A Rose For Emily By William Faulkner

An important aspect in “A Rose for Emily” is the narrator's gender is left a mystery; this allows the reader to openly interpret the story from a different aspect, more specifically, through the mind of a feminist. Emily is subtly portrayed as an admirable woman who defies society's expectations of gender roles. Faulkner's use of the nosy women and the respectful men at the funeral, without further inquiry, may seem like it is in favor of a patriarchal society. However, Faulkner's main goal was to encourage the reader to understand that a woman, Emily, was capable of controlling her own behavior without society's influence.

In a Rose for Emily, Emily was not treated very well by the men in her life. I choose to write in a feminist perspective about A Rose for Emily.” In this story, Emily is the representation of all women. Mr. Grierson, her father oppresses Emily from any kind of love life. “[Feminism] is (ruled by the father)—that is, it is male-centered and controlled, and is organized and conducted in such a way as to subordinate woman to men all cultural domains: familial, religious, political, economic, social, legal, and artistic”(DiYanni et al , 2175). What this quote is saying relates to A Rose for Emily is many ways. This story is about a woman who has a male- centered thinking and is controlled by her father.

Is there any case in which a murderer would be justified in killing? What if the murderer suffered from a severe form of mental illness? In William Faulkner chilling short story called A Rose for Emily, we see a character who murders her lover, but was it her fault? Emily had been mentally unstable for a long time and her family had a long history of suffering from mental illnesses as well, but at the end of the day there is no justification for murder. Some of the most notorious serial killers and murderers have suffered from one form or another of mental illness. People like Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer all suffered from some form of mental illness ("Dangerous Minds: Mental Illnesses of Infamous Criminals"). Although there is an understanding on how a person with mental illness is more susceptible to commit violent crimes, it is still wrong. In a study it was found that “no significant difference in the rates of violence among people with mental illness and other people living in the same neighborhood” (Publications). Emily killed Homer due to lack of morality caused by a combination of terrible parenting and a system that put her above the law. The relationship she had with her father was a distinct one, he pushed her into a little bottle and never let her out. She wasn’t allowed to be a person, but instead a trapped soul yearning for attention and love. The town in which she lived, held her on this pedestal that separated her from the rest of the

Among many twentieth-century writers who have attempted to write about murder and mystery, William Faulkner’s ability to create an uncomfortable mood is incomparable to any other. "When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral." In the introduction of A Rose for Emily, the pages are immediately infested with the theme of death, which brings the reader to question why this story has such a depressing tone upon separating the front cover from its pages. Making the solemn mood such an integral part of this piece not only provokes thought within the reader, but also gives a sense of security. It is clearly spelt out that the author is trying to make the audience feel a certain way. This specificity so early on in the piece makes his writing more believable and settling into the discomforting tone. A Rose for Emily is a poetic collage of psyche solutes meant to provoke life-altering observations and internal search.

A well-known fiction artist consumed by his own surroundings or an oppressed worker just looking for a direction to vent, stumbling onto such a great writer was no mistake. William Cuthbert Faulkner, born September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi lived a successful 65 year, dying July 6, 1962 in Byhalia, Mississippi (Padgett n.pag). William was a man of education, attending Oxford High School as a boy and University of Mississippi as a man. Then he later attended partial semesters at the University of Virginia before his period of the Civil War. Although known mainly for his work of fiction, and being one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, William wrote tales of the heart from a place he remained familiar with binding such a disagreement amongst morals it stayed unique. Furthermore he earned the Pulitzer Prize in both 1955 and 1963 later received the Nobel Prize in literature (“William Faulkner-Biographical”). Thus, his focus to write “A Rose for Emily” was based on supplementary than his fiction but also on the ethical code of the south. Furthermore to the magnificent idea of creating characters from his identical life to represent firm changes he had begun to see nearby him, he was innovative which completed the man known today, an individual amongst writers of his time. William was not afraid to mark exactly as he believed stating he thought of a woman who had “no life at all” deserved a rose and that “there was a young girl, who was brow-beaten and

On September 25, 1897, William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi. He stands as one of the most preeminent American writers of the twentieth century. His literary reputation included poetry, novels, short stories, and screenplays. Faulkner won two Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction and the Nobel Prize in Literature. “A Rose for Emily” is a short fascinating story written by William Faulkner and it was his first short story published in a national magazine. The story involved an old woman named Emily Grierson, the daughter of a rich man that was considered a hero in the town where they lived. The story takes place in the fictional Town of Jefferson, Mississippi during and after the civil war between the Northerners and Southerners. Emily’s childhood was never easy; her father was always overprotective with her even when she was a grown woman. Charmaine Mosby an English Professor of Western Kentucky University in his work analysis of “A Rose for Emily” writes, “Miss Emily Grierson had been cut off from most social contact and all courtship by her father.” This was the principal reason why Emily Grierson was always a lonely soul.

In the short story “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner escorts the reader through the peculiar life of the main character Miss Emily Grierson. The gloomy tone of the story is set by the author beginning his tale with the funeral of Miss Emily. During course of the story, we are taken through different times in Miss Emily’s life and how she was lost in time, with the town around her moving forward. Through the use of southern gothic writing style, narrator point of view, and foreshadowing, Faulkner aids the reader in creating a visualization of Miss Emily and the town in which she lives while also giving an insight into her sanity.

