William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” has captivated readers for decades with its haunting narrative and mysterious protagonist. One crucial aspect that contributes to the story’s allure is its unique point of view. Through a retrospective and collective perspective, the narrator unveils the enigmatic life of Emily Grierson, providing readers with a multi-layered understanding of her character and the town’s perception of her. This reflective essay delves into the significance of the point of view in “A Rose for Emily” and its impact on the story’s interpretation.
Body:
The Collective Voice:
The story unfolds through the collective voice of the town’s residents, who function as the narrators. This narrative technique creates a sense of unity and shared experience among the townspeople, giving the story a distinct small-town atmosphere. The collective voice acts as a character in itself, reflecting the community’s judgments, prejudices, and gossip surrounding Emily Grierson. This perspective allows readers to witness how society’s expectations and norms shape the perception of individuals, particularly those who deviate from societal conventions.
The Retrospective Narrative:
The retrospective narrative structure adds depth and complexity to the story. The narrators recount events from the past, spanning several decades of Emily’s life, which allows readers to piece together the fragments of her story and unravel the layers of mystery surrounding her. This retrospective approach creates a sense of anticipation and suspense as the true nature of Emily’s character and her actions gradually unfold.
Ambiguity and Subjectivity:
The point of view in “A Rose for Emily” is marked by ambiguity and subjectivity. The collective voice presents the story from the townspeople’s perspective, which is inherently biased and influenced by their own perceptions and assumptions. This subjectivity adds to the intrigue of the narrative, as readers are constantly challenged to question the reliability of the information presented. It prompts us to consider the limitations of relying solely on communal accounts when trying to understand the complexity of an individual’s life.
Empathy and Understanding:
Despite the town’s gossip and judgment, the point of view also invites readers to develop empathy and a nuanced understanding of Emily’s character. Through the collective voice, we witness the effects of isolation, loss, and societal pressure on Emily’s mental state and actions. This empathetic portrayal humanizes Emily, allowing readers to glimpse the vulnerability and tragedy behind her seemingly eccentric behavior. The retrospective narrative enables us to reflect on the consequences of societal neglect and the importance of compassion and empathy towards others.
Interpretive Freedom:
The enigmatic point of view in “A Rose for Emily” grants readers interpretive freedom. By presenting the story through the lens of the town’s residents, Faulkner encourages readers to question and analyze the events and motives in the narrative. The absence of a singular, omniscient narrator allows for multiple interpretations, fostering discussion and engaging readers in a deeper exploration of the themes of love, loss, decay, and the complexities of human nature.
Conclusion:
The point of view in “A Rose for Emily” is a masterful narrative device that adds depth and intrigue to the story. Through the collective voice and retrospective narrative structure, readers gain insight into the enigmatic life of Emily Grierson and the town’s perceptions of her. The ambiguity and subjectivity of the narrative prompt readers to question societal norms and biases, fostering empathy and understanding. Moreover, the point of view grants readers interpretive freedom, allowing for diverse and thought-provoking discussions. Faulkner’s masterful use of point of view in “A Rose for Emily” invites readers on a reflective journey through the complexities of human nature and the power of collective perception.
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a captivating short story that explores the life of Emily Grierson, a woman living in the fictional town of Jefferson, Mississippi. Through a non-linear narrative structure, Faulkner reveals the tragic events that shaped Emily’s life and the profound impact she had on the town’s inhabitants. This essay provides a comprehensive summary of the key elements and plot points in “A Rose for Emily.”
Summary:
The story opens with the funeral of Miss Emily Grierson, an eccentric and reclusive woman who has been an enigma to the townspeople for many years. The narrative then jumps back in time to Emily’s childhood, when her father, Mr. Grierson, was alive. He was a controlling figure who prohibited Emily from engaging in social activities and discouraged potential suitors.
As time passes, the townspeople become increasingly curious about Emily’s life and actions. Emily’s seclusion and the decaying Grierson mansion pique their interest. Emily’s relationship with Homer Barron, a Northern laborer, raises eyebrows and becomes a subject of gossip. The townspeople view this relationship as scandalous, as it challenges the social norms and values of the conservative Southern society.
However, the relationship with Homer does not have a happy ending. Homer disappears, and Emily is left alone once again. The townspeople assume that Emily will be devastated by the loss, but she remains stoic. As years pass, Emily withdraws further into her home, rarely seen by the outside world.
Upon Emily’s death, the townspeople enter her home and discover a shocking secret. In an upstairs bedroom, they find the decomposed corpse of Homer Barron, lying on a bed as if she had been sleeping next to him for decades. It becomes clear that Emily, unable to let go of her loved one, had poisoned him and preserved his body as a macabre act of possession.
In the final moments of the story, the townspeople find a gray hair on the pillow next to Homer’s corpse, suggesting that Emily had been sleeping beside him until her death.
Conclusion:
“A Rose for Emily” is a haunting and complex tale that explores the depths of human loneliness, obsession, and the consequences of denying the passage of time. Faulkner skillfully weaves together the elements of mystery, Southern Gothic atmosphere, and psychological depth to create a narrative that leaves readers contemplating the complexities of the human psyche.
Through the tragic story of Emily Grierson, Faulkner invites readers to reflect on the destructive power of isolation and the consequences of holding onto the past. “A Rose for Emily” is a poignant examination of the human condition, revealing the dark secrets that can lie beneath the surface of even the most seemingly ordinary lives.
