A Psychological Reading of "A Rose for Emily" Essay

Written in 1931, A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, has a very horrific and unconventional style to it. The story is about the life of the protagonist, Emily Grierson, after the death of her father, and after the death of her. throughout the story, the narrator switches settings between the past and the present. Emily lives alone in a house that has been around since the 19th century. At the beginning of the story, the whole town is at Emily’s funeral but most of the townspeople just wanted to see the inside of her house, which nobody has seen in the past 10 years besides Emily. Although, In A Rose for Emily, has an odd style to it, it also has a lot of symbolic meaning.

7) What is the significance of Miss Emily’s actions after the death of her father?

A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner - 91-96, point of view is the narrative point of view the first person. We realize in this story that we the audience don’t know if it is a men or a women. We are able to tell the character when the narrator says “we” in certain points of the text. For example in the text it states,” When we saw her again, her name was cut short , making her look like a girl (pg93).” The text never let’s us know the characters name. The character speaks for the community and it can consider to be the main character. The character shows sympathy for Emily. He as well shows humor when telling the story. Another sympathy the character shows it towards the town of Jefferson and feels the people of the town are unable to control their reactions. The stylistic element the narrator uses is talking about the climax throughout the whole story.

Oftentimes in literature, different literary techniques contribute to the revelation of a universal human truth. In the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, the narrator depicts the detrimental effects that isolation has on Emily’s mental state. The narrator uses a metaphor to reveal the complex relationship between Emily and her father and how his death causes her to fear losing the men in her life. The use of imagery depicts Emily’s mental instability after her lover Homer dies. Faulkner uses metaphors and imagery in order to reveal the universal human truth of the fear of isolation.

We has long thought of them as a tableau; Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip…”. This abuse left scares on Miss Emily that

Sigmund Freud expressed and refined the concepts of the unconscious, infantile sexuality, repression, and proposed a theory of the human brain’s structure, all part of understanding the human psychological development and treating mental

“A Rose for Emily” is a piece about a southern, aristocrat woman who becomes increasingly less stable as she ages. Emily lives a more secluded and a more interesting life than the other people in her town. The narrator of the piece plays a large role in the meaning of the story and contributes to the overall whole of the story in various ways. We get to see Emily’s life from not only the narrator’s personal point of view but also from the viewpoint of the entire town. The way that the narrator structures the piece contributes to the overall meaning as well.

Though “A Rose for Emily” and Psycho have two different plots, they have similar themes and characteristics. Both stories have a murderous theme, with eerie abandoned looking houses. In both Faulkner and Hitchcock’s stories, the houses looked as is no one was taking care of them, but there were still at least one person that came out of each one. Within the two houses were secrets unimaginable to anyone outside of the home with a cloud of mystery hanging over them. This comparison essay will cover the main characters, Ms. Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily” and Norman in Psycho, who have similar themes of mystery, loneliness, and secrets.

This story was very interesting, and this story "A Rose for Emily" was very simple. When Im reading this story it was sort of very confusing way of writting. And when reading this story you have to focus because if you are not you will miss something important parts of the story. This story was written in out of order for the purpose, this story was interesting to attract or catch the readers attention. This story about the father protecting his child for his entire life, then the people in the background had no proper behavior because they did not guide properly. Emily was always protected by her father. And her parents not allowed her to do anything because she was expected that she will behave honorable because of her status was high in the community. Her

Faulkner’s work in the “Rose for Emily” uses sensational elements to highlight an individual’s struggle with time, attachment and an oppressive society. The literately style of “A Rose for Emily” is that of Southern Gothic (Flora, 2002). According to Morledge, southern gothic literature is defined by an important aspect in which the use of grotesque events in writing is extensively used in most stories. Such events are easily identified in “A Rose for Emily”. Faulkner is able to take us through time. He has the ability to manipulate time by expanding the story out over several years. Another fascinating element Faulkner used in the short story “A Rose for Emily” was foreshadowing. He has a talent in building suspense throughout the story by dropping hints everywhere, making the reader predict a different ending every time.

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” concentrates on Emily Grierson, an old southern woman who is set in her ways as the town Jefferson progresses around her. The story continues by comparing Emily when she was a young lady to the woman she became. Faulkner explores the secret life of Emily, who is the center of the town’s gossip and unearths Emily’s past, and her hidden secrets. Through Faulkner’s Southern Gothic style of writing he illustrates a time, which would be otherwise unimaginable for the reader, the author uses these Gothic elements to create an atmosphere that gives the reader a sense of doom throughout the story, while also using these elements to further the plot through strong foreshadowing.

What is life? Life is the continuos battle between good and evil in which everyone has the power to choose their own path. However the path that should be followed is the Godly and righteous path of good. With this being said, life is merely a story created by the author of all things; God. This is but one of his stories and I am but a mouthpiece through which he can tell it, this is the story of a young girl named Emily. Emily was a 16 year old 10th grader who lived in a rundown neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. Like most people her age Emily would do anything to fit in with the cool crowd. However this wasn’t easy for her, she was seen as an outcast and was constantly bullied by her peers. She would often skip school claiming to be sick just to avoid another day of

William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily is a very intriguing short story about Miss Emily Grierson. In her early life, her father sheltered her from all men that wanted her. When he later died, she found a delightful man named Homer Barron. Emily and Homer had a relationship that was shamed by many of the people of Jefferson. Miss Emily’s name had always been in the gossip of the town. Miss Emily stayed confined in her home for the majority of her life. When she finally died, her family entered a room in her home where they found the body of Homer Barron rotting in her bed. The reason she killed him is unknown. One interpretation of her motive to kill Homer Barron could be that she was afraid of being alone and because of the way the town of

• Emily's father, a proud, aristocratic man who chases away his daughter's suitors because they aren't good enough for her.

The reason I chose to analyze “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is because I am a lover of suspense and terror. The story totally caught my attention because the general tone is one of violence, gloom, and terror. The setting also plays an important role because it gives the reader a better understanding of the different situations. The main character, Emily, plays the role of a tragic figure that seems to be seen only from the outside. Sometimes people judge others from the outside, but they do not realize about the inside of the person. In the story, Emily is constantly judged by the townspeople because of her physical appearance, but they do not understand what she is going through emotionally. Another important character in the