Stubborn and a bit unstable, Emily Grierson is the main character of William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily “. Emily is a prime example of a flat character because she seldom changes throughout the whole story. Emily acts as if nothing has changed over the years. In the town of Jefferson, It’s as if time went to a stood still. She shows this flat affect throughout the story in many instances. For example, like her refusing to pay her taxes, not keeping up with the maintenance of her father’s home after his passing. So much so that the home was referred to as “an eyesore among eyesores, still standing among the cotton wagons and gasoline pumps (Faulkner, p. 121).

In both William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily”, and Kate Chopin’s, “The Storm”, the setting is a very vital part of the literary work. In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner introduces us to an older lady named Emily, who was very well known in her town. As we learn through Faulkner’s use of imagery and description, Miss Emily has a rather hard time letting go of people she holds dear to her. We learn that in her basement we have a very raunchy smell. The neighbors try to mask the smell by squirting lime juice, but little do they know it’s the body of her father. At the end of the story we are left in her bedroom with the rotting body of her once lover in her bed. Where there is a strange finding on the pillow beside him. In “The Storm,” we are introduced to Calixta, who is at home alone, doing her wifely duties when an unexpected storm and a visitor arrives. We soon learn that the visitor is a man named Alcee and they have an affair during the storm. When the storm is over and Alcee has left, Calixta’s husband and son arrive safely. We see that Calixta acts as if nothing happened, and assumes her role as the worried mother. They all sit down and have a good laugh while they eat dinner that night. Kate Chopin’s, “The Storm,” does a better job in creating the setting than Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” because Kate thoroughly depicts an image of Calixta’s house and bedroom. While Faulkner only describes the outside of Miss Emily’s home.

People often stick to tradition, but does that mean tradition is proper? Throughout time, many things in life change, but sometimes things stay preserved. The past is the past and cannot be altered, but things can become spoiled, whether by nature or by man. Gender representation has come a long way in the past few hundred years. To this day life is still not equal for either group. The genders have portrayed for millenniums certain duties and created imageries people associate with both, and will not go away overnight or in a century, possibly not even in a millennium. These typical obligations have become preserved by literature throughout history. One such narrative is “A Rose for Emily”, written by William Faulkner in 1930. There

Think back to a most recently read story. Everyone has their favorite characters, and some know everything that went on in the story. All stories have different settings, characters, themes, and moods in their stories; that is what sets every story apart from each other. In a story, the author has to have a definite setting; time period, location, time of day, and other important details like the characters, and relationship with them. Setting is very important in a story for several reasons.

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is a unique piece of literature. It has a plot which seems somewhat bland, and it is not particularly exciting. However, the ending is quite suprising, and for me it made the story worth reading. I think there are some interesting aspects of this story if you look at it from a feminist point of view. The feminist movement has attempted to elevate the status of the woman to a level equal with men. Feminists have fought for the right of women to be free from the old social restraints which have been in place for so long. A feminist believes a woman should be strong and independent. In some ways the main character, Emily, is this kind of woman, but for the most part she is

“We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it (William Faulkner)”. However society always tries to limit our freedom because of our gender. In Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, the plot takes place in 1894 where women were considered to be beneath men due to stratification of society. The story takes place in an era when women did not have the right to vote, were expected to take care of husband/children, and had their civil liberties. The main character of Miss Emily is portrayed as co-dependent and mawkish, which was a social accepted attitude. Faulkner’s short story, illustrates social definitions of the female sex and the mentality of society through the actions and comments of the people of Jefferson, listening to man rather than a woman, and finally dealing with the difficulties of people saying she cannot live without a man. “People to often forget that it is your own choice how you want to spend the rest of your life(Rachel Wolchin).” Within a small town word gets around fast. Comments and remarks can be heard by anyone and will result in getting around the whole town within hours. In the short story “A Rose for Emily”, Faulkner shows how the woman and men were talking about Miss Emily whenever they saw her and Homer talking in the street. As they stand in the street they start to say “Poor Emily”, talking as if she is making the worst decision of her life. They were sure that she wouldn’t waste her time with a Northerner like Homer Barron,

William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897 but lived most of his life in Oxford, a small town nearby. After dropping out of high school then briefly joining the Canadian Air Force, he returned home and completed three terms at the University of Mississippi (Fulton 27). During his early twenties Faulkner spent time in New Orleans and Europe before returning to Oxford and publishing his first book of poems. In 1929 he married Estelle Franklin and published his first novel, Sartoris, which became the first of the series based on his fictionalized idea of Oxford. The theme of his work centered on the toll taken by white southerners on African-Americans. Through the 1930’s, Faulkner spent time in Hollywood writing screenplays to generate money, and was known to be a heavy drinker. In 1936 Faulkner had his first stay at Wrights Sanitarium, a nursing facility to treat his binge drinking (31). By the mid 1940’s, he rediscovered himself as a writer with the publication of The Portable Faulkner, and in 1949 won the Nobel Prize for literature (Boman 1). After moving to Virginia to be close to his only daughter Jill, Faulkner seemed to find happiness in life. A month before his death, he published The Reivers, which won Faulkner his second Pulitzer Prize. The Southern writer would make his final return home to Mississippi, and admitted himself into Wrights Sanitarium on July 5, 1962. He suffered a heart attack and died the

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.