‘Rose for Emily’ by William Faulkner, is about a girl named Emily. She is not very social, and some would even call her crazy. She has been isolated from the world for the majority of her life. Her father isolated her from the world. Even after his death, she continued to isolate herself. Due to the isolation, she has been broken down to the point of insanity. She committed murder and has kept the body hidden. Even after she committed the murder, she continued to have sexual relations with the corpse. The story shows us that isolation can cause people to break. Due to being isolated from the world, Emily began to go crazy and killed her lover.
Although people did not know the Griersons well, the Griersons thought of themselves as superior. They completely disassociated themselves from the rest of the town ‘the Griersons held themselves a little too high’ (170-171). This shows us how they thought of themselves as superior and isolated themselves. Mr. Grierson never believed that any man was good enough for Emily, causing Emily to live with her father until his death. The Griersons very rarely talked to anyone outside of their small circle.
Emily was a lonely, isolated woman. She did not know how to act around people, and people did not know her. ‘After her father’s death, she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all’ (170). This is another strong example of isolation. She rarely went out when her father was alive, and once he passed away, she went out even less. She had to convince herself it was ok for her father’s body to be removed from the house. After years of isolation, she felt her father’s body was her only lifeline. Even though her father is dead, she continues to isolate herself. After years of isolation, Emily’s mental state deteriorates, causing her to murder Homer. After murdering Homer, she kept the body just as she wanted to keep her father’s body after his death. Keeping Homer and having a sexual relationship with the corpse gave Emily the love she craved. Her father’s years of isolation forced Emily to become the unstable woman she became. Both of these quotes support the theme of isolation and what it does to a person socially and mentally. Emily was unable to function in the real world while fearing abandonment. She only had her father until his death, and she was not going to let Homer leave her, so she murdered him. The first quote shows how the town views them and the second quote heavily supports the theme of isolation.
Emily’s father isolated her, and after he passed away, she continued to isolate herself.
Her isolation from the world caused her to become a shell of a woman. Lonely, peculiar, and crazy is how the townspeople viewed her. The outcome of Emily’s life is a perfect example of how isolation can cause someone to break. Although isolation caused Emily to become mentally ill, she could have helped herself. After the passing of her father, she could have sought help. Emily could have opened her heart and door to the townspeople, forming relationships. Instead, she continued to isolate herself.
A Rose For Emily Diagnostic. The title holds a powerful significance for the story as it represents and foreshadows features of the main character Emily’s life story. A rose is frequently symbolized as love, therefore, maybe the rose can be linked to Emily’s love life or her aspiration for love. Nevertheless, Emily can be identified as a depiction of the thorniness of a rose due to her arrogant appearance and her isolating lifestyle. Additionally, like a thorny rose, she displays deceptiveness as she kills the only person who ever got close to her in Homer. All in all, the title signifies the dangerousness and sad life story of Emily.
The point of view of the story is told in first person, but not the typical first person. It’s not told by a particular person, it’s told by an unidentified town speaker from where Emily lived, revealing the feelings of the town. It’s almost as though the community itself is telling the story. Small towns generally have a collective awareness, this awareness could be seen as the narrator. As the town patron’s daughter, Miss Emily, in some form, belongs to the town. She is the focus of attention and examination. Her father thought he belonged to the town, so she did as well. As a consequence, she became part of the town. An indication of this is the description of how Miss Emily stopped coming out of the house. “That was two years after her father’s death and a short time after her sweetheart—the one we believed would marry her –had deserted her. After her father’s death, she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all.”(Faulkner 2) The use of “we believed” and “people hardly saw her at all” demonstrates this collective awareness. This POV is important to the story because it produces tension. We don’t know exactly what will happen, as we never see the whole illustration. It is like listening to a meaty story, you realize it will result entertainingly, but you’re not exactly sure how.
Emily is the stereotypical outsider, by staying tucked away, restricting and reducing the exposure of the community to her true identity. She uses her house as a separation from her and the town. “WHEN MISS Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house”(Faulkner 1) as nobody had seen her house due to her defiant personality. Emily implements her understanding of law and conduct in many scenarios, a couple of examples are refusing to pay her taxes and refusing to state her purpose for purchasing the poison. Ultimately, her defiance of the law takes on more dangerous aspects as she murders the man she refused to allow to abandon her. Emily is described as a hero by the author, but at the same time, she is pitied and often annoying, seeking to live life on her terms which leads her down a very dark path.
The author chooses to repeat the words “I have no taxes in Jefferson” because it reveals to the reader that Emily is extremely stubborn and selfish. This implies that Emily is closed-minded and is showing no signs of moving on, specifically moving on from her father’s death. As Emily states, ‘See Colonel Sartoris, I have no taxes in Jefferson'(Faulkner 2), she is stuck in the past. In the story, Emily’s father was very protective and did not allow her to go out that much. She was left with little or no independence and could not grow independent She became so reliant on her father that she was unable to keep her life going without him. The author explains how for roughly ten years Colonel Sartoris was deceased. This shows that the only life Emily knew was the one when her father did everything for her. She wasn’t able to adapt to the change so she now has to pay taxes. The only solution she knew regarding the current issue was to show them out and not deal with it. This is an important part of the story because is the point in which the reader understands that Emily was unable to change because of her father’s death.
