A Rose for Emily
| About the Author | Summary | Critical Essay |Character Analysis of Emily| Letters to the Author |Quiz |
Quick facts about the Author by Fatima
The picture and info about William Faulkner is taken from: http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-bio.html
William Faulkner was born in 1897 from an old southern family and grew in Oxford, Mississippi.
He joined the Canadian and the British, Royal Air Force during the First World War. He then studied for a while at the University of Mississippi.
In 1940, Faulkner published the first volume of the Snopes trilogy.
The reivers, his last piece of literature, with many similarities to Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, appeared in 1962, the year of Faulkner's death
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Summary of "A Rose for Emily" by Fatima
This story is narrated through a third person's point of view. The story is told from the townspeople. The story starts off with Ms. Emily's funeral. It states that "the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man-servant--a combined gardener and cook--had seen in at least ten years." As we can see, Ms. Emily was sort of like a mystery to citizens of the town. The author continuously uses symbolism in the story. When the deputation came to her house for her taxes, Faulkner describes how the house and Ms. Emily looks. "only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores", this statement explains how the house gives off such a depressing mood. "Her skeleton was small and spare;", this line shows us how her appearance showcases death also.
When Ms. Emily was younger, her deceased father used to force away all the young men that was in love with her. The summer after her father death, she fell in love with a Yankee by the name of Homer Barron. Everyone in the town was whispering about their relationship and wondering if they were married. After a while they stop seeing Homer and decided that they got married. The townspeople then proceeds by saying that Ms. Emily then died a while after. They didn't know she was sick.
After they buried her, they knew that there was one room that wasn't opened. So after they decently buried her they went to see upon the room. When they opened the room they was greeted by great amounts of dust. They also explain that the "room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man's toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured." They also saw a man's collar, tie, suit, shoes, and discarded socks. "Then shockingly, laying right there in the bed was the man. For a long while we just stood there, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin. The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace. What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust. Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair."
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When one lives
his/her life in the public
eye it is often difficult to live up to everyone's expectations. These
repressions often lead these people to use radical methods to fulfill their own
needs. In this essay we will use the short story " A Rose for Emily" by William
Faulkner to portray the idea that society's view on a "celebrity" can not only
be powerful but also destructive.
Miss Emily Grierson is the socialite of her town. Naturally with this status
there is a certain reputation she has to withhold. She not only represents her
family name but in a sense the people of her town. Because she is such a
dominant figure the townspeople have put her on a pedestal and are very
judgmental of her actions. During the time in which her father was alive Emily
was seen as a figure to be admired but never touched. Many sutures she had but
according to her father none were suitable enough. Emily was revered as a
goddess in the townspeople's eyes.
When her father passed it was a devastating loss for Emily. Never being able to
developed any real relationship with anyone else it was like her world
completely crumbled around her. Emily tried to hold on to him in some way even
though his spirit had left. The townspeople subtlety but open objected to this
and eventually took his body away. Although this was a sad moment for Emily it
was in a sense liberating. She cut off her hair as a sign of breaking away from
her father's control. For the first time in her life she felt free even though
she was already thirty years old.
With this restraint being cut and this new found freedom Emily set out to
fulfill her desires of finding love and living her own life. In Homer Barron a
laborer from the north, Emily founded love. This odd relationship shocked the
towns people and they were in turmoil over how to resolve this problem. In
Emily's distant cousins they found a resolution. With these cousins now placed
in town to watch over Emily they believed everything would change back to
normal. As time passed the people began to recognize the genuine happiness Emily
displayed and instead of rejecting the relationship they embraced it. Despite the
joy the two expressed all knew it was a matter of time before Homer would leave
Emily, like everyone else did but for the moment they vested in her beauty and
jubilance.
