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Literary analysis of a rose for emily
Literary analysis of a rose for emily
Literary devices in A Rose for Emily
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William Faulker’s "A Rose for Emily", is a story told from the viewpoint of a resident of the town which Emily was, born, raised, and eventually died in. There is a very dark and ominous feel to this story, which mainly revolves around death. The story takes place in the south, where at the time, slaves were newly emancipated and things are taking to quite a change. Even though the Gierson family was very powerful and well known, nothing could have been done to save Ms. Emily. As generations passed you could clearly see that the town was undergoing a great change, in which Emily was not ready for. As a child, Emily seemed to grew up in the lap of luxury, her father took great care of her, and wanted the best for his only daughter. Though his love was great, he seemed almost as a tyrant of Emily’s life. He controlled everything she did, felt no man was a good suitor for Emily, and probably allowed her no friendships. The Giersons were cut from a different clothe, and her father wanted to make sure that everyone in town knew this. This being, the only real contact with the outside world that Emily could enjoy, was that of which her father dictated to her. This early trauma Emily had to endure did a great un-justice to her emotionally, crippling her for the rest of her life. Many doctors will say the most important years of your life, are the early ones. It is clear that Emily had no real grasp of a family unit, or how it should function. There was no mother figure spoke of, just her father, which she lived with alone other then family servants until he died. Upon her father’s death, this early trauma is shown in her mental and emotional state, or therefore lack of. Her father was her only friend, he was all she knew in the world, and with out him she almost had nothing to live for. “Being left alone, and pauper, she had become humanized.” (Page 31) this quote shows that Emily didn’t have the slightest clue how to survive on her own without her father, but now she was forced to grow up and get along all by herself. Soon after her father’s death, townspeople came by to offer condolence to the girl who had lost the person she really knew. This repression of Emily’s father dying was bursting at the seems when she proclaimed to them that her father hadn’t died! This
Her father was a huge part of her life. She had never had a boyfriend, nor would her father have allowed it.... ... middle of paper ... ...
One can clearly imagine the timid Emily standing behind her towering father. "Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip." Emily's father not only dominates the portrait but dominates Emily as well. Emily's father controls her every move. She cannot date anyone unless her father approves, yet he never approves of any of the few men that do show interest in her. "None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such." Unable to find a good enough suitor, Emily has no choice but to stay and care for her governing father.
Miss Emily was brought into the spotlight the same moment as her father died. Being the last remaining person from the high ranking Grierson family in town, she became the new ambassador of the old days. The people welcomed her with open arms, without actually knowing anything more about her than her admirable name. Her father's death also meant that Miss Emily's unrevealed secret was brought into the grave. It is well known that insanity is a hereditary disposition, and Miss Emily's great-aunt, lady Wyatt, had "gone absolutely crazy"(80) before she passed away a couple of years earlier. Emily's father had since then dissociated from that branch of the family, as if to run away from a dishonorable influence. I believe that he was aware of her condition, and he therefore had kept her from social life and driven away the long road of suitors to prevent her from causing another scandal, which could spot his and his family's remaining reputation.
should come to her. Instead Emily lived by herself with only a black male servant.
Having to send Emily in her early days to live with her father was a burdensome nuisance. All of Emily's father's attributes were rubbing off on her, "all of the baby loveliness gone," (p.
The power Emily's father has over Emily can be seen in a portrait of the two that the narrator describes: "Emily a slender woman in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip." (141) He does in fact control her like a horse, never allowing her to date anyone. And until his death she indeed does not.
nothing after her father dies. “We remembered all the young men her father had driven
The description in this quotation leaves to conjure up the image of the father keeping Emily down and at home with him. Through his selfishness he isolates her from the rest of "normal" society, separating Emily from other girls her age, denying her of the joy and pleasures experienced by most of her peers.
Another factor that showed Miss Emily was not interested in change is when Jefferson came up with a mail system. This new mail system that the people of Jefferson created included putting brass numbers of the house on the door so they could organize where the mail was going. Miss Emily did not like the fact of putting something new on her house and she did not like the fact of a new system coming in. She then told the people that she did not want the numbers put on her door and did not participate in the new mail system in Jefferson.
The mother was an invisible parent for Emily. Her reason for not being there for Emily was because she was a “young and distracted mother” (Olsen 262). The real reason she was inattentive was because she was inexperienced. She lacks the understanding of how essential it is to be there physically for Emily. Emily needed her mother for directions on things that is needed in order to be healthy, things that a nursery or a convalescent home does not endow. Emily needed guidance on things such as school and friends. Emily was not good with school; she was a “slow learner” (Olsen 260). Her mother did not contribute any suggestion on how to improve in school nor did she lay stress on the importance of doing well in school. Emily did not have many friends. She is alienated from people because of her mother. Because her mother seldom smiled at her, “she does not smile easily” (Olsen 258). Emily was not a friendly looking person, “her face is closed and sombre” (Olsen 258). If only Emily’s mother was to take control of things and constitute beneficial conditions for Emily, Emily would...
In the community eye Emily’s life was one of normal progression, but no one really knows the truth behind closed doors. "Nobody sees Emily. And because nobody sees her, she can literally get away with murder" (Fetterley 195). How sho...
Another reason that she was affected by her life was that her mother was not “emotionally accessible”. She was not close to her mother and never shared any of her feelings with her, which most daughters feel they can. This might have caused Emily to be very weird and strange. The Dickinson children were also raised in the Christian tradition, and were expected to take up their father’s religious beliefs and values without any fighting or arguing. Emily did not like than she can not chose for herself her own beliefs and religion.
In fact, when her father dies the townspeople went to give their condolences. Saying “We remember all the young men her father had driven away and we knew that with nothing left; Emily would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” With that, you can see where Emily’s control issues came because her father had robbed her making Emily cling to have control. Emily shows no appreciation for the abandonment of her husband. Deciding that her best bet was to kill Homer and keep him in her house for decades. As watching Emily
She has the “quality of her father” inside her that fosters her arrogance. Consequently, the townspeople begin to say “poor Emily” as she “[becomes] humanized” and loses her place in society. Although she is dwindling, she continues to hold her “head high” around the town so the public wouldn’t view her differently; however, people notice and are glad that “at last they [can] pity” her. Besides the pity of the town, many people fears Miss Emily, allowing her to do as she pleased such as getting the arsenic without mentioning what it would be used for as the law requires. As a result of the conflicting feelings of the town, Emily is isolated from many of them as well as her cousins, causing her to stay home and collect dust like the rest of her home with its “stubborn and coquettish decay.” Not only is the house Emily’s barrier from the outside world, but it is also where her past was hoarded and manifested from her emotional attachment to the
a great reputation in the town. As previously described as Emily starts to decay, so does the