In the story, the dust is a suitable representation of the fading lives from within. It symbolizes the ancient presence of Emily in the town. When the aldermen come and try to obtain Emily’s yearly tax fee, the house smells like “dust and disuse.” The home seems to be a place of stasis, where mistakes and perceptions stay forever untouched. In a sense, dust very much has a calming presence. The aldermen can not access Emily’s blurred connection to reality. The layers of dust further signify the aura of mist that masks Emily’s true motives and the mysteries that her house obtains. Specifically at the end of the story, the dust seems to have an oppressive influence, as it emerges from Homer’s dead body. Faulkner describes the dust as “patient and biding”, almost as if it has been begging to be cleaned. The dust seems significantly more disturbing here than earlier on in the story.
Excessive levels of isolation may be problematic for people and therefore could contribute to a dramatic downfall in hostile ways. This notion of isolation is very much part of the story. Firstly, Emily is isolated from the outside world by her father and most of society through her higher status, which inevitably leads to her anxiety-imposed isolation.
Life is an ongoing process, and in its ever-changing rhythm people have to adapt to new conditions and assume new view and attitudes. Flexible people generally succeed in following the right way in the developing course of existence, while more conservative ones find themselves stuck in the past and too outdated to be full-fledged members of contemporary society.
The necessity for moving forward and not clinging to the past was voiced already in the biblical story of Lot’s wife, and the topic has been actual ever since. The misery of those who are unable to accept the reality and to get free from the influence of the past is the main theme of William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily”, where the protagonist, Miss Emily Grierson, becomes a white crow and an object of both ridicule and pity due to her fanatic devotion to the ideals of the past.
The theme a person trapped in old time is developed by Faulkner through a whole set of literary devices, among which symbolic images play a substantial role. To emphasize Miss Grierson’s belonging to the Pre-Civil War South, Faulkner surrounds her by objects that symbolize that past. The first and foremost symbol is the house she lives in: a large mansion situated in the once “most select street”, it is furnished with once fashionable objects that now start to decay (Faulkner 90).
This miserable decay prompts an idea that the whole bygone splendor was not due to the owners themselves, but due to the everyday slave labor which once eliminated left the house to sink into the past. Faulkner implies bitter irony to describe the pitiful state of the Griersons mansion, the only neighbors of which are now not the estates of same grandeur but simple “cotton wagons and gasoline pumps” indifferent to the majestic culture of the old society (Faulkner 90).
Enhancing this museum-like state of the Griersons mansion, Faulkner introduces images and symbols of the same past into the house. Representative of the Pre-Civil War epoch is the Negro butler who had worked for the Griersons throughout his life and left only with Miss Grierson’s death. The influence of Miss Grierson’s father, who had oppressed and dominated her when he was alive, did not recede with the time, as after his death (which she stubbornly refused to admit) his crayon portrait was one of the main focal points in the parlor.
This dominance and arrogant attitude of the Griersons towards the surrounding society (they had always “held themselves a little too high for what they really were “) can also be traced in the fact that Miss Grierson’s only suitor came from a society different than that of Jefferson and that the description of his ways quite coincides with the way the Griersons are portrayed in a picture: “his hat cocked and a cigar in his teeth, reins and whip in a yellow glove“ (Faulkner 93–94).
Miss Grierson’s conflict with the present unfolds itself through her interaction with the contemporary society. She demonstrates a total obsession with old-fashioned ideas and principles when she refuses to pay taxes, motivating it with permission obtained from Colonel Sartoris — a man long dead but still alive in Miss Grierson’s imagination (Faulkner 92).
She opposes and rejects new postal rules, refusing to put up a number and a post box on the front door of her mansion (Faulkner 94). Last but not least, she ignores the public opinion and has things her own way secretly poisoning her disloyal suitor and thus preserves the reality the way she wants to see it.
Desperately fighting for preservation of her bygone past, Mrs Emily “prefers rather to murder than to die” (Fetterley 57). Thus she reveals her helplessness in face of contemporary society which she can neither accept nor put up with. Her conservatism is her tragedy, since it leads to her misery and destructively influences everything and everybody that gets in Mrs Grierson’s way.
Works Cited
Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing (8th ed.). Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 90–96. Print.
Fetterley, Judith. “A Rose for “A Rose for Emily”.” William Faulkner: Critical Assessments (Vol. I). Ed. Henry Claridge. East Sussex: Helm Information Ltd, 1999. 50–58. Print.
William Faulkner is considered to be one of the most prolific writers and among the most influential ones for that matter in the last century in American Literature. His numerous contributions to the literary field were so immense and, as a result, he became a Nobel Laureate and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949.
His oeuvres range from novels to short stories and poems, and he has created a permanent spot in the history of American literature. A Rose for Emily is regarded as one of the most outstanding and the most controversial pieces of work. This story is full of captivating details which can make a short story really interesting for the reader and for the critics.
On the one hand, the vast majority of critics admit that it is not a true style that was preferred by William Faulkner. On the other hand, it is always interesting to develop various experiments and intrigue the audience with extremely captivating ideas. In fact, William Faulkner made a successful attempt to impress the reader: his A Rose for Emily is a unique collection of ideas and themes which are always interesting to read and evaluate.
