How I Met My Husband Analysis

Women are usually in search for someone the call the one. “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner, Miss Emily Grierson is an idol in her town. Everyone idolizes her and protects her, but she is very lonely ever since her father died and wanted someone to love. She killed Homer Barron so he would never leave her. In contrast, in “How I Met My Husband” by Alice Munro, Edie is reminiscing about how she met her husband. She was a hired girl who fell for a pilot named Chris. When his business was finished in town he had to leave but promised Edie that he will write her everyday. She was in love with him and when they kissed her affection for him grew. She waits everyday at the mailbox for his letters but they never come. She starts to date the mailman

and they get married and have children. Even though she's married she still not has feelings for Chris and their flame is still lit. While having completely different plots, both explore how women are when think they found the one. However, whereas Faulkner describes how far a woman would go for companionship, Munro demonstrates how the one could pass by you any moment or be right in front of you. Although they bear some minor similarities, the differences between “A Rose For Emily” and “How I Met My Husband” are clear.
An aspect of the stories that is different is how they end up with their companion.

In “A Rose For Emily”, Miss Emily murders, her companion, Homer Barron by arsenic poisoning. She keeps his body in her room and when she died the townspeople went into her house and in the room only to find his body lying there. “We believed she had to do it… We knew with nothing left, she would cling to that has robbed her.” (Faulkner 285) In “ How I Met My Husband”, Edie meets her husband while waiting for another man. When Chris told Edie that he was going to write her, she went to the mailbox everyday, waiting. The Mailman always met up with Edie when she was waiting for the mail and he called the house asking for Edie, then one thing led to another and they got married and had two children.

Another aspect of the stories that is different was the reader's emotions towards the characters. The readers were more sympathetic towards Miss Emily. She was lonely and isolated. We pity her because of the narrator's description of her being lower class and not having her family’s wealth anymore. The readers do not see her as a bad person but rather mentally ill. In “How I Met My Husband”, Older Edie is telling the story from a more wise and mature perspective. Older Edie knew her younger self was naive and gullible. There was not really much sympathy to feel for

her.
An aspect of the stories that was similar was how they both were unhappy. Miss Emily had become isolated from the town after her father died, refuse to accept his death. She was lonely because father did not approve of any of her relationships. Edie was unhappy in her marriage. She has thoughts about Chris. She probably wonder what could have been if they had gotten together. “..Because I like for people to think what please them and makes them happy.”(Munro 146) This shows the reader that she never tells her husband the truth because she would rather her be unhappy than him.
Although they bear some minor similarities, the differences between “A Rose For Emily” and “How I Met My Husband” are clear. Their differences also show how both women desire a companion notably how they interact with their surroundings. These are sad lonely woman who would do anything to find and keep the one with them, mentally.