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William Faulkner states, "So next day we all said, 'She will kill herself'; and we said it would be the best thing" (808). It is one of the many judgemental statements made in William Faulkner's "A Rose For Emily." Miss Emily Grierson isolates herself from the town of Jefferson when her father dies. Afterwards, she engages in a privacy that the townspeople observes. According to Willow D. Crystal, William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" suggests that public and private are far from exclusive categories. I agree, but I would add that one should not judge someone based on his or her own assumptions.
I agree with Crystal's essay because she thoroughly supports and explains her claim by using multiple quotes from the story. Crystal's main claim is that public and private are far from exclusive categories. In " A Rose for Emily" the narrator states, "When Miss Emily Grierson died , our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respect for a fallen monument,
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the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house"(Faulkner 803). According to Crystal, "The men of the small town of Jefferson, Mississippi, are motivated to attend Miss Emily's funeral for public reasons; the women, to see 'the inside of her house,' that private realm which has remained inaccessible for 'at least ten years'"(791). Crystal did an outstanding job analyzing "A Rose for Emily" by expounding and supporting her claim, but I think Faulkner has another underlying theme that deserves to be acknowledged. Although I undeniably agree with Crystal that public and private are far from exclusive categories, I would like to add that Faulkner suggests that one should not be judged by another based on his/her own assumptions. There are a few instances in "A Rose for Emily" which the townspeople in the story formulated biased opinions about the main character, Miss Emily Grierson. For example, "At first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because the ladies all said, “Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer”"(Faulkner 807). In this case, the women of Jefferson, M.S. judged Emily on the grounds of their own knowledge. As the story continues, more and more judgemental statements are made about Miss Emily Grierson. In another case, the townspeople falsely judged Emily, but ultimately faced a grotesque revelation in the end.
As claimed by Crystal, "When she refuses to provide a reason why she wants to buy poison, the druggist scrawls “For rats” (809) across the package, literally and protectively overwriting her silence"(791). Although Crystal mainly argues the invasion of privacy shown in that statement, one could infer Faulkner's underlying theme based on the series of events following that statement. Evidently, after Emily had purchased the rat poison the townspeople stated,"So the next day we all said, “She will kill herself”; and we said it would be the best thing"( Faulkner 808). Later on in the story, Miss Emily Grierson dies, and while the townspeople believed that she was going to commit suicide with the rat poison, it was revealed that she had not committed suicide with the poison, but she had committed murder. She had murdered Homer, the man that was thought to be Miss Emily Grierson's
husband. In conclusion, I completely agree with Crystal's claim that supports the private versus public concept. However, the fact that one should not judge another based on assumptions should be considered. In relation to the short story, "A Rose For Emily," the town of Jefferson wrongfully judged Miss Emily Grierson based on what they thought of her. In correspondence to Crystal's theme, these judgemental statements caused an invasion of her privacy. Thus, Miss Emily Grierson did the unthinkable to be granted complete privacy.
After her sweetheart left her, the people of the town saw her very little. Faulkner then tells what might be viewed as the climax of the story. He explains that one day, Miss Emily went into town and bought rat poison. By revealing this so early on in the story, it challenges the reader to use their imagination. The readers’ view of Miss Emily could now possibly be changed.
In Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, there is a constant theme of protection for Emily Grierson, because she was a woman living in the south after the civil war and the requirements that were placed on women enable to be honorable. That is to say that, women needed to be protected by the men of the community during that time in history and women’s actions were constantly under watch to see if a woman was honorable and worthy of protection or not. Within the story, there are many instances in which this is shown. Faulkner also shows the reader a gender split between the men and women and how they felt towards Emily.
Emily was drove crazy by others expectations, and her loneliness. ““A Rose for Emily,” a story of love and obsession, love, and death, is undoubtedly the most famous one among Faulkner’s more than one hundred short stories. It tells of a tragedy of a screwy southern lady Emily Grierson who is driven from stem to stern by the worldly tradition and desires to possess her lover by poisoning him and keeping his corpse in her isolated house.” (Yang, A Road to Destruction and Self Destruction: The Same Fate of Emily and Elly, Proquest) When she was young her father chased away any would be suitors. He was convinced no one was good enough for her. Emily ended up unmarried. She had come to depend on her father. When he finally died, ...
One of the seductive factors of William Faulkner’s society in “A Rose for Emily” is the traditional and adamant mental attitude of the main character in the novel. Miss Emily Grierson was stern in her ways and refused to accept change. She was known to be a hereditary obligation to the town. When the next generation and modern ideas came into progress she creates dissatisfaction by not paying her taxes. For many years and through the time of her death she would receive a tax notice every December and it would be returned by the post office a week later unclaimed. When the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily was opposed to the new idea. She herself did not allow them to fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mail box to it. She has no tolerance when it comes to modern ideas. Depression and anguish increased within her causing major conflicts after her father’s death. Being left alone and without any close family to seek support from, she dwelled in disbelief. As custom from the town all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, but Miss Emily met them at the door with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead. For three days she was inclined to disbelieve and what had happened while minister and doctors tried to persuade her to let them dispose of the body.