In spite of the fact that a number of negative opinions were developed around the story, even negative criticism attracted people’s attention and prove how mature the writer could be in the chosen style. Some critics defined A Rose for Emily as a kind of exploitative story not inherent to Faulkner, still, they talked about it and made the author recognizable. People said that even really talented writers could become famous and gain desirable respect and recognition only after their deaths.
William Faulkner proved that popularity had a variety of sides, and he chose the one that made his famous during his life, and immortal after his death. A Rose for Emily is the story that is characterized by numerous critical opinions: readers found the story interesting, unusual, and educative; and critics tried to admit as many negative or weak points as possible and prove that the chosen style, relations between the characters, and even frequent use of flashbacks were not winning enough to introduce the most amazing work ever.
William Faulkner usually chose some unpredictable development of the events in order to impress the reader and in order to make critics notice his work. Some critics admit that this story was full of “history’s unwillingness to advance, evolve, or progress” (Aboul-Ela 18). During his life, Faulkner was able to get a number of various opinions and attitudes to his work, still, he was always confident of his abilities and writing style.
In general, the criticism that was developed during the time when the author was alive had more negative than positive nature, and it was hard to recognize a true interpretation of a story and unclear narration offered. So that “the critical cannon of A Rose for Emily has become as bloated as the character herself” (Farnoli, Golay, and Hamblin 243).
There were many different themes which have been criticized, and critics found it rather interesting to discover weak and strong points of the story: flashbacks which helped to understand that “aunt Emily was … a little different” (Faulkner and Robinette 10) seemed to be weak enough to explain the essence of the author’s message and the method of characterization seemed to be more strange.
Much attention was paid to the relations between Emily and her father which lead to the tragic end of the relations with Homer. It is always interesting to define who should be blamed for a human death, women’s tears, and pain that may be spread over many people around.
In fact, with the help of a critical overview, it was possible for the reader to comprehend a true genre of the shot story, and it was not a horror story but an educative lesson that proved ho blind people with their assumptions could be.
In spite of the fact that Faulkner was known during his life and a number of his works had been already recognized, not all readers were able to accept his new decision to introduce horrors. And some reader accepted A Rose for Emily not as “a ghost story at all but rather a story of a woman with a domineering father who grows old and dies in the small… town” (Marius and Anderson 5).
In my opinion, this particular story by William Faulkner is characterized by the opinions which could be hardly differentiated before and after his death. There are many supporters and opponents of his talent as they were during his life. It is not very difficult to define some powerful aspects of the story like an amazing flashback at the end of the story when Homer was discovered on Emily’s bed. This idea proved that the power of a woman is worth attention and recognition. Even now the relations between women and men are not similar to each other, and each story may have its own end either dramatic or happy.
This is why there are so many reasons to respect the achievements of the author and his ideas which are expressed through the story. A Rose for Emily seemed to be an immortal calling by Faulkner with the help of which he reminds the readers that each type of relations without considering whether it is developed at early times (like it was with Emily’s father) or when a person grows up (the relations with Homer) has its own consequences and may influence a lot of aspects which are so crucial for a human life.
The work was first published in 1930 in a copy of Forum, a magazine (Reuben). It was easily one of those short stories that featured most in many collections of short stories. It was a work that was not easy to interpret. This is why so many possible and plausible interpretations appeared within a short period of time. The story was popular at the time of its publication. “A Rose for Emily is by far the best-known, most reprinted, most widely read, and most discussed short story” (Towner and Carothers 63).
In general, the story A Rose for Emily introduced by William Faulkner at the beginning of the 20th century is a perfect lesson for people who live in modern world. Very often people are blind because of the opportunities offered and cannot define their own weaknesses. On the one hand, it is a terrible truth that has to be admitted and cannot be understood. And on the other hand, A Rose for Emily becomes more amazing and educative story that fulfils this life and helps to discover the essence of the life.
Works Cited
Aboul-Ela, Hosam. Other South: Faulkner, Coloniality, and the Mariategui Tradition. Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press, 2007. Print.
Fargnoli, Nicholas, Golay, Michael, and Hamblin, Robet. Critical Companion to William Faulkner: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2008. Print.
Faulkner, William and Robinette, Joseph. A Rose for Emily. Woodstock, IL: Dramatic Publishing, 1983. Print.
Marius, Richard and Anderson, Nancy. Reading Faulkner: Introductions to the First Thirteen Novels. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2006. Print.
Reuben, Paul P. “Chapter 7: William Faulkner.” PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. 2010. Web.
Towner, Theresa and Carothers, James. Reading Faulkner: Glossary and Commentary. Collected Stories. Mississippi: The University of Mississippi Press, 2006. Print.
Stylistic devices and themes can play the major role of a cornerstone upon which any literary work can be built on. This can help bring out the beauty that keeps the readers glued to the text and be the captivating component that puts the reader’s intellect on toes.
As shown by William Faulkner in his interesting short story A Rose for Emily, Faulkner greatly builds so many stylistic devices among them symbolism, imagery and even allegory to communicate his message to his readers. On the other hand he builds greatly on the theme of death and its impact on the main character Miss Emily Grierson (Faulkner 3). Just but to mention on point of narration, it is evident that it is not all about Emily but the whole town and its inhabitants.