Although the townspeople did not directly come into contact with Emily their
views on her and her family greatly affected her life. Their praises and
admiration forced her father to keep her sheltered longer than she needed. When
she finally was released she latched on to the first thing who was not
intimidated or judgmental of her. Being naive to the burdens of relationships
and love Emily was not cautious and dove head first into it. When she realized
Homer would leave again she made sure he would always be there by killing him. In
his death Emily found eternal love which was something no one could every take from her.
-Dominique
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Letter to the Author
Letter to the Author by Fatima
Dear Mr. Faulkner,
I just wanted to applaud you on your outstanding piece of literary work. "A Rose
for Emily" is just an original piece that is simply wonderful. The procedure you
took to write this story was fantastic and was new to me. I love to read stories
that are written differently from others.
Although, I admire your unique style of writing, I have noticed that you use
many common techniques that other writers use. One that I automatically realized
was a major technique was the use of symbolism. "It smelled of dust and
disuse--a close, dank smell." This line intertwines with the description of Ms.
Emily. "Her skeleton was small and spare". "She looked bloated, like a body long
submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the
fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a
lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors stated
their errand." I can see it all comes together to describe how depressive Ms.
Emily looks while the description of the house symbolizes death too.
I have also noticed that you strongly used symbolism in the title of your story.
It also was used as foreshadowing I would think. A single rose can represent so
many different things. A rose can represent love, respect, and sadly death. In
the story Ms. Emily was loved by many men of the town but they all was forced
away by her father. At her funeral they all brought roses with them. I see that
it is here that the rose represents love and respect they and the others have
for her. I also observed it symbolizes death.
One exciting thing I experienced when reading was I felt like a detective. From
the beginning, I knew that Emily had died but didn't know the circumstances
under how she died. While I continued reading I came upon more facts that lead
to her death and what happened.
Another style of writing I observed was how disorganized the story was. I see
that it was for a worthy cause though. Personally, it only intrigued me much
more. It had me constantly thinking about what events was occurring in the
story. I would say it was a stream of consciousness.
Finally, I have to comment on your surprise ending. Who would've known that
Homer Barron would die that way. Surprise endings is always like a zesty touch
to a meal. It only made the story even better.
I would love to read other magnificent work of yours in the future. I enjoyed it
dearly and hope you receive many astounding awards for your work. I would also
like to inform you that I have recommended your story to various aspiring
talented young writers that are trying to reach to the top. I think the essence
of your story and the way you used the techniques would help them out a whole
lot.
Sincerely yours,
Fatima
Letter to the Author by Josefina
Dear William Faulkner,
First I would like to congratulate you for such an amazing piece of literature.
The symbolism is truly astounding in that it is, I think, the major literary
element you chose to convey your idea. Miss Emily was not just a woman. She
represented aristocracy and was the talk of the town, be it a good or a bad
thing. She was their very own town celebrity. As a young woman she did not have
love in her life because her father pushed all the men away from his daughter.
When he passed she was lost and tried to hold on to the corpse because he was
all she ever knew. Another thing was the fact that she refused to pay taxes and
undermined the new authorities of the town. When she died, the men went to her
funeral out of respect, and women went out of curiosity. It was not tragic
because she was not truly loved. She was simply admired, feared, and respected
by the people of the town. I found all of the symbolic meanings of the story
very interesting. It was an exemplary work for kids that are learning about
literary elements and techniques.
Sincerely, Josefina
Character Analysis Based on “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
Perhaps, the most enticing word for
Emily isn't “sick”. Demented and perpetually disturbed appears more appealing to
a novice that does not understand the true depth of Emily's nature. The narrator
that speaks of this story has a personality that of the old with an age of the
young. Whether it may be girl or boy, the rose symbolizes kudos to Emily as a
maverick in early women's movement. The type of person Emily is wholly due to
the men that have left a drastic yet resonating impact on her life; them being
her father and Homer Barron. And with their coexistence in her life, she became
the women that she is at the end from their impact and the town’s comments.
