Similarities Between A Rose For Emily And Bartleby The Scrivener

Psychologists have come to establish the universal process of grieving, or the seven stages of grief. These stages go as follows: shock or disbelief, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, and finally acceptance. Any person who has lost a loved one can understand this sequence of emotions. Those mourning a death tend to follow the seven stages; however, it is common for individuals to mourn differently than others. Authors William Faulkner and Herman Melville give the perfect example of this in their short stories, “A Rose for Emily” and “Bartleby, the Scrivener” both which contain a main character who is full of grief. The characters both express their grief with becoming distant, mysterious, and reclusive, but they also have many differences

in how they handle their situations.
The characters in these two stories have many similarities in how they handle their grief, they also have many differences. One example of this is their ability to work and interact with other people. After her father’s death, Miss Emily attempts to hold painting classes from her home but only does so for a very short time. Bartleby on the other hand, goes out into the world to find a replacement job for his previous one. He holds his position in the law office for a while before the Lawyer finally fires him. Another example of their differences are their relationships with other people. After Emily’s father passes away, she develops a relationship with Homer Barron. This is much more than Bartleby does. From the reading, there are no known relationships that Bartleby develops with anyone. In addition, a rather large difference between the two characters is the source of their grief. Miss Emily’s grief comes from her father, a loved one. Bartleby’s grief however comes from people he does not even know. The final difference between the two is the misjudgments they make. Miss Emily’s crime is very large compared to that of Bartleby’s. It can be inferred that Miss Emily poisoned Homer Barron. Bartleby was only guilty of making home of and refusing to leave his workplace.
Emily Greierson’s downfall begins with her father’s death, which readers learn about early on in the story. After his death, Emily’s father left his house for her. For the townspeople, her father’s death “humanized” Emily. William Faulkner gives a perfect example of the stages of grief when describing Emily’s reaction to her father’s death. Faulkner writes, “The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead.” This exemplifies the second stage: denial. It was only three days later when she moved on to the final stage. Accepting her father’s death, “…she broke down, and they buried her father quickly.” Miss Emily realized that she had no family and nothing left to cling to besides the house.
Unlike in “A Rose for Emily,” readers to not learn about Bartleby’s grief until the end of “Barlteby, the Scrivener.” Herman Melville informs readers that Bartleby had previously worked at a “Dead Letter Office” where he was given the job of burning the letters that people would never receive.

Melville describes the narrator’s feelings towards this position by saying, “Conceive a man by nature misfortune prone to a pallid hopelessness, can any business seem more fitted to heighten it than that of continually handling these dead letters, and assorting them for the flames?” This quote goes to show the struggles Bartleby had to face in his career. Melville describes Bartleby as being “prone to a pallid hopelessness,” which illustrates Bartleby’s grief and withdrawal from society. After learning this, readers can make sense of the strange things Bartleby does in the

story.
Both Miss Emily and Bartleby become very distant due to their grief.

Faulkner describes that, “She was sick for a long time. When we saw her again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows—sort of tragic and serene.” This shows the distance Emily puts between herself and the townspeople as she grieves her father. As for Bartleby, he begins his distance at his work place. When he was hired, the Lawyer admired Bartleby for his consistent and quality work. It took the Lawyer by surprise when Bartleby replied to his request with, “I would prefer not to.” Bartleby’s response becomes quite common when a task is requested from him, only increasing his distance from

reality.
In addition to their sharing of becoming distant, Miss Emily and Bartleby become very mysterious. Faulkner shows Miss Emily’s mysterious side when she goes to purchase poison. When asked what it was for, Emily replies, “I want the best you have. I don't care what kind.” Miss Emily tells the worker that she would like to purchase arsenic, but refuses to tell that man what she is going to use the poison for. Soon after this strange occurrence, Homer Barron “leaves town.” “A Rose for Emily” ends with the discovery of a body on one of Emily’s beds along with a gray lock of hair. This body is inferred by readers to be that of Homer Barron’s. The author first hints at Bartleby’s mysterious in the opening of the story by stating, “Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable…” Readers begin to see his mysteriousness when he refuses to leave his workplace. Although he is asked multiples times, each time he denies the request. The Lawyer states, “But having taken three days to mediate upon it, he apprised me that his original determination remained the same; in short, that he still preferred to abide with me.” His loitering ends up leading to his imprisonment.
Finally, Miss Emily and Bartleby go to the extreme when handling their grief. The two characters first become reclusive. Emily locked herself away in her home for six to seven years. The only person coming in and out of the house was “the Negro man.” Occasionally people would see Miss Emily through her window. Like Miss Emily, Bartleby locks himself away in a sense. He becomes fixated on a white wall in his imprisonment. When introduced to the grub-man, Melville writes, “‘I prefer not to dine to-day,’ said Bartleby turning away… So saying he slowly moved to the other side of the inclosure, and took up a position fronting the dead-wall.” The scrivener refuses to eat or to merely peer away from the blank wall.
Although “A Rose for Emily” and “Bartleby, the Scrivener” are two completely different stories, the main characters share many similar traits. While it may be common for people to follow the seven stages of grief, that is not the case for all. Both Miss Emily and Bartleby become distant, mysterious, and reclusive over the course of their grieving process. Even though these main characters have many similarities, they also grieve quite differently, like anyone forced to go through this process. William Faulkner and Herman Melville do a wonderful job of illustrating the effects of grief on individuals, though some of the effects are very extreme.