One of the stylistic devices employed by Faulkner in the story A Rose for Emily is the use of the third person plural point of view of course through hearsay. The narrators use only the first person plurals “our” and “we”. The identity of the narrators can therefore be thought to be the average town’s people narrating the story in unison; all the accounts of the story are given from not an individual but rather a group.
For instance at the beginning of the story, the first sentence in the first paragraph says, “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to the funeral: 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 manservant – a combined gardener and cook – had seen in at least ten years (Faulkner 1)”.
This therefore signifies that Miss Emily was being watched by all the people and that most of her activities were being monitored by the town’s people.
Another stylistic device that is seen widely used in the story A Rose for Emily by Faulkner is symbolism among which is the position taken by Emily’s house in the story. There is more to it than meets the eye, because it is not just like any other four walled structure but all that goes on in there and the many evils that it shields from the people around the small town.
The town’s people see it as an eyesore because “…it has been dilapidated and that new buildings had come up leaving it lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps – an eyesore among eyesores” (Faulkner 12.)
This can be thought to signify how awkward it can be at times to close ones doors towards change and cling on to the old traditional activities ignoring the wind of change that sweeps across the world each passing day. It also symbolizes that a person’s outward character may be totally different from who he surely is in the inside. Her house could be seen from outside but the evils there in were best known to Emily until her death when they were opened to all and sundry.
The thematic concern brought out by Faulkner throughout the story is that of death, loss and isolation. There are the incidents of death starting with that of Emily’s father, Emily’s lover Homer and even Emily herself. When a person dies, it is thought that that person’s life comes to an end and ceases to exist physically, but emotionally the dead person remains in the lives of those living, therefore letting go.
On the contrary, Faulkner paints Miss Emily as one who emotionally and physically cannot be disentangled from her father and lover even at death (Faulkner 3), that is why she does not want to let off the bodies’ of the dead father and lover. Death therefore looms all through the story courtesy of the evilness of Emily.
One can therefore attribute Faulkner as a literary hero having applied the technicalities of literary devices in his work in the short story A Rose for Emily. The use of themes, and stylistic features used by Faulkner are of course useful in building the plot of the story all the way up to its climax. The point of narration as well as symbolism as a stylistic feature and the theme of death have helped in showing how beautiful and interesting a piece of fictional work can be when well structured and built (Meyers 48)
Works Cited
Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. London. Language Publication. 2009. Pp. 1 – 72.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. New York. St. Martins. 2010. 9th Edition. pp 48 – 520.
A Rose for Emily is an excellent example of the Southern Gothic genre. The Southern Gothic is a literal tradition that came into existence in the 20th century and became popular in European literature. The genre is rooted in mysterious secrets, supernatural events, frightening scenarios, and extreme character duress, which leaves the reader desensitized. The genre focuses on ridiculous and morbid features such as secret passages, draft castles, and laced cobwebs. The Southern Gothic genre explores the antisocial behaviors that confined against the social norms and hinged on the belief that daily life and these social customs were just imaginary. A Rose For Emily creates the theme of mental illness, murders, love-loss that ends up creating a frightening environment for the client, thus suits a Gothic Tale.
Firstly, A Rose for Emily illustrates the Southern Gothic genre through the townsfolks accessorizing Homer’s murder. After Emily’s father died, she isolated herself from society, and her house began to decay to smell awful. The judge sent some township men to clean the place, but instead, they sprinkled lime over the property. The township could have helped Emily and discarded the father’s body, but rather, they worried if she needed help (Sullivan 175). It is clear that the townspeople are fond of Emily and respect her. This aspect can be seen when she purchased the rat poison “So the next day we all said, “She will kill herself”; and we said it would be the best thing.” (Faulkner 6). They were in awe of her, but they harbored feelings of powerful aggression. The town did not want to associate with her, yet they cared for her, which pushed her to buy the arsenic to kill Homer Barron. Instead of doing the right thing, the town decided to cover the crime. Them turning a blind eye on Homer Barron’s death shows the element of the extreme character duress in the Southern Gothic genre.
Secondly, A Rose for Emily contains the theme of lost love, representing Southern Gothic stories. When Emily met Homer, a foreman, marriage was possible. Still, then issues of her social status arose, and it can be seen when the town murmured, “Of course, a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer… grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige” (Faulkner 5). Homer’s perspective on his love towards Emily was not accurate, but he spent time with her. However, it was said that Homer was gay and he liked men (Faulkner 6). Emily saw the relationship from a romantic perceptive, while Homer saw it as spiritual. It made Emily terrified of being alone as unrequited love is painful (Liu 198). It led her to purchase wedding items for her and Homer, invite him to dinner, and poison him with arsenic. Hence, A Rose for Emily portrays a romantic love skewed with dysfunctionality as described in the Southern Gothic stories.
Similarly, lost love is also portrayed between Emily and her father, just as Southern Gothic themes. Emily’s father controlled her life, making it almost impossible for her to interact with the town and also forbid her from a romantic relationship “We remembered all the young men her father had driven away” (Faulkner 4). There was a falling out between Emily’s father and the extended family due to property; hence she was only left with her father to teach her on love. He also took the role of protecting as seen in this text, “father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip” (Faulkner 4). Emily leaning on her father’s back portrayed more concern about his physical well-being and protecting her. After he died, Emily was utterly lost as she did not know how to love in a normal way. It explains her behavior of not having any trace of grief and why she would tell the town that her father was not dead for almost three days. The love of an overprotective father that forbids her to interact is an example of a Southern Gothic story.
