People often stick to tradition, but does that mean tradition is proper? Throughout time, many things in life change, but sometimes things stay preserved. The past is the past and cannot be altered, but things can become spoiled, whether by nature or by man. Gender representation has come a long way in the past few hundred years. To this day life is still not equal for either group. The genders have portrayed for millenniums certain duties and created imageries people associate with both, and will not go away overnight or in a century, possibly not even in a millennium. These typical obligations have become preserved by literature throughout history. One such narrative is “A Rose for Emily”, written by William Faulkner in 1930. There are remarks that have meanings beyond being merely a word with a definition. These symbols and keywords based on gender roles are throughout the story. Of the many hidden in the story, the most important symbols and keywords are an “apron”, they also mention a “kitchen”, and lastly they use the word “deserted”.
Aprons have many links, but mainly with women. The idea that women are housekeepers is their most associated role. The sign that women’s only job is to take care of the house isn’t new. A few references are located throughout. For example, the narrator discusses the town mayor created a law that states, “No Negro woman should appear on the street without an apron” (Faulkner 3). Although not related, he does bring up racial segregation, but in doing so he also references that people interpret the standard female role is in the kitchen. The author chose to use an apron because during this time period most women did not have any work outside of their household. Women were never allowed to do...
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...to change as well. Therefore if a mother chooses to stay at home or a man feels the need to support his family, or vice versa, there isn’t a single thing someone could tell them otherwise. Society has come a long way, breaking out of the barrier of gender roles enforced upon people from the day they are born. Hopefully one day people will not associate a specific role with either gender and these roles will be known exactly as what they are, roles, not gender roles.
Works Cited
1. “A Rose for Emily”. William Faulkner. 1930.
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3. “The Beginning of the suffrage movement”
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Ulf Kirchdorfer, "A Rose for Emily: Will the Real Mother Please Stand Up?” ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, 10/2016, Volume 29, Issue 4, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0895769X.2016.1222578
5. Roberts, Edgar V., and Henry E. Jacobs. "A Rose for Emily." Literature: an Introduction to Reading and Writing. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/ Prentice Hall, 2008. 76-81. Print.
Mosby, Charmaine Allmon. "A Rose For Emily." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
The “A Rose for Emily”. Literature: Prentice Hall Pocket Reader. Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2005. 1-9.
In “A Rose for Emily”, Charles Faulkner used a series of flashbacks and foreshadowing to tell Miss Emily’s story. Miss Emily is an interesting character, to say the least. In such a short story of her life, as told from the prospective of a townsperson, who had been nearly eighty as Miss Emily had been, in order to tell the story from their own perspective. Faulkner set up the story in Mississippi, in a world he knew of in his own lifetime. Inspired by a southern outlook that had been touched by the Civil War memory, the touch of what we would now look at as racism, gives the southern aroma of the period. It sets up Miss Emily’s southern belle status and social standing she had been born into, loner or not.
Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Norton Introduction to Literature. By Carl E. Bain, Jerome Beaty, and J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1991: 69-76.
In the short stories "The Story of an Hour," by Chopin and "A Rose for
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...
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.
In the story “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner, the author talks about a life of a woman and the town she lived in.
---. "A Rose for Emily." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 5th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.
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
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.
Alice, Petry. A Rose for Emily.’” Explicator Spring 86. Vol. 44 Issue 3. p. 52. 3 p.. Ebook
William Faulkner’s story “A Rose for Emily” is an example of gothic literature. Faulkner shows sadness for the love that is not returned and a drive that Emily uses to get what she wishes for. He has a gloomy and mysterious tone. One of the themes of the story is that people should let go of their past, move on with the present so that they can focus on welcoming their future. Emily was the evidence of a person who always lived in the shadow of her past, because she was afraid of changing for the future. She would not let go of the past throughout all her life, keeping everything she loved in the past with her.