Sep 3, · William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” presented contemporary readers with a gothic horror story that was all the more haunting because of its innocent appearance. In the story “A Rose for Emily” Faulkner uses unconventional symbols. Symbols give readers a greater understanding of the setting and help define Miss Emily’s character. The use of Feb 27, · Short Fiction Essay “A Rose for Emily” In the story “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner associates the main character, Miss Emily with a sense of beauty, privilege, and
A Rose for Emily Literary Analysis - Words | Essay Example
The characters in the story are all different and very important to the telling of the piece throughout. We get to know many of the outsiders looking in, but never really get to know the main character until the very end when her dark secrets are revealed through the drawn out plot. The reader is able to get the story from a first person plural perspective because it is told from an objective point of view. While the narrator has lived through the timeline as an onlooker and a prospective character, they are only there to narrate the story, thus allowing for the reader to draw their own conclusions and their own opinions of the characters without any dialogue being present directly from one of the characters own thoughts.
All of these elements create many symbolic aspects in the story like the home itself. She lives in a home that has been a symbol of wealth and prosperity for many generations prior to her, however as the woman ages and deteriorates, so does the house. Lending to the symbol that the mighty have fallen, and just as time ages all, it also eventually decays the life of social status and family history. Many stories often revolve around one specific aspect of writing in order to really stress the specific point that the author is trying to make. In this case, character is most important.
The character of main focus is Emily, a considerably static character throughout the story, but one that seems to have a very dynamic effect on the people around her. While the reader may not get to know Emily on a personal level, the distance that is created between the reader and the main character is exactly what Faulkner was trying to achieve. It also makes her seem petty and greedy, as if she does not want to contribute to the well-being of the town. To contrast a particular view of simplistic thinking such as shyness from an overbearing father to assuming that she is a woman of an arrogant nature just provides how unknown Emily is throughout the story and again, only perpetuates further speculation from the reader and townsfolk.
The only concrete description that we get of Emily is her physical description as she ages. Her skeleton was small and spare; perhaps that was why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her. She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Whether it is a result of growing up with a protective father, a rose for emily literary analysis essay the social status that has been bestowed upon her through inheritance of her last name, she is a character that remains consistently unwilling to let anyone into her house of secrets both physically and metaphorically.
In many stories, when the author portrays a character such as Faulkner did with Miss Emily, there is usually inner dialogue that portrays an internal struggle to back up the negativity that the character feels. An important part in creating the controversial character of Emily is the plot. Even after reading the final sentence, it is difficult to find the resolution. It is possible that Faulkner intended for the resolution to be that of the townsfolk finally finding out what Emily had been hiding all these years in the home. Or perhaps it was the resolution of all the pieces falling together to explain the mystery behind Emily herself. The story opens with the discussion of a funeral for Emily Grierson. This is the way Faulkner lays the foundation work for the plot of the story. While she is a woman of high regard due to her hereditary roots, a rose for emily literary analysis essay, a rose for emily literary analysis essay is an obligation and somewhat of a sore as the responsibility to tend to her is passed down from generation to generation.
The plot throughout the story depicts a woman who has fallen victim to the penalties of age and time and the town that has unfortunately been unwillingly given the burden of carrying on her legacy. The initial issue in the story; or the foundation for the perpetual conflict is the unpaid town taxes. Whether this is in fact true, Emily relied heavily on the promise from Colonel Sartoris to never have a financial obligation to pay taxes for a home that was considered a tradition, such as she was considered. As this initial conflict evolves, it becomes a pressing issue once the new, a rose for emily literary analysis essay, younger generations of home owners begin to take positions of authority. This is an important part to the piece because it shows that there has been a pre-existing and long lasting issue with A rose for emily literary analysis essay whether it is fiscally or in the form of a foul odor.
Section II speaks of this foul odor, a rose for emily literary analysis essay, yet another conflict in the unfolding of the plot. They complained so much so that in the dark of night, several men snuck into her yard, sniffing about the foundation of her home, a rose for emily literary analysis essay, spreading Lyme throughout just to mask and rid the grounds of the foul stench. It is clear at this point that Emily is considered to be a rather hefty burden on the people of the town. Complaints go unfixed, smells are left hanging with no regard for anyone around her and still, her taxes go unpaid. The climax of the story is a bit hard to find, but can be considered to be the point where Emily meets Homer. After the death of her father, it seems as though Emily coils into her shell much more than she had done prior to his death.
When Homer comes into the picture, the town is perplexed by the odd relationship and offended that someone of her stature would allow a man of his stature to court her. The gossip begins to spread like wildfire and accelerate the public affair a rose for emily literary analysis essay more so in an effort for Emily to stand a rose for emily literary analysis essay ground. It seems, on the surface, that Emily is unscathed by this gossip and continues to hold her head high while the men and women tear her dignity to shreds through their mumbled words amongst themselves.
With the gossip being as perpetual as it is, shortly after the affair has publicly begun, Emily purchases Arsenic, rat poison. This information is important to the plot because it again can be considered foreshadowing but can also lend itself to symbolism. The conclusion of the story is again, not completely clear. Because the story hops back and forth between past and present and never really follows a clear chronological blueprint for the past, it is difficult to consider the conclusion to be part of the opening paragraph of the story. But as Faulkner wrote it, the opening paragraph is essentially what will lead us to the inevitable conclusion, the rotting corpse in the bedroom. Suddenly the aforementioned series of events in the previous 40 years comes to fruition, the rat poison, the foul odor, the sudden disappearance of Homer himself.