In addition, Southern Gothic style is portrayed in A Rose for Emily through appropriation and transformation. The narrator transforms Emily’s innocence into a psychologically damaged spinster. At the beginning of the narration, Emily is used as a protagonist. She used to be the perfect young wealthy lady living with her father. Her privileged status causes her to be emotionally and physically isolated; she becomes erratic with characteristic behavior (Huang 205). At first, she denied the death of his father for approximately three days. The town sided with her, claiming “we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” (Faulkner 4). However, it was difficult for the town to explain how she slept and spent years with the corpse of Homer. Her erotic behavior is also seen when she is asked to pay her taxes by the Board of Abelderm. She gets mad, saying, “I have no taxes in Jefferson” (Faulkner 2). Even after being told that no public agreement excluded her from paying taxes, she continued denying it. Her mental instability is an example of a character in the Southern Gothic story.
Furthermore, Faulkner uses Southern Gothic elements throughout the stories. At first, the writer’s description of Emily’s house gives the reader the impression that it contains mysterious secrets (Xiaokang 95). He describes it as “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies” (Faulkner 1). Homer’s death took place in the same house, and his corpse was left there to rot. The story’s setting shows it was created in the Southern Gothic period. Emily was the last bloodline of his family that had stayed in that town for generations. The tax collectors went door to door collecting taxes which made him a southern gothic. Such scenes and creating a mysterious atmosphere throughout the story illustrate that A Rose for Emily was a Southern Gothic story.
The story illustrates Southern Gothic literature through slavery, racism, and oppressive patriarchal forces. Southern Gothic still idolized racism and slavery despite its abolition, where black Americans were still viewed as a class of servants. It is first portrayed by Colonel Santos stating that ” the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron-remitted her taxes” (Faulkner 1). He is racist as he favorably removes Emily from the obligation of paying taxes and makes up a story that his father had loaned the town some money. The book’s setting reflected the slavery element based on Tobe’s treatment. The narration describes Tobe as a negro which denotes racism in the Sothern Gothic era. The author supports this when he says, “They were admitted by the old Negro…The Negro led them into the parlor” (Faulkner 1). We see him being released from his duties after Emily. Tobe had grown old over the years. He was the only life seen on Emily’s property as he could facilitate errands from the market since the death of Emily’s father until he was of grey hair (Xiaokang 94). When Emily died, Tobe disappeared once the victors started arriving. “He walked right through the house and out the back and was not seen again (Faulkner 8). He was released from his slavery duties, an element of the Southern Gothic stories.
In conclusion, A Rose for Emily is an excellent example of the Southern Gothic genre. It can be seen from the various Southern Gothic elements presented in the story such as theme of mental illness, death, and love-loss. A Rose for Emily illustrates the Southern Gothic genre by reating it to Homer’s murder. A Rose for Emily portrays a romantic love skewed with dysfunctionality as described in the Southern Gothic stories. Emily’s father controlled her life, making it almost impossible for her to interact with the town and also forbid her from a romantic relationship. It also contains elements that hint the Gothic nature, such as the house description, Emily’s character, the poison she acquired, and Emily living in a crumbling house alone. From the beginning of the story, it generally creates a frightening environment for the reader, vital to Gothic tales. All these elements make Faulkner’s work a Southern Gothic tale.
Liu, Fuhua. “An Analysis of William Faulkner’s” A Rose for Emily” in the Perspective of Aristotle’s Definition on Tragedy.” International Journal of Social Science and Education Research vol. 3, no. 2, 2020, pp. 197-199.
Xiaokang, Wang. “Narratological and Stylistic Analysis of Point of View in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” Culture, vol. 6, no. 3, 2021, pp. 91-96. Web.
William Faulkner’s writing in three short stories (‘A Rose for Emily’, ‘Barn burning’, and ‘As l lay dying’) is highly emotional, complex, gothic and has an unconventional choice of narrators. These attributes denote two literary elements and they are: language and style. One can analyze those two elements in order to understand William Faulkner’s voice.
How Faulkner uses language and style in ‘A Rose for Emily’, ‘Barn burning’ and ‘As I lay dying’
Emotional and poetic language
Faulkner has the ability to be intensely emotional in most of his pieces without really sacrificing the story line or the strengths of his characters. In ‘Barn burning’, the author evokes emotions by compressing deep meaning in just a few lines. In one scenario, Sarty says ‘Father! Father!’ (Faulkner, As I lay dying 14)These might seem like simple words, but they are packed with meaning. The reader is able to feel a sense of loss, sadness, and a hint of relief as the speaker makes this statement. The author allows his phrases to possess some level of ambiguity in order to give his readers room to interpret or create their own meaning. In ‘As I lay dying’, the author uses one of his characters to convey literary or poetic language. Darl is extremely articulate and his language is quite innovative.
Gothic style
Faulkner has the ability to bring out elements of death, decay, destruction, isolation and darkness in a unique way. This component in his writings caused him to stand out from his contemporaries. In ‘A rose for Emily’, Faulkner creates an image of a woman who clearly does not belong to her world. She refuses to leave her house for years on end; she stops talking to everyone, has an affair with a disapproved male, and finally murders her lover.
