...Writing about Literature COM1102 10 October 2015 "A ROSE FOR EMILY" Visual vs. Reading William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" is a short gothic horror story that has also been adapted into a short film. Both story and film have been largely debated, with a plethora of opinions. Faulkner’s lack of normal chronology and situation-triggered memories generates a story that has many interpretations among its readers, but surprises everyone at the end. When asked about the title of his story, Faulkner said," [The title] was an allegorical title; the meaning was, here was a woman who had had a tragedy, an irrevocable tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a salute . . . to a woman you would hand a rose." (Faulkner, William 1966 ;) He gave a humble explanation, for such a complex story. The film portrays the story straight forward, and leaves nothing left to the imagination. Death and transformation are the main theme in Faulkner’s short story, being a sign of the crumbling of the Old South after their military defeat by the North, as Emily’s suggested necrophilia echoes the desire to hang on to the past and its traditions. Through flashbacks and foreshadowing, Faulkner addresses the struggle of traditional versus progress in the city of Jefferson. The south being a region bound by history and tradition, class and social influence, Emily represents, to generations before and after her, old...
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...William Faulkner was a great short story writer whose literature has withstood the test of time. “A Rose for Emily” is one of his better know pieces that can be interpreted in many different ways. The theme one connects with after reading the story depends on the reader’s view of the writer and the writing itself. Many people look at the story as a love story in which a woman is unable to let go of her lover and only wants to preserve him like a rose. Letting go was difficult for the women and holding on was easier. She did what she had to do to preserve her love for her lover even if it was against the town’s laws. The time period in which this short story was written is also important when critically analyzing the writing and the writer’s purpose and theme. During the time that Faulkner wrote this story, he was greatly in debt and seeking ways to become financially stable. He wrote this story not knowing that it would be his first published work and bring him wealth and recognition. It was first published in 1930 but covers the time periods of 1861-1933. This was a very critical time in American history. During this time period, the South was fighting for their livelihood, slavery against the North. They were trying so desperate to hold on to what had held their southern cotton economy together. They felt that the federal government had no power over the states especially their slavery supported economy. They did everything to hold on to their culture but eventually war was...
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...A Close Reading of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” portrays itself as sort of a gothic sort of story. The elements of a gothic novel are meant to fashion a sense of trepidation, obscurity and unknown, which are vital in creating compelling stories. It has its fill of suspense and madness throughout its entirety, resulting in fastidious conventions in its type of writing structure, characterization, point of view, theme, and setting. Gothic novels are also known to contain an element of romance, which are often exaggerated to the extremes. I would say that the main point of view of this selected passage comes from an unknown narrator, told in the first person, who clearly is a resident of the town of Jefferson and knows the little-known life of the protagonist, Miss Emily. The “they” that is in the second sentence refers to the group of townsfolk who arrived at her house. The emotions of the crowd are a mixture of respectful condolences and curiosity. The men are present merely out of respect, giving off an air they only attend because it is an expected behavior and not because she was popular in the community. The women go out of curiosity to see the inside of the house. There certainly seems to be a general consensus among the group that she was living almost a secret life which was clearly meant to stay that way. The phrase “would have to be forced” makes it clear the group is anxious about finding out what has been kept from the...
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...Professor English 1B 03 March 2014 Faulkner’s Use of Southern Gothic and Mississippi Faulkner might have well been named as one of the most influential American writers of the South while some critics despised his work. William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, on September 25, 1897 (“William Faulkner Bio”). His love for poetry early on helped shape his writing style. Faulkner became an accomplished writer producing novels, short stories, poetry, and even dabbled in screen work media. As a Novel Prize laureate, he spent most of his life in Lafayette County, Mississippi. Many of his fictional stories take place in Yoknapatawpha County, a place he created based on the setting in Lafayette. As a native of Mississippi, the American South’s culture had a big influence on him. His inspiration for writing came from his grandfather (Cruz). He not only loved his grandfather but wanted to be just like him. His passion for literature sent him on a journey to the University of Mississippi. While attending school, he worked for The Scream writing comic strips. (Cruz). Faulkner traveled a lot with his father while he was younger. Like most, he had strong Southern values and pride. He seemed to have a different stance on equality and the issues of inequality taking place. Faulkner encouraged equality amongst the citizens. His literature uses several situations where people of race, gender, or class are discriminated against (Cruz). Faulkner’s ability to write seemed to be influenced...
