Loyalty In William Faulkner's 'A Rose For Emily'

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A Rose for Emily: Awwww Yeahhhh. In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," the characters of Emily and her father serve as stark reminders of the death of the aristocratic and chivalrous southern society. Through their actions, Faulkner illustrates the gradual abandonment of cultural values, the erosion of social standing, and the triumph of practicality over heritage. As the story unfolds, the reader is drawn into a world where tradition gives way to modernity, and the once-proud and mighty symbols of a past era crumble beneath the weight of progress. In “A Rose for Emily”, Emily hangs on to a chivalrous “damsel in distress” trope, representing the futile attempt of the old to hang onto their former social status. To quote the story directly, "Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, …show more content…

As the narrator states, “Then the newer generation became the backbone and the spirit of the town, and the painting pupils grew up and fell away and did not send their children to her with boxes of color and tedious brushes and pictures cut from the ladies' magazines. The front door closed upon the last one and remained closed for good.” (Faulkner 7). This passage identifies the ruination of southern culture, which is represented in Miss Emily's china painting class. The diminishing number of children who attend her classes symbolize the changing ideals within the community, as well as the changing gender roles of women that had become conventional in the new age. The decay of Southern culture in “A Rose for Emily” highlights the emergence of a new, modern culture that largely obscures those of the past. This can be most prominently tied to the growing lack of respect for elders such as Emily by the new generation, showing that they do not belong to the same gentrified and chivalrous culture that she once

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