Here was a woman who was trapped in the past, and had alienated herself from life. Emily had a lush and beautiful environment outside her house; she never bothered to look at it. She chose to live in darkness, both literally and metaphorically as she never drew her curtains. This depiction of deep darkness was something that Faulkner always focused on; it added a gothic element to his writings and made it distinctive.
In ‘As I lay dying’, the author selects a relatively poor family- the Bundrens. Although the group is ignorant and has a series of other weaknesses, the author still conveys their experiences with empathy and grace. The setting of the community in which the Bundrens live has an element of grotesqueness because it focuses on members of the lower class.
The death of Addie is also one of the dark and disturbing components of the narration. Additionally, Faulkner describes the destruction of Darl in such a tragic and dignified manner. One cannot help but feel the same devastation that surrounded that development. The gothic style in this narrative is therefore reflective of the author’s preference for dark tales.
In ‘Barn burning’, the author’s preference for the bizarre is seen through his choice of characters. This is a dysfunctional family whose head has a need to burn houses. He causes his children to participate in his wrongdoings by instructing them to help him out with a few things.
It only gets worse for Sarty when the Major chooses to kill his father before he can destroy his barn. Eventually, the young boy keeps running until midnight, when he stops to sit at the crest of a hill. This must be a dark moment in Sarty’s life because he did not have a father anymore, yet he also ran away from people who love him. These are all depressing issues that cause the reader to empathize deeply with Sarty.
Complex style
Faulkner had a complex style of writing owing to his treated of time, his use of long sentences and unconventional sentence structure, his preference for ambiguity, and his use of stream of unconsciousness.
One of the most interesting component’s of Faulkner’s style of writing was his complicated treatment of time. He achieves this by changing from narrator to narrator and from character to character. The lack of chronology in his pieces is the reason why some unseasoned readers find his work difficult to follow. In ‘A rose for Emily’, the story commences with the main character’s death. This is followed by many events that occurred in the modern age to the period just before the Civil war in the South.
The present is sometimes interrupted by events in the past and the past sometimes appears to be the present. One is able to deduce this interweaving of events through phrases such as: ‘thirty years before’ or ‘eight years later’ (Faulkner, A rose for Emily 17). It is almost as if Faulkner is giving his audience little pieces of a puzzle that must be put together in order to understand the whole narration.
The time movements have been achieved through the use of flashbacks and foreshadows. The end of the story illustrates that the entire piece has been a flashback since it talks about the discovery of the corpse of Homer in Emily’s house. Faulkner did not just choose this non linear approach in order to make his work interesting or to confuse readers; he did it in order to make his readers engage more with the text.
As one goes through the story, one is likely to be inspired to compare chronologies with other people so as to detect any possible misreading. In these discussions, one can then analyze the thematic repercussions of those chronologies. This unconventional style has a way of making readers more engrained in the narration, and hence more likely to admire his work.
The same thing occurs in ‘As I lay dying.’ Although the story spans through a couple of days, the author utilizes the perspectives of several voices in order to bring in a different dimension to the story. Faulkner manages to create a sense of wholeness despite the fragmentary nature of the story. The various sub plots that are added from time to time seem to add more strength to the story. The ambiguity of the narrators requires meticulous analysis of their descriptions because not all of them are credible.
Complexity is also created in ‘Barn burning through the use of long sentences. This method has also been employed in ‘As I lay dying’. The long sentences can make it difficult to follow the narrative, if one does not pay close attention 9Faulkner, as I lay dying 65). He is fond of this style of writing because he wants to capture the action and emotions that his characters are going through.
When Sarty starts chasing after de Spain, the author describes this experience using very lengthy sentences. As one reads them, one gets lost in the events of the moment. One can feel the confusion and sense of loss that Sarty is going through using this technique. Faulkner therefore achieves his objective by causing readers to get carried away. Since there is no slowing down in the sentences, there is also no slowing down with the actions being described.
Unconventional choice of narrators as an element of style
In ‘A rose for Emily’, the writer uses the town as the main voice in the short story. As the story continues, one learns about the habits and values of the people in Emily’s hometown. This narrator does not pre-empt anything in the short story. He seems to discover new things along with the audience.
For instance, in one scenario, the narrator states that there was an awful smell from Emily’s house, and adds that it occurred as soon as her sweetheart died. He does not provide any correlation between these two components of the tale. It is only until the end of the story that the reader is able to know where the smell came from. The narrator, provides additional information, but still strives to maintain suspense in the story.
In ‘Barn burning’, the author picks an omniscient narrator who seems very close to Sarty. The purpose of selecting such a voice was to make the main character get closer to readers. At one point, one feels as though one has entered Sarty’s mind. Since he is someone who understands things through symbols, the writer presented or explained things through such a perspective.
For example, when Sarty went to court, he describes the crowd as having ‘a lane of grim faces’. Numerous metaphors have been used, that relate to a child’s perspective. In another instance, he describes his father’s voice as being harsh as tin and lacking heat as tin. However, the author manages to illustrate that Sarty was not in fact the real narrator when Sarty and his family are out camping and his father makes a small fire.