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...William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is among his most famous short stories because of the interesting method of storytelling it employs. Faulkner uses a non-linear plot structure in this story, as opposed to the more often used, more simplified linear plot structure of most fiction. “A linear plot begins at point A, progresses through events which build towards a climax, and then finally reaches point B” (Malone). In contrast, “a non-linear plot typically presents the audience with multiple paths from point A to point B” (Malone). In other words, non-linear plot structures consist of back-and-forth storytelling, or flashbacks. Because of this non-conventional plot structure, “A Rose for Emily” has been described as an “emotionally complex and chronologically confusing narrative” (Petry 53). However, the story has also been cited as “one of Faulkner’s most carefully constructed stories” (Everett 165). The effectiveness of the disordered chronology can be likened to the preciseness of an equation. As Faulkner misdirected his readers through the use of flashbacks, he revealed Miss Emily’s disoriented mental state in her dealings with the passage of time. Faulkner efficiently complicates the narrative situation by opening “A Rose for Emily” with the death of the main character. The first sentence captures the reader’s attention immediately, evoking a collective sympathy for the main character: “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral” (Faulkner...
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...in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” English Composition 1102 Thursday Night An Analysis of the Sections in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” Outline I. Outline II. Introduction A. Opening Statement B. Author Information III. Body A. Section One B. Section Two C. Section Three D. Section Four E. Section Five IV. Conclusion V. Works Cited OPENING STATEMENT William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is the story of an eccentric spinster, Emily Grierson. Emily lived a luxurious life in a poor southern state, obeying her overbearing father until her ultimate death. “A Rose for Emily” begins with the death of Miss Emily Grierson and proceeds to tell the story of her life in the years leading up to her death and the horrible secret she has kept hidden. The story is told from the point of view of a nameless narrator and a longtime citizen of Jefferson, Mississippi. He notes that while the men attend the funeral out of obligation, the women go primarily because no one has been in, nor seen the inside of Emily’s house for years. It should also be noted that Jefferson is a critical setting in much of Faulkner’s fiction. The story is told in five sections, and opens in section one with an unnamed narrator describing the funeral of Miss Emily Grierson. The narrator not only speaks for himself but also represents the community at large. The story continues on through section five where the narrator describes what happens after Emily dies...
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...9/28/2014 A Look at “A Rose for Emily” “A Rose for Emily” is a short story by William Faulkner. It is the story of an old southern woman called Emily who lives only with her servant in an old mansion after her father dies; she never goes out and is rarely seen by the townspeople. Nobody in the town knows that she’s keeping a macabre secret inside her room. I chose this story in particular because I’m a huge fan of The Zombies and music from the sixties in general. In The Zombies’ album Odessey and Oracle, there is a short retelling of the story and that is the only version of the story I have ever heard before reading the actual story in class recently. The story is divided in five parts. In the first part of the story, the narrator recalls the time of Emily’s death and how the whole town attends her funeral in her old dilapidated home. We are told how the previous mayor, a man in his eighties, has retracted Emily’s taxes after her father’s death. When the new younger generation town leaders take over they try to make her pay taxes but she gets her way and successfully gets rid of these officials. In the second part, the narrator describes how thirty years earlier, Emily’s house started to smell horrible. The younger officials sprinkle lime along the foundation to appease the townspeople who are complaining of the odor. The narrator gives us a clue about Emily’s state of mind by telling us the Emily’s great aunt had succumbed to mental illness. Even though Emily has denied that her...