Emily had killed him albeit in an effort to preserve the dream of a husband and a normal life or out of her own self despair for having chosen a man who the town frowned upon. The single strand of gray hair on the pillow next to him only perpetuates the idea that she had killed him in an effort to hold onto him or get rid of him forever. Even after her death, she is still causing question and speculation among the town, a rose for emily literary analysis essay. She will forever be a mystery whether liked or not, the view of her is that she is a complete and total unknown. Stories can often contain many points of view. When multiple characters are involved, many views can be expressed through internal dialogue and also through the description of the series of events that occur and how the characters react to such.
In this story, the point of view is in the first person, more specifically in the plural form of the first person. While it is never clear how the narrator is affiliated with Emily or what important role they may or may not have played with first-hand experience, the narration is not so much opinion based as much as it is there to simply narrate and portray Emily only through her actions and the reactions of those around her as a result, a rose for emily literary analysis essay. The point of view portrayed in the story is help isolate Emily and point out how different and odd she is considered to be by the town. Already there is a clear divide between the town and Emily herself.
When her father dies the opinions that are formed are in some ways sympathetic and compassionate, but in other ways are harsh and undeserving. At last they could pity Miss Emily…. Through tradition, the women felt compelled to offer a rose for emily literary analysis essay condolences, a rose for emily literary analysis essay, not because they genuinely felt sorry for Emily or sought any form of friendship with her, but primarily because they felt required to do so by moral and traditional values. It is difficult for the town to look past her self-isolation and to not draw conclusions about her mysterious lifestyle when they have nothing but gossip and speculation to fuel their curiosity.
If there is anything that the point of view in the story helped to strongly portray it is that Emily was anything but typical and most certainly anything but traditional. The idea of her alienation and her lonely life was portrayed the strongest towards the end of the book. After years of her being ostracized by the town, and years of secretive behavior, she died alone. Fell ill in the house filled with dust and shadows, with only a doddering Negro man to wait on her. We did not even know she was sick; we had long since given up…. she died in one of the downstairs rooms, in a heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her gray head propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlight.
The visual of Emily dying alone in a dusty dark house was the very epitome of how her life had been lived in this town. She was viewed as odd and abnormal, all attempts to aide in her conforming were eventually thrown by the wayside as she resisted. Her actions are never good enough, her decisions are continually challenged, and she is forever left a loner to both age and waste away to nothing in a big lonely house, having been nothing but a bother for the town her entire existence. In many pieces of literature, there can be multiple scenes, or settings a rose for emily literary analysis essay take place to help place the reader in the heart of the story.
It can be considered both the physical setting, but also the metaphoric setting because of the secrets it houses and the shelter it provides for Emily from the town. But overtime the house had fallen victim to an evolving economy. Just like Emily, this home does not fit into the town. An interesting take on the setting of the home is the symbol that it is a fallen legacy. In essence, the unknown author is reflecting on the comparison that Faulkner made to the legacy of the town of Jefferson. The house itself represents a symbol of time and of age and resistance to change in a modernizing society. This description of Emily relates to symbolism in the story because it is exactly how the home was once viewed.
It was built on a street where only the wealthiest of families lived, perched high with cupolas and beautiful architecture, it was admired among many. As time wore on, the house wore down, becoming ragged and uninviting. The house is considered to be a monument, a legacy from what once was. Emily herself is considered to be the same way. She is an inherited burden of the town just like her home is, a rose for emily literary analysis essay. The house in essence symbolizes the refusal for conformity in a changing world. Emily is afraid of change and of leaving a world that she has grown up in and come to know as her own, to symbolically venture out into an unknown world around her. When her father passed away, Emily was in denial and refused to admit that he is in fact gone. She spent days denying the death, and countless attempts to get her to accept his death went unsuccessful.
She was afraid to accept the change that was now being forced upon her. She kept herself locked in the only thing that has remained consistent in her life, a rose for emily literary analysis essay, her home. As the world crashed and changed around her, she took refuge in a familiar place that would allow for her to remain unchanged and accept her for that. The house symbolizes consistency in her life, as the world changes around her she is able to maintain control by never changing anything inside of her home. When Homer is introduced into the story, her life suddenly is changed in a more positive light. He symbolizes new hope, change and a chance at a new beginning.
However, the reader may not know it, but Emily is once again refusing change. Her desire to keep things she loves around, just like her father and her fear of losing those she loves are the driving force behind her decision to buy Arsenic. This essay was written by a fellow student. You may use it as a guide or sample for writing your own paper, but remember to cite it correctly. Accessed December 3, In case you can't find a relevant example, our professional writers are ready to help you write a unique paper. Just talk to our smart assistant Amy and she'll connect you with the best match. Plagiarism scanner DO THE CHECK.
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, time: 23:55A Rose for Emily Essay Examples → Literary Analysis
Feb 27, · Short Fiction Essay “A Rose for Emily” In the story “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner associates the main character, Miss Emily with a sense of beauty, privilege, and Mar 17, · Literary Analysis In the poem, “A Rose for Emily” it describes the life of Emily. Emily’s dad passed away and she was left by herself. After her dad passes away, the ‘A Rose For Emily’ is a short story penned by William Faulkner that revolves around Emily Grierson, a woman born to a highly respected and wealthy Southern family. In this literary
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