the story also jumps back and forth throughout Miss Emily’s life. Faulkner brilliantly divided the story into five key parts, all taking place at some key
After all the tragic events in her life, Emily became extremely introverted. After killing Homer, Emily locked herself in and blocked everyone else out. It was mentioned, “…that was the last time we saw of Homer Barron. And of Miss Emily for some time” (628). In fact, no one in town really got to know Miss Emily personally as she always kept her doors closed, which reflects on how she kept herself closed for all those years. Many of the town’s women came to her funeral with curiosity about how she lived, as no one had ever known her well enough to know. This was revealed at the beginning of the story when the narrator mentioned, “the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant… had seen in the last ten years”(623). Everyone in town knew of her but did not know her because she kept to herself for all those years.
A Rose for Emily is a southern gothic story written by William Faulkner about a woman’s life of isolation and her inability to comprehend life after death. From a first person narration, we are able to see Emily Grierson’s life from an outsider’s perspective rather than from her point of view consequently leading us to take the side of the narrator. This paper will argue how through themes of isolation and rebirth, this story implies how Emily’s character deals with seclusion and how she fails to part with death and distinguish time with the men that she has placed great significance in. Out of many of Faulkner’s works, A Rose for Emily demonstrates his detailed style of prose and conveys the emotions of people that have gruesome, complex lives
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.
Miss Emily's house as the setting of the story is a perfect metaphor for the events occurring during that time period. It portrays the decay of Miss Emily's life and values and of the southern way of life and their clash with the newer generations. The house is situated in what was once a prominent neighborhood that has now deteriorated. Miss Emily's "big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies of an earlier time," now looked awkward surrounded by "cotton wagons" and "gasoline pumps." The townspeople consider it "an eyesore among eyesores." Time has taken a similar role with Miss Emily altering her appearance from that of a "slender figure in white" (624) to that of "a small, fat woman in black" (622). The setting of Faulkner's story defines Miss Emily's tight grasp of ante-bellum ways and unchanging demeanor.. Through her refusal to put "metal numbers above her door and attach a mail box" to her house she is refusing to change with society. Miss Emily's attitude towards change is ...
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.