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...A rose for Emily In his short story, “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner intends to convey a message to his audience about the unwillingness in human nature to accept change and more specifically the secretive tendencies of aristocrats in the South during the early 20th century. In order to do this, Faulkner sets up a story in which he isolates and old aristocratic woman, Miss Emily, from her fellow townspeople and proceeds to juxtapose her lifestyle with theirs. In doing this he demonstrates her stubborn refusal to change along with the town, but also Among several literary devices the author employs to achieve this contrast, Faulkner sets up his narrator as a seemingly reliable, impartial and knowledgeable member of the community in which Miss Emily lives by using a first person plural, partially omniscient point of view. The narrator is present for all of the scenes that take place in the story, but does not play any role in the events, and speaks for the town as a whole. Faulkner immediately sets up his narrator as a member of the community in the first line of the story, saying that when Miss Emily died “our whole town went to her funeral.” Although it’s never directly explained, it appears as though the narrator is an older member of the town. This is demonstrated in statements like “the next generation, with its more modern ideas;” because the narrator does not say “with our more modern ideas” he makes it clear that he is not one of the younger members of the community...
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...Drew Burgelin Mr. Campbell AP LIT 12 April 2014 The Significance of Death and Change in “A Rose for Emily” In “A Rose for Emily,” by William Faulkner, Emily Grierson’s strange actions and macabre, mysterious character qualities convey the story’s central themes of death, despair, and change. Faulkner’s modernist style and use of detail, flashbacks, and time shifts capture the reader as the narrator jumps from Emily’s death in the “present” to specific scenes of her past. The story depicts death as the powerful aspect that controls Emily’s actions in order to show the profound potential that death has to change people’s lives cataclysmically. At the same time, the story also evokes change through Emily’s refusal to give up her old-fashioned ways in order to show that the only way to avoid radical change is to be isolated, and even in the end, that cannot stand in the way of modernization. The thematic potential of death is introduced by the speaker’s recurring references to death throughout Emily’s life in order to explain Emily’s odd, mysterious nature. The speaker firsts introduces the reader to Faulkner’s fictional Jefferson, MI in Yoknapatawpha County where Emily Grierson’s funeral is being held at her home, which no one in the entire town had been inside for “at least ten years.” Then, the speaker goes back in time and describes that Emily’s taxes were “remitted” by Colonel Sartorisas as a result of her father’s death, which further isolated her from the community...
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...“A Rose for Emily” Tajia Kelly English 201 Prof. Elise Denbo “A Rose for Emily” To many resistance to change is the underlying theme of American author William Faulkner’s short story entitled “A Rose for Emily”. To others, resistance to change merely did not exist at all, Tyriese Simone states “the main idea of Emily was to show the willingness to change, changes brought on by the post-Civil war, death, change in society and loss of wealth”. Upon review, the real theme of this story is the resistance to change yes, but especially when it comes to adults modeling their relationship’s base on the relationship that they had with a parent of the opposite sex. Faulkner himself stated “Given a choice between grief and nothing, I'd choose grief” yet he wrote this story of this egotistical, impractical, isolated old woman, Miss Emily, who not only have mental and emotional problems but who is also unable to come to terms with the idea of death and suffers great deals of denial. Unlike Faulkner, Emily chooses grief, but nothingness came along with it due to the attachment with her father. The relationship she had and had always known with her father altered any relationship she had all her life. After the death of her beloved father she was very adamant about not changing and keeping things the way she knew. From a Psychoanalytical perspective, It is very much accurate to state that Emily “the monument of society” not only resists change but she models her relationships with the...
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...Blake Hobbs American Literature 2 Mrs. Stephens 4/28/15 Decay of the Old South The old south was a time when people used manors, were polite, men acted as gentlemen and blacks were slaves that worked to death, known as the Old South. Throughout the readings done in American literature one begins to see the old south decaying. Traditions began to fade away and what used to be the norm is evolving into a new era where men are abusive to women, and blacks began to fit into the society slowly gaining the rights other races have had all along. This is described as the New South where people are always intermingling in a diverse manner. People in the Old South speak exceptionally formal and precise, as opposed to the slang that has been picked up in the New South. There are many reasons that contrast just how different these two eras became. The decay of the old south is present in A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams. Blanche and Stella’s ancestors were wealthy plantation owners. In the old south majority of people were farmers. Although Blanche and Stella inherited everything from their ancestors, they didn’t have enough income to keep it all. They ended up selling all of it besides a small portion in which their ancestor’s graves laid. During the 1940’s in New Orleans, there is a constant theme of how society and class effects Americans in this era. A Streetcar Named Desire deals with these class differences in an abnormal way. At one point of view...