...s story he writes about how earlier in Emily’s life she refuses to let the town’s people in her house even though there is a strong odor that is coming from her property. In this section her father has just passed away and was abandoned by a man who she wanted to marry. This section she becomes very depressed. In section three it talks about how Emily is starting to come down with an illness after all of the depressing events she had to endure. In sections four and five Faulkner describes how there is fear throughout the towns people is that of which Emily is going to possibly poison herself. A while later she then she passes away. In section five is when the truth is revealed to the public about her sickness. Faulkner uses the view point of an unnamed town member while he uses a third person perspective to show the general corrosion of the southern town’s people.
The townspeople were unaware of this. They had thought that the Colonel had left Miss Emily and never showed his face in town again. That’s probably why they were so shocked when they found his body in the upstairs room. The signs all pointed to Miss Emily having killed her lover. If going crazy did run in her family then she must have just snapped when her lover tried to leave her. The town mayor had gotten numerous complaints about an awful smell coming from Miss Emily’s house. No one even thought twice about what the smell could’ve been, instead the narrator says, “ So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily’s lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the cellar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand out of a sack slung from his shoulder.” (Faulkner 32). The men covered up the smell, which was most likely the horrid smell of a rotting corpse, and once the smell went away, no one thought about it again. Another sign that pointed towards Miss Emily having killed her lover was a strange encounter she had with the druggist in the town. She said, “I want poison” (Faulkner 33) and then went on to say “I want the best you have. I don’t care what kind.” (Faulkner 33). She wasn’t even trying to hide what she was doing. She almost made it sort of obvious, yet no
Faulkner wrote that by law they were to state their intended use of the poison, Miss Emily never did. “‘If that's what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for.’ Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look at him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up.” (161).
Faulkner begins the story upon the arrival of Miss Emily's burial service. The state of mind is nostalgic as the storyteller thinks back about Emily's home and how it once enraptured the general population of the town, yet now lies in vestiges. We learn Miss Emily has been falling flat in her obligation by not paying duties, which Colonel Sartoris states is because of a credit that was given to the town by her dad. This we learn turns into an issue with Colonel Sartoris' successors and they in the end meet with Emily. The meeting happens at Emily's home, which is old, with worn furniture, and appears to have not been under any fundamental consideration. All through the meeting Emily is uncooperative, demanding the course of action in the middle of her and Colonel Sartoris, and declining to pay charges. Emily eludes the town's authorities to Colonel Sartoris, not realizing that
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.
Faulkner starts his story by showing the amount of respect that is shown at Emily’s funeral. It is said that the entire town attended this event, but also that some only showed up to see what the inside of her house looked like because no one had been inside in over ten years. “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 gardener and cook- had seen in at least ten years”(pg.542). He explains this to show the mysterious interest of Emily. By explaining the mystery in Emily, he carries a dark tone that mystifies the audience.
After all the tragic events in her life, Emily became extremely introverted. After killing Homer, Emily locked herself in and blocked everyone else out. It was mentioned, “…that was the last time we saw of Homer Barron. And of Miss Emily for some time” (628). In fact, no one in town really got to know Miss Emily personally as she always kept her doors closed, which reflects on how she kept herself closed for all those years. Many of the town’s women came to her funeral with curiosity about how she lived, as no one had ever known her well enough to know. This was revealed at the beginning of the story when the narrator mentioned, “the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant… had seen in the last ten years”(623). Everyone in town knew of her but did not know her because she kept to herself for all those years.
How would today’s society treat a situation such as Emily Grierson different from the society during the time period of the story? This a question that some will think about after reading a story such as this as well as how it will affect individuals’ lives. The residents in the strict small town of Jefferson already did not agree on how Emily was living with her lover let alone what she did to him shook them up as well. People today probably would have sympathy for Grierson knowing what she her life was like that lead to this horrific event happen.
By using strong characterization and dramatic imagery, William Faulkner introduces us to Miss Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily”. The product of a well-established, but now fallen family, Emily plays common role found in literature- a societal outcast, who earns her banishment from society through her eclectic behavior and solitary background. Often living in denial and refusing to engage with others, Emily responds to her exile by spending the remainder of her life as a mysterious recluse that the rest of society is more content to ignore rather than break social customs to confront her. Emily’s role as an outcast mirrors a major theme of the story, that denial is a powerful tool in hiding a secret, however, the truth will eventually emerge. The mystery surrounding Emily’s character and the story’s memorable imagery creates a haunting tale that lingers with the reader.
Although I do not agree with how Miss Emily Grierson behaved, but I do not blame her. Harbored from reality her entire life I can expect for her to do some unordinary things. I feel bad for Miss Emily because she was the center of attention in a modernized town where she still practiced her traditional values. Through the eyes the townspeople we get our views of Emily at a distance. Had the story been told from Emily’s perspective we could better understand her reasoning for her bizarre behavior.
Significant Quote: “Alive, Miss Emily has been a tradition, a duty, and a care.” Plot: The plot of “A Rose for Emily” shows the later years of the main character, Emily Grierson, with flashbacks to her life interspersed between. It begins with the reader learning of her passing, developing into a story that provides insight into her reclusive nature and past dealings with family as well as the town of Jefferson. Due to her reclusive nature and high standing in society, she is often gossiped about by her fellow townsfolk.