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Character analysis of Emily
Character analysis of Emily
Post american civil war and its changes
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Extra Credit Unit One Essay William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Emily" is an written as an example of a post-Civil War era Southern lifestyle. Faulkner illustration the lifestyle through the element of characteristic. Miss. Emily’s life, house and relationship represent as examples of the North vs. South. Miss. Emily Grierson grew up in an environment that was dominated by her father, and his old southern ways. “Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner .)Her reputation with the town people show that she is stuck in the past, and she refuses to look forward to the future as they all have. After Emily’s father dies, Colonel Sartoris grants her the right to not pay taxes ever again. When the new south forms, they go to her to pay her taxes, but she refuses because she is still set on living by the rules of Colonel Sartoris’ generation. She lives in the town as she always has, and she never moved on as the rest of the town has. Also, Miss. Emily's house is mentioned as representation on the old south. As the other houses in the neighborhood had improved, and “Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay” (Faulkner .) The setting of the house shows that she is still stuck in her old way. It becomes an eyesore in the neighborhood, and it reminds the …show more content…
townspeople of the past. Additionally, an example of the North is through Miss.
Emily’s relationship with Homer Barron. Homer is considered an outsider to anyone from the South. His character represents the new modern era that Miss. Emily does not. The ladies of the town “said, ‘Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner’” (Faulkner .) Homer is considered a step-down for Emily, because she portrays as high class. For Emily to go out with him, it is considered as a rebellion for her to do so. Eventually when Homer does not want to marry her, it can be connected to the North and South rivalry. Just to get her way, Miss. Emily kills
Homer. Clearly, Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” paints a picture of life changing whether one wants it to or not. Homer Barron and Miss. Emily Grierson represent the North and South. The elements of Miss. Emily’s lifestyle, house and her relationship with Homer show the post-Civil War era struggles of letting go.
Along with the passing of her father Emily is then allowed the freedom to finally think for herself and then comes Homer Barron, a man whose Emily’s father would have disapproved of if he was still alive. As Donald Akers stated that Emily dating a northerner as a, “reasonable, explanation for her relationship with Homer would be that is her way of rebelling against her dead father. During his lifetime, her father prevented her from having an “acceptable” suitor. Thus, she rebels by associating with a man her father would have considered a pariah: a Yankee day-laborer” (“A Rose for Emily”). That excerpt suggests since Homer was a Yankee, it was completely against the Griersons legacy to marry a northern man having the post Civil War mentality, so Homer would have never been the perfect suitor for Emily. Regardless to say Emily quickly fell in love with Homer and she couldn’t bare the humiliation of Homer leaving her since he was not the marrying type. Within all of the things happening around Emily and all of the mixed internal feelings Emily repressed throughout the years, especially not having many
This story takes place throughout the Reconstruction Era from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s in Jefferson, Mississippi. Emily was raised in the period before the Civil War. Her father who was the only person in her life with the exception of a former lover who soon left her as well raised her. The plot of this story is mainly about Miss Emily’s attitude about change. While growing up Emily was raised in a comfortable environment because her father possessed a lot of money. Considering that her father was a very wealthy person who occasionally loaned the town money Emily had everything a child could want. This caused Emily to be very spoiled and selfish and she never knew the value of a dollar until her father left her with nothing but a run down home that started to decay after a period of time. She began to ignore the surrounding decay of the house and her appearance. These lies continued as she denied her father’s death, refused to pay taxes, ignores town gossip about her being a fallen woman, and does not tell the druggist why she purchased rat poison. Her life, like the decaying house suffered from a lack of genuine love and care. Her physical appearance is brought about by years of neglect.
Faulkner tells the story through primarily a first person narration, primarily through the eyes of the townspeople, which is a white southern society. They too have a type of love affair with "Miss Emily." Emily Grierson is known to the townspeople as an icon. They feel a sense of obligation to her, as the narrator explains, "Alive, Miss Emily has been a tradition, a duty, and a care; sort of hereditary obligation upon the town" (404). The relationship between the town and Emily is symbiotic, in the respects that neither can exist without the other, this in turn, makes the narrator and Emily foils.
The tale takes place in a smallish town in Mississippi, circa 1920. Over time, the glory of the town has faded, just like Miss Emily Grierson, the main character, and her house. At one time, the house was one of the best houses in one of the best neighborhoods; Miss Emily was considered one of the best young women in town. Now, her house stands amidst the business section of town, a run-down eyesore. This compares to Emily herself; once a beauty, she is now old and considered crazy.
“When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: 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 gardner and cook had seen in at least ten years. (Faulkner 1)” From the first statement of the entire story, one can assume and infer that the story will contain material that is accented in dark aspects. Throughout the time period of the Great Depression, it was a given that the majority of the population was not fit to pay taxes. The effect of Emily being unable to pay for her taxes is a direct correlation to the fact that most of the population wasn’t able to pay for their own taxes. However, the reality of the comparison between Emily and the Great Depression fade when Emily’s taxes are exempt because her father supposedly contributed to the community’s bank account.
