From Loneliness to Insanity in A Rose for Emily and The Yellow Wall-Paper
In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir states that within a patriarchal society "woman does not enjoy the dignity of being a person; she herself forms a part of the patrimony of a man: first of her father, then of her husband" (82-3). Both Emily Grierson in William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and the narrator of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper" are forced into solitude simply because they are women. Emily's father rejects all of her prospective mates; the husband of Gilman's narrator isolates her from stimulation of any kind. Eventually, Emily is a recluse trapped in a deprecated home, and the narrator in Gilman's story is a delusional woman confined to her bed. A study of the characterization and setting of "A Rose for Emily" and "The Yellow Wall-Paper" demonstrates how the oppressive nature of patriarchy drives the women in both stories insane.
The "patrimony of a man" destroys Emily as her father smothers her with his over-protectiveness. He prevents her from courting anyone as "none of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such" (82). When her father dies, Emily refuses to acknowledge his death; "[W]ith nothing left, she . . . [had] to cling to that which had robbed her" (83). When she finally begins a relationship after his death, she unfortunately falls for Homer Baron who "liked m...
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time, then they can achieve their goals in a less stressful way, and end up feeling better as a
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Concussions have become arguably the #1 most prevalent issue in football today. The number of concussions throughout football has been rising for the past 20-30 years and there seems no way of stopping them. However, the NFL and many private researchers are set on finding a way to conquer this issue. They want to stop these concussions from happening and prevent the diseases resulting from them that have ruined so many football families’ lives. In order to solve this problem, I think that these researchers need to combine all of their knowledge to solve an issue that so many want solved. As soon as we conquer this “illness” we can return to enjoying the game that we love.
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Football is one of the most popular sports in the world. It is played in a lot of different ways, fashions, and other countries. It can be a very brutal sport with players hitting at the intent to hurt one another. With these intents come great consequences. In recent years the head injuries involved with this brutal game play have been getting uncomfortably high. Many rules have had to be enforced for player safety, because of the increase of head injuries resulting in tragic effects on players both old and new. One of the injuries that have had the most devastating effects is the concussion.
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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
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In "A Rose for Emily," William Faulkner's use of setting and characterization foreshadows and builds up to the climax of the story. His use of metaphors prepares the reader for the bittersweet ending. A theme of respectability and the loss of, is threaded throughout the story. Appropriately, the story begins with death, flashes back to the past and hints towards the demise of a woman and the traditions of the past she personifies. Faulkner has carefully crafted a multi-layered masterpiece, and he uses setting, characterization, and theme to move it along.