Borne into a family of great wealth
with a well pronounced rich lineage; a duty of any woman of her age was supposed
to follow, was expected to be followed and with exact precision. But with Emily
being highly concealed by her father, she had to live with many restrictions of
life, resulting in a pronounced backlash and profuse alteration of her
personality. Giving the reader a limited impression that as a character, she is
shown with excessive pride, leaving an enduring imagination to readers, as to
what she was as an adolescent; but imagination does permit us to consider her as
any young child; easily manipulative. Yet as a person Emily reacts to her
situation in her youth filled years like any child would during this time;
reserved, complacent and with the utmost respect, as could be seen in the
following excerpt “So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were
not pleased exactly…”; although this does not state and show her obedience it
bluntly, as it does imply that although she had wonderful suitors and her father
sent them away she did nothing to stop it; clearly sending the message that she
is a acquiescent child.
Her father however there is no
imagination needed for; from context we can plainly see that he is a powerful
man with much character. Nevertheless his impressionable nature has been left to
us in the very beginning of the story where it is shown to the reader from the
thoughts of the town as such “Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the
background, her father a spraddled silhouette with foreground, his back to her
and clutching a horsewhip…” It is this image that offers this lingering image of
a demonizing man with intimidation as his most favored pass time. We can tell he
is clearly successful with such a trait for when he died “Miss Emily met them at
the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them
that her father was not dead…Just as they were about to resort to law and force,
she broke down, and they buried her father quickly.”
Yet the damage had been done; she
quickly grew into the one that she is late in life after her father’s death. And
having been a women of immense prestigious lineage; she began to look at the
world in a condescending manner. To her those in the "ordinary" or "lower class"
men were something she was not only used to but abhorred. After some time she
reemerged as what the people of the town would say "a girl, with a vague
resemblance to those angels in colored church windows-- sort of tragic and
serene." It is this image that shows the reader that her father’s death was a
catalyst in changing her yet again-- this time into an independent woman
dependent on past actions and future values.
However she would not let the
'tragic' fact that she was a woman bring her down into the world of the 'poor';
she would hold her head up high, work to make a living and not live by the
support of another. However much she did try she was still considered as "Poor
Emily" in the eyes of her fellow townsmen. With her growing interests in Homer
Barron, so did the pitiful remarks that the townspeople. This did not discourage
her at all; but instead allowed her to hold her head up higher and look at them
with the eye of a sort of "noblesse oblige". Plainly we can tell she obviously
heard the comments made by those in the “lower classes” about her and she didn’t
care. She was going to live her life the way in which she wanted to and they
would have to like it. That is why when they stated that “Homer himself had
remarked—he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in
the Elks’ Club—that he was not a marrying man”. Later we said, “Poor Emily”” she
kept her head up high; like a rebel intended on doing what she felt even if the
towns people didn’t approve it. Clearly she knew that he didn’t want to commit;
of course not at first but later into their relationship. This was another
catalyst in changing Emily; knowing previously that Homer Barron was not
intending to stay pushed her into going into the drug store demanding in the
most noble and dignified manner “I want arsenic”. At this point it appears that
Emily was fighting against the town. As though, if she wanted to be happy she
was going to have to fight for her right. But yet, it almost seems that to show
the town that even though she was the last Grierson, she was going to keep her
head up high and act like a true noble woman, which was getting what she wanted.
Emily is clearly not a sick or
twisted woman; she is a woman that is fighting for her right to live and be
happy as much as she can. It’s the damage that was inflicted upon her that
coexists within her from the moment her father dies till the moment Homer Barron
leaves that makes her a woman of strong wits and beliefs. And fighting for the
right that women deserve to have, which is happiness be it if the man likes it
or not. It is this influence that her father leaves on her that remains
throughout the rest of her life-- a firm able impression that continuously molds
her into the woman she eventually becomes at the end, which is a woman at
“seventy four…vigorous iron-gray, like the hair of an active man.”
-By Fatima