Reaction to Fictional Short Story: A Rose for Emily
Literature comes in a variety of forms that appeal to audiences of all types. Some people enjoy literature in the form of nonfiction novels or articles. Other people may be drawn to fictional pieces of literature such as poems, plays, short stories, or novels. No matter what type of literature an audience may enjoy, the writer will use many methods to capture their attention and express ideas. In the short story, “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner uses various strategies to convey themes, ideas, and motifs to the audience.
Themes and Motifs
Most literature has a theme or several themes. One theme for “A Rose for Emily” is, “Tradition versus Change.” William Faulkner is conveying a struggle of trying to maintain a sense of tradition in a country that is going through widespread and radical change in the aftermaths of the Civil War. Despite the commercial changes the town is going through such as the addition of cotton gins and garages, Emily remains the same. Therefore, Emily is a representation of tradition in a sense. Faulkner stresses this point when he writes, “Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner, 2014, p. 250) Additionally, Emily’s macabre bridal chamber is an extreme attempt to prevent change or freeze time, at the expense of another person’s life. “Tradition versus Change” is just one of the themes for “A Rose for Emily.”
“A Rose for Emily” reveals the influence that Southern Gothic had on his writing. The story’s setting is a perfect example. His particular story has a moody and forbidding atmosphere; a crumbling old mansion; and decay, putrefaction, and grotesquerie. Faulkner’s work uses the sensational elements to highlight an individual’s struggle against an oppressive society that is undergoing rapid change. Emily herself is stuck in the “Old south” while her town is changing. Another aspect of the Southern Gothic style is appropriation and transformation. Faulkner has appropriated the image of the damsel in distress and transformed it into Emily, a psychologically damaged spinster. Her mental instability and necrophilia have made her an emblematic Southern Gothic
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
In "A Rose for Emily," William Faulkner's use of setting and characterization foreshadows and builds up to the climax of the story. His use of metaphors prepares the reader for the bittersweet ending. A theme of respectability and the loss of, is threaded throughout the story. Appropriately, the story begins with death, flashes back to the past and hints towards the demise of a woman and the traditions of the past she personifies. Faulkner has carefully crafted a multi-layered masterpiece, and he uses setting, characterization, and theme to move it along.
In “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner uses symbolism, imagery, simile and tone. Faulkner uses these elements to lead his characters to an epiphany of letting go of out-dated traditions and customs. The resistance to change and loneliness are prominent themes within “A Rose for Emily”. Faulkner uses “A Rose for Emily” to caution his readers that things are not always what they appear to be.
A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner, symbolizes so much more than what is said in the text. William Faulkner sets an intense mood at the beginning of the story when announcing the death of Miss Emily Grierson. Not many stories start off with death, but in this case, Emily’s death is a very important key point to the story. The narrator manipulates time in the way he tells the story. The narrator starts off with with Emily’s death and continues the story with the past, the late past, and the past past. This time manipulation is very important to set the themes of the story. There is not one specific theme, but actually a variety. For example, the time manipulation by confusing the reader with the past and the present. Another example is the loneliness
Rather than stating the true meaning of his works, William Faulkner generally uses symbolism to portray the depth of his tales. Throughout the story “A Rose For Emily,” time is a continuous theme that is portrayed through symbols. The past, present, and future are represented by different people, places, and things. One of which such symbols, the main character herself, represents the essence of the past through her father, her house, and her lover.
A suspenseful tale of tradition versus change is told with the help of literary elements in William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. Foreshadowing and symbolism develop Emily’s tragic fate in a way the reader is exposed to how deeply death and sociatal change have effected Miss Emily. Faulkner displays how effective these elements are for a short story to truly have an impact on the
The mysterious tale, “A Rose for Emily”, focuses on the life and death of the main character, Emily, a stubborn and mentally unstable woman. . Throughout Emily’s life she has lived in the town of Jefferson for as long as the townspeople have remembered. The town develops and changes a lot while Emily lives there, but Emily does not. In “A Rose For Emily”; William Faulkner constructs Emily as a distinct character in order to show the theme of unwillingness to change as the town around her does.
In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” the story is revolved around the character Emily Grierson. The story is told by the townspeople where Emily lives. These people are attending her funeral and pitching in memories and tales they remember from Emily’s life. It is through the collective voices and opinions of the crowd that the reader is able to interpret Emily’s struggles. With Emily Grierson’s choices the reader can tell that she is a dependant woman, with psychotic tendencies, and does not take the thought of change and rejection lightly.
However, she was the centre of furious gossip in the entire town especially when her relationship with Homer Barron started.
As any reader can see, " A Rose for Emily" is one of the most authentic short stories by Faulkner. His use of characterization, narration, foreshadowing, and symbolism are four key factors to why Faulkner's work is idealistic to all readers.
“A Rose for Emily”, written by William Faulkner, tells the story of a lonely woman who is stuck in her own timeframe. Miss Emily refuses to adapt to the new ways of the South and keeps her own traditions instead. The town she lived in spread much gossip about her, they pitted her lost soul. “A Rose for Emily” highlights the traditions of the Old South vs the New, which is told through the life of Miss Emily who refuses to change.
The short story, “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner, tells of a middle-aged woman named Emily, who struggles to overcome the challenges of isolation in the community she lives in. She might just hold these characteristics, but there is a deeper meaning that Faulkner has given Emily that a great number of people do not discover on their first read. There are countless detailed pieces of figurative language and text that further explain Emily that includes the change of the town, the symbolism of Emily, and a different perspective that was told initially. Emily has way more about her than initially thought of her and that is what makes this story interesting. The short story that Faulkner portrays in “A Rose For Emily” illustrates a deeper meaning through Emily and other characters, bringing something to the table that most stories wouldn't be able to do.
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
William Faulkner uses A Rose for Emily to tell a story about a mentally ill, lonely woman who is stuck in her own time . After the passing of her controlling father, which occurred 30 years ago, Miss Emily never quite regained herself. Her house, that once used to be the most beautiful place, became one of the most run down, dust covered places in the city. Within the town that Emily belonged, people began to pity her soul and gossip about her life of disaster. Homer Barron, a man who works on construction of sidewalks, begins to date Emily and comes into her life to try to save her from self- destruction.They begin to spend a lot of time together to get to know one another but the people of the town continuously nag Emily due to social class issues but it doesn't stay this way for long. Miss Emily is seen less and less with Mr.Barron and is caught at a local drug store buying arsenic. After a while, Homer is never seen again, and at the age of seventy-four Miss Emily dies. After her death, people of the city remember a room in her house that hasn't been seen for 40 years, and their superstition arises. They end up breaking down the door to discover Homer`s dead, decaying body and another imprint of a body beside his, with a single strand of iron- grey hair. A Rose for Emily reveals a series of events that are open to interpretation. WIthin these series of events, the story begins to open the idea of old versus new and tradition versus progress through, symbols, Emily`s