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...Home is Where the Change is Everyone feels the effects of societal change and Miss Emily Grierson is no exception. During the duration of “A Rose for Emily,” by William Faulkner, the town and its people experience great change from generation to generation. Even though Miss Emily does not leave her house for an extended period of time, she was still impacted by the negative effects that the changing society brings. From a problem with her tax exemption to the loss of the endearing pastime of china painting, Miss Emily can feel the new generation’s impact. The reader will see that most of these alterations of the town take place in Miss Emily’s historical house and her house soon becomes the prime scene for the most destructive result of these...
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...Miss Emily Grierson and Eveline The family and society’s expectation of a woman has led to some women becoming tragic heroes and anti-heroes who battled consistently with their true identity. Literary works of William Faulkner in the short story, "A Rose for Emily", and James Joyce’s "Eveline", reflects the negative impact of these expectations. Based on information, culled from Dr David Smith’s notes, tragic heroes are driven and obsessed with past deeds or by fate, they are neither entirely good nor entirely bad and are fated to cause grief to individuals or to the community, they are often leaders in the community or head of family (2). Faulkner shows these common traits of tragic hero in Miss Emily Grierson; a protagonist in self-exile from the modern world, locked away in her decaying mansion (3). In James Joyce’s Eveline, a protagonist is revealed as tragic hero who endures a dramatic and tragic life full of conflicts, but Smith thinks otherwise, he refers to her as an anti-hero and is of the opinion that antihero should not be confused with tragic hero because, “existentialist believed modern life does not allow the existence of a true hero. Modern life dehumanizes everyone”(3), short of this, Eveline is a classic example of a tragic hero. William Faulkner’s Miss Emily and James Joyce’s Eveline are women who in the quest of fulfilling the roles assigned to them by their family, lover, and society, cost them happiness and freedom. Faulkner in his short story, “A Rose...
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...Analysis A Rose for Emily: William Faulkner William Faulkner first published “A Rose for Emily” in 1930; however, this short story resides in a small southern town during the post-Civil War period. During this age in time, the Unites States was going through major political changes. But Ms. Emily was not ready for change. Faulkner uses repugnant imagery and a unique narration style to explore a woman’s inability to cope with death and change throughout the community and within herself (Perry 40). Growing up in the Grierson family, Emily knew her family was powerful and popular, and she was fortunate enough to live surrounded by love and luxury. Emily’s father loved her dearly and only wanted the best for her, but most of the time he was a little over protective and perceived to control his daughter’s life. He felt as if no man could ever be good enough for his one and only. The Griersons were definitely different from every other household in the small southern town of Jefferson, and Emily’s father made sure everyone knew of this. Since Emily’s father was a tyrant throughout her life, she rarely got the chance to enjoy anything outside of the Grierson residence (Watkins 509). The early agony that Emily had to tolerate created a permanent emotional cripple to her life. Emily most likely did not have a concrete idea of how a real family should function and cooperate, especially with the absence of a mother figure. Other than the Grierson family servants, Emily lived isolated...
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...------------------------------------------------- William Faulkner William Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was a Nobel Prize-winning American author. One of the most influential writers of the20th century, his reputation is based on his novels, novellas and short stories. He was also a published poet and an occasional screenwriter. Most of Faulkner's works are set in his native state of Mississippi. He is considered one of the most important Southern writers along withMark Twain, Robert Penn Warren, Flannery O'Connor, Truman Capote, Eudora Welty, and Tennessee Williams. While his work was published regularly starting in the mid 1920s, Faulkner was relatively unknown before receiving the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. Since then, he has often been cited as one of the most important writers in the history of American literature. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Biography Born William Cuthbert Falkner in New Albany, Mississippi, he was the eldest son of Murry Cuthbert Falkner (August 17, 1870 – August 7, 1932) and Maud Butler (November 27, 1871 – October 16, 1960). He later changed the spelling of his name to Faulkner. His brothers were Murry Charles "Jack" Falkner (June 26, 1899 – December 24, 1975), author John Falkner (later Faulkner) (September 24, 1901 – March 28, 1963) and Dean Swift Falkner (August 15, 1907 – November 10, 1935). Faulkner was raised in and heavily influenced by the state...
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