Emily Grierson, the only remaining member of the upper class Grierson family refuses to leave the past behind her even as the next generation begins to take over. Miss Emily becomes so caught up in the way things were in the old South that she refuses to pay her taxes forcing the Board of Aldermen to pay her a visit. Upon entering her home the men realize that her house is still heavily furnished with old leather furniture. Another indication that Emily is clinging to the past by refusing to throw away the furniture even though it is ragged and useless. “Page 1: They could see that the leather was cracked; and when they sat down, a faint dust rose sluggishly about their thighs...” Holding on to these possessions reminds Emily of the way things used to be before her father passed away. The narrator also gives the reader it's first clue that maybe Miss Emily isn't mentally stable “ Page 2: See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson.” Emily replied to the men in regards to her non paid taxes even though Colonel Sartoris had been dead for over ten years. But why did Colonel Sartoris make up the false statement that Emily's father had loaned the town money in the first place? “ Page 1: Colonel...
While she is still alive, the townspeople have a certain respect for her because she has been there so long; they do not feel a need to change what has always been. Nevertheless, once she dies what is left of her, such as her house, is a disgrace to the town. “Only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores. Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” 119). In the same way, the people of the South followed tradition in their lifestyles.
At the beginning of the story when her father died, it was mentioned that “[Emily] told [the ladies in town] 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” (626). Faulkner reveals Emily’s dependency on her father through the death of her father. As shown in this part of the story, Emily was very attached to her father and was not able to accept that fact that he was no longer around. She couldn’t let go of the only man that loved her and had been with her for all those years. While this may seem like a normal reaction for any person who has ever lost a loved one, Faulkner emphasizes Emily’s dependence and attachment even further through Homer Barron. After her father’s death, Emily met a man name Homer, whom she fell in love with. While Homer showed interest in Emily at the beginning he became uninterested later on. “Homer himself had remarked—he liked men” (627) which had caused Emily to become devastated and desperate. In order to keep Homer by her side, Emily decided to poison Homer and keep him in a bedroom in her home. It was clear that she was overly attached to Homer and was not able to lose another man that she
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.
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.
The symbolic relationship between the house and Emily’s physical condition is vividly represented during the story. At first the Grierson house was built to impress: “It was a big, squarish frame house that once had been white…set on what had been the most select street” (787). The house progressively changes and is described as full of dust and has an indescribable odor: “It smelled of disuse- a close, dank smell… when the negro opened the blinds of one window, a faint dust rose (788). The house description is a perfect representation of how Emily ages during the story. As years went by, her figure transformed into even more bountiful proportions and her youthful strands of hair began to gray: “She had grown fat and her hair was gray…it grew grayer and grayer until it attained an even pepper and salt iron gray” (794). Both the Grierson house and Miss Emily lost their splendor.
Miss Emily is compared to her house in many different ways. Descriptions of the decaying house symbolize Miss Emily's physical and emotional decay, and as well as her mental problems. The representation between herself and her house is shown through constant neglect and unappreciation. In one point that Faulkner makes, the house is described to be stubborn and unrelenting, as Miss Emily is also portrayed on many occasions. Examples of her stubbornness is not letting the "new guard" attach metal numbers above her door when the town began to receive free mail service, when she refuses to believe that her father is dead, and refuses to pay her taxes. Just as the house seems to reject progress and updating, so does Miss Emily, until both of them become decaying symbols of their dying generation. Miss Emily also represents the "Old South". Her southern heritage and points of view are represented through her actions. Her stubbornness and unrelenting attitude are very strong characteristics of the Southern heritage. She refused to believe that the times were changing and refused to change into the new society. The Southern heritage is also represented through Miss Emily's strict and repetitive ways. The story basically addresses the changes in the South after the Civil War. Miss Emily is considered a "monument" of Southern manners and an ideal of past values. The Old South generations were deteriorating very rapidly by changing traditions, and as well as mannerisms. When Miss Emily died, her and her house both become symbols of their dying generation.
In the story “A Rose for Emily,” written by William Falkner there is a lady who goes by the name of “Emily.” In Jefferson Emily lived in an old square frame house with her father and servant, Tobe. In the story Emily father basically robs her of her life by being overprotective and running and not letting her interact with other people. Because of her father being over protective of her and feeling as if no one was good enough for her, Emily did not have the opportunity to get to know anyone other than her father and Tobe. When her father dies she lead herself to believed he was not, she did so for three days.
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 ...
While the city is changing around her, Miss Emily remains stagnant in time and retains the Aristocratic air once held by the “august” names. One example of this aristocratic nature is Miss Emily’s use of the “man-servant”, Tobe. Slavery was the system that gave the Griersons a since of hierarchy, and for Miss Emily, Tobe is the last remnant of this lifestyle; even 70 years after the end of the “peculiar system”. Furthermore, Miss Emily’s sense of social hierarchy, and its ability to overcome law and order, is seen as she interacts with the many townspeople of Jefferson. One example, is the interaction between Miss Emily and the druggist, in regards to the arsenic. When purchasing the arsenic, Miss Emily is told “the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for”, and she responds simply by staring at the druggist until he relinquishes the poison. Through these multiple interactions, Faulkner shows how Miss Emily acts as the towns last vestige to the Old South and its values. When describing Miss Emily’s life, the narrator states, “she was a tradition, a duty, and a care. This shows the town’s inherited obligation to take care of Miss Emily and is due to her father’s status within the south. Again, Faulkner reveals this symbolism when he describes Miss Emily’s Funeral. When re-counting the funeral the narrator states, “The very old men- some in their confederate uniforms… talking as if she had been a contemporary of theirs”. These older men are some of the last confederate soldiers alive, and the narrator illustrates how they use Miss Emily as a final recollection of the Old