It is noted that Abner does not hesitate to create large fires when burning other people’s barns. The narrator muses that had Sarty been older, he would have asked himself why this was the case. The author therefore plays with reader’s minds by providing more than one possibility for the narration. This kind of style was fundamental in providing essential details to the story while providing a mechanism for understanding the main character’s actions.
Perhaps the most complicated choice of narrators occurred when the author wrote ‘As I lay dying’; there are fifteen narrators in the story and each of the descriptions is highly subjective. Each narrator has his own kind of language and tone. Some of the narrators re confessional and seemingly neutral, but they end up loosing credibility later on.
For instance, one of the first ones –Darl – is an immensely articulate individual who seems to know what he is talking about. However, he is treated negatively by his family members who eventually take him to an asylum when he goes mad. To Faulkner, truth is debatable and depends upon the individual under consideration. The purpose for choosing such a complex interplay of narrators was to create a platform for adding more information to the story.
Instead of depending upon one individual to describe everything, the author decides to use both real and interior monologues that the characters have with themselves and others in order to concretize the story. Objectivity is evasive in ‘As I lay dying’, and this causes readers to think a little bit more intensively about the developments in the story (Blotner 44).
Stream of consciousness is also an important part of Faulkner’s complex writing. In ‘As I lay dying’, a number of narrators think about the death of the main character and they do this through continuous internal reflections. The same thing occurs in ‘Barn burning’. Sarty often describes his experiences as if they are flowing right out of his mind. For example, when his father walks in, he first describes what his father is wearing before he realizes that his father is in the house.
Conclusion
Faulkner was unsparing in his pieces; his words, plot and descriptions were intense and bold. His choice of characters and the lives they lived has grotesque or gothic inclinations. This author’s work was complex because of his sentence structures, his preference for ambiguity and his treatment of time. Lastly, the author’s choice of narrators was unconventional, but meaningful. Together, these components make Faulkner’s language and style exceptional in the literary world.
Works Cited
Blotner, Joseph. Faulkner: A biography. NY: Random House, 1984
Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying: The corrected text. NY: Vintage publishers, 1991. Print
Faulkner, William. A rose for Emily. NY: Dramatic publishing, 1983. Print.
Faulkner, William. Barn burning. NY: Harper and brothers, 1939. Print.
A rose for Emily and Paul’s case both convey stories of protagonists who were discontented with their lives and chose to defy society as a result of that discontentment. In ‘A rose for Emily’, the main character – Emily Grierson was born into a rich lineage and was a socialite. However, instead of embracing the aristocratic lifestyle, Emily chose to carve out her own identity and to pursue happiness based on what she wanted rather than what society dictated. This was the reason why she had a scandalous affair with a Yankee (Homer Barron) and did not care when the townspeople spoke against her relationship. Similarly, in “Paul’s case”, Paul – the protagonist – was also dissatisfied with his existence. He felt that there was more to life than what his hometown could offer him; a fact that prompted him to steal money from his employer and escape to New York (Faulkner, p. 44).
Comparison
A boy of Paul’s age was expected to attend school and obey authority. However, the Opera excited Paul more than class attendance and this caused him to behave inappropriately towards his teachers. The school’s teachers are very judgmental of Paul’s actions and the same can be said of Emily as well. Both characters suffer from a yearning for greater things. This caused them to defy the status quo in pursuit of greater fulfillment
Another similarity between these two characters is that both of them grew up in dysfunctional homes where they were never really understood. Emily had a strict father who sent away potential suitors claiming that none of them were good enough for his daughter. It can be argued that this overprotectiveness is what led her to her predicaments later on in life. Emily was very naïve about relationships; a reason why she jumped at the slightest sign of interest from a man after her father’s death. There were gaps in her upbringing and this is what may have led to her clinginess and even to murder. Correspondingly, Paul also grew up in a household where he was rarely understood. His father, who was the only living parent, did not care much for Paul’s restlessness. His sisters’ interest in what the middle-class lifestyle had to offer further made him alienated. No single individual bothered to get to the root of the problem and this may have led to his escape and subsequent suicide. One can see that in both stories, Emily and Paul were victims of circumstance. They were acting out against the stringent rules they grew up in.
These two stories also teach an important lesson – that an overly conservative society can be destructive. Emily lived in a white Southern society that placed stringent expectations upon women even when their experiences contravened those expectations (Cather, p. 15). Emily desperately wanted to be loved but society’s reverence for her could not permit her to access this love. Consequently, when she finally got a chance at love, she wanted to hold on to it eternally; a reason why she preferred ending Homer’s life over letting him go. The tragic end in this story illustrates that too much tradition causes individuals to look for extreme outlets. Likewise, Paul also came from a conservative society. He could not imagine going back to a mediocre existence after reading that his father had refunded the stolen money and was coming to New York to get him. Paul chose death as the only alternative to escaping his past life and the conservativeness that surrounded it.
Conclusion
Paul and Emily appear detached from reality. They both committed tragic acts i.e. murder and suicide respectively with the hope that they could somehow make their situations better. Emily wanted to make Homer her lover permanently and she thought that the only way to do so was by killing him. This was an unrealistic conception of love. Paul on the other hand believed that money was the solution to everything. His perception of what this could do for him was quite distorted and this is what led to his demise. (Faulkner, p. 23)
Works Cited
Cather, Willa. Paul’s Case. Mc Clure’s Magazine, 1906 Web.