What Is Faulkner's Character Grotesque Behavior

In “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner each author gives their own views and opinions of the south, but each story has different perspective of the southern conduct shown by literary elements. The point of view of each story is the same and they have similar attributes which aides in the main character’s development, but each story has a deeper connection to it. The setting of both stories is set in the deep southern region in between the 1930’s and 1940’s while slavery was still very popular, but it aides in the development of each character’s background and trials. Symbolism is used in each story to demonstrate how each protagonist is deeply connected to the south. Ellison and Faulkner both used each of these literary elements to tie the south to the protagonists.

In the short story A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner, readers are immersed in the narrative of a supposed town member who describes the impact that the recent death of an old woman has had upon their small community. In the narrative, readers are taken on a journey through the life of Miss Emily, an old, lonely woman who is seemingly frozen in her own timeframe. As the story unfolds, readers learn about the various tragedies Emily encountered in her lifetime such as the sudden death of her controlling father as well as her alienation from other family members that leaves her utterly alone following his death. Audiences also learn about events that happened throughout Emily’s life that both molded her as a person and aided in shaping her reputation around the town. From her controversial relationship with a construction worker named Homer Barron to her suspicious purchase of arsenic at the local drug store, there is no question that Emily lived under the constant scrutiny of her fellow townspeople. After reading the initial sentences, it can be concurred that this story doesn’t simply describe the life of an old, questionably insane woman, but also the story of the age-old battle between old and new. Through symbolism and an artful arrangement of the events described, Faulkner is able to meticulously weave a tale of the clash between newer and older generations’ views and standards.

The style in which Faulkner writes this story allows the reader’s mind to wonder and put the story together their own

The Antebellum South thrived in chivalry, manners, and proper social standing. The old slave plantation, sun-tea, and gentle exchanges on the street were not uncommon sights during this time. Old-money and the disturbing thought of new money stitched in the pillows that sat on couches for luncheons. Too often, the people living in this period were so engrossed in creating a fake identity of perfection; they ultimately lost sight of who they were inside. To unveil the evils of the practice, many authors such as William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Flannery O’Connor and Jean Toomer all spoke out against the dying South. They revealed the tragedy in the former way of thinking and the misfortune that follows those who never move forward from

William Faulkner uses imagery to represent Miss Grierson’s confrontation to change by vividly describing her appearance. With the description given of Emily, readers might conclude that it symbolizes her inability to change. He describes

William Faulkner was a 20th Century American poet, screenwriter, and novelist who won a Nobel Peace prize in Literature in 1949 and was an author of two Pulitzer prizes. He was part of a prominent family in Mississippi that lost its prosperity and power during the Civil War. “In his works William Faulkner used the American South as a microcosm for the universal theme of time…whose reappearing characters grow older and cannot cope with the social change” (Larinde 1). “A Rose for Emily” has an accurate portrayal of the historical period it was written describing the social attitudes, moral implications, and racism of the Old South during the post-Civil War time period.

The manner that Faulkner applies point of view in "A Rose for Emily" provides the readers with the idea of the dying values, traditions, and customs of the “Old South”.

Faulkner continues his southern gothic writing style when the story goes back to an earlier time in Miss Emily’s life. Faulkner

Elements of a Southern Atmosphere in O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” and Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”

There are several ways in which William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" is indicative of literary modernism. It depicts a relevant historical period and is part of the frontiersman literary tradition (Gleeson-White, 2009, p. 389). The author utilizes a number of purely literary approaches that were innovative for the time period in which the tale was originally published (in 1932), such as employing a young child as a narrator complete with misspelled words and broken, puerile thoughts. However, the most eminent way in which this story embraces the tradition of literary modernism is in the author's rendition of dynamic social conventions that were in a state of flux at the time of the writing. Specifically, his treatment of race is the inverse of how race is generally portrayed in American literature prior to the early part of the 20th century. An analysis of this integral component of "Barn Burning" reveals that Faulkner's unconventional rendering of African American characters in a desirable social status particularly as compared to that of the Snopes clan is crucial to this tale's inclusion as part of the tradition of literary modernism.

William Faulkner was said to be one of the best Southern Gothic writers and the Southern Gothicism was brought about by Edgar Allen Poe in 1839. His novels and short stories such as Absalom! Absalom! (1936), The Sound and the Fury (1929), and “A Rose for Emily” (1930) were of the Southern Gothic genre. This paper will discuss what Southern Gothic is and its characteristics, along with William Faulkner and how Faulkner’s work conforms to the Southern Gothic genre.

the men through a sort of respectful affection ..." (Faulkner 79). The Souther culture valued their community and took it for a granted accomplishment to attend a funeral and help in need. Theses Southern culture and values influenced some of Faulkner's work.

Faulkner uses Emily’s character to represent the Old South in health and death. Her stubborn attitude and her decorum both reflect the characteristics of the Old South. When the men go to her home and confront her about her unpaid taxes and she asks them to leave, she represents that women in the Old South were not argued with and not questioned as not to insult them. The way that the people of the town treat her reflects this even further. The people of the town treat Emily as a monument just as they had seen the Old South. “It was another link between the gross, teeming world and the high and mighty Griersons.” They see her as something to observe and only interfere when she does something they do not like, such as dating a Northerner. Even in death The Old South follows her. “And now Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of those August names where they lay in the cedar-bemused cemetery among the ranked and anonymous graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson.”

His novel explores the healing process as well as the digression and push back of those in the South unable to compromise with the loss and renewal of life they had to make. The complex and alternating speakers and stories are laced together disruptive families that carry ties back to one another. The problems of intermarriages between blacks and whites, incest, the individuality being stripped from what people had known reaches peoples limits. Faulkner plays with these important moments, memories, ages and thoughts that prove his beliefs of this broken image of America.

In the eyes of the folks who lived in Jefferson, Mississippi, Miss Emily Grierson was a very eccentric woman. She kept to herself, only employed one servant in her house, and was a shut in for the last thirty years of her life. Even before she became a recluse, the townspeople found her odd because of how she acted towards them. Emily was considered eccentric because she did things no normal woman of her station would do, and yet she still tries to hang on to her traditional ways in fear of change. Renee Curry, author of “Gender and authorial limitation in Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily,’” suggests that “Faulkner designs this narrative position as a reflection of his own stance toward patriarchal and societal structures and