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A Rose For Emily Character Analysis

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Can a character that only appears briefly or not at all affect the function of other characters? In the novel “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, Homer and Emily’s father are both significant presences and they impact the conflict, theme, and development of other characters throughout the story significantly. In the novel, Emily suffers from being lonesome after her father dies leaving her with nothing. Her taxes were remitted because of the death of her father, but soon after there was a new mayor in town that requested Emily’s payment of taxes constantly. Emily would isolate herself from the world that went on around her by never leaving her run down home. Having been suppressed by her father for the majority of her young adulthood, she desperately wants a lifelong partner. As she begins to be interested in a soul mate she is noticed one Sunday morning in a yellow wheeled buggy driving with Homer Barron (Faulkner822). “Poor Emily. Her kinsfolk should come to her” (Faulkner822). This quote is stated by the towns’ people showing their sorrow for Emily; she has downgraded to a laborer who is far from her higher social class. …show more content…

It is shown that as the town progresses throughout the years her house is from the past decades. As weeks went by people started to notice the wrenching smell coming from Emily’s house. When a young man suggests to confront Emily about the smell Judge Stevens said, ““would you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?””(Faulkner820). This is showing how the generations have changed by lacking respect and chivalry

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Mr. Grierson, Emily’s father, prohibited her from socializing with men because, in Mr. Grierson’s eyes, there was no man suitable for Emily. After being tired of being alone for so long, Emily decided to date Homer Barron. Homer Barron was a Northerner and worked as a foreman for a construction company. The older folks of the town were excited for Emily, there was even talk about marriage between the couple. However, the younger crowd did not believe Homer was that of Ms. Griersons high status.

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Miss Emily comes from an old wealthy line of family in the deep south. Faulkner story is highly symbolic, enhancing miss Emily’s values and character. “Miss Emily is described as a fallen monument to the chivalric American South”(Allmon). Faulkner uses the setting of the story to show the emotional state of Emily. The female-male relationship between Emily and her father is strict, oppressive, and controlling; Their relationship has a major impact on Emily’s character Throughout the short story.

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Not only that, as Homer becomes a popular figure in town and is seen taking Emily on buggy rides on Sunday afternoons, it scandalizes the town and increases the condescension and pity they have for Emily. They feel that she is forgetting her family pride and becoming involved with a man beneath her station. Even though Emily is from the high class family, it does not mean that she is living up to the pleasant lifestyle. As a matter of fact, she is actually living a gloomy and desolate life, which is essentially the opposite lifestyle expected for Emily's rank in society by the townspeople. Although Emily once represented a great southern tradition centering on the landed gentry with their vast holdings and considerable resources, Emily's legacy has devolved, making her more a duty and an obligation than a romanticized vestige of a dying order.

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It is clear that in her era, Miss Emily was seen as traditional American Southern women, who lived to become an inferior women to man but was later a burden to her society. She was a lady who was secluded from society, lived a psychopathic life, which at the end, and was no secret for the town’s people. While Miss Emily was alive, she lived in a secluded home of a single father, thus leading her to be dependent upon him. She did not have much of a socially engaged life, for her father drove men away. When he finally died, Miss Emily told the townspeople that he was not dead, and finally, on the third day, let the town’s people buried him (William Faulkner 1105).

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People who are rich enough to donate money to relief poorer countries, shouldn’t find it necessary to donate money. An Individual is entitled to every decision he or she makes with there money. There are enough issues in every country and that every individual faces on a daily basis, that justifies someone not donating money. In no way do you need to donate money, but if you are, it is necessary to address the big and small issues regarding your own family, town, or country first.

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Throughout the story, the main character, Miss Emily Grierson, shows signs of what appears to be some form of mental illness. Although Faulkner never states that Miss Emily has anything wrong with her mental health, he does provide enough evidence to support that she is not psychologically stable. In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner portrays the main character as a mysterious icon of the small town of Jefferson, Mississippi. As the story states, Emily’s father is an admirable figure in the city of Jefferson. After his passing, the townspeople show the same respect for Emily, as well.

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Another opponent to this idea comes from the article In Search of Dead Time: Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’ that claims that, Emily … comes off as a ghost that haunts still…” (Harris 174). Many critics believe the narrator is not a human and that the narrator is a ghost of Emily telling her life in a different dimension. The author also believes that “the narrative is on one level written as a chronicle of Emily’s life: it opens with the phrase “when miss Emily Grierson died” …” (Harris 172).

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To compare, Faulkner shares a slice of evidence as to why Emily has an uncontrollable obsession for the dead, “After her father 's death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all.” (Faulkner) Given these points, her father becomes arrogant and isolates her from society, or anyone who is willing to take Miss Emily from him. When her father, the only man in the world who has loved her,

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A literary analysis on who is the narrator: The Narrator in A Rose for Emily is First Person Plural There is a mystery that seems to be unsolved throughout the years. Many important and influential literature critics have tried to discover who is the narrator in A Rose for Emily. After an extensive period of research, the mystery of who the narrator is has been solved. There are different points of view and information collected by the main narrator.

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In his short story, “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner intends to convey a message to his audience about the unwillingness in human nature to accept change and more specifically the secretive tendencies of aristocrats in the South during the early 20th century. In order to do this, Faulkner sets up a story in which he isolates and old aristocratic woman, Miss Emily, from her fellow townspeople and proceeds to juxtapose her lifestyle with theirs. In doing this he demonstrates her stubborn refusal to change along with the town, but also Among several literary devices the author employs to achieve this contrast, Faulkner sets up his narrator as a seemingly reliable, impartial and knowledgeable member of the community in which Miss Emily lives by using a first person plural, partially omniscient point of view. The narrator is present for all of the scenes that take place in the story, but does not play any role in the events, and speaks for the town as a whole. Faulkner immediately sets up his narrator as a member of the community in the first line of the story, saying that when Miss Emily died “our whole town went to her funeral.”

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742 Words | 3 Pages

The town has covered Emily since her youth; the duty they share remains even as time passes. The townspeople thought of Emily as a “tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation” (Faulkner 454). Protecting Emily’s

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When Emily’s father dies and shortly after Homer’s disappearance follows, we see a depressed and a lonely Emily who never leaves the

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Analysis of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is the best short story because its plot, setting, and symbols are well formulated and incorporated into the story to effectively convey the themes of death and change, race and gender. A Rose for Emily is a short story regarding the life of Emily Grierson as told through the perspectives of the townspeople in a tiny old town in the South. The story begins with the awkward relationship between Emily and her dad, pre and posts his death, and further explores how Emily gets secluded after poisoning her “Yankee” partner Homer Barron and concealing his remains for more than a decade in her bed. William Faulkner exploits various literary devices to create various themes.

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Emily Grierson is from the story "A Rose for Emily"and is the main character. In a story, you usually have a protagonist which is the hero or main character of the story and also an antagonist which is pretty much the bad guy. Well in "A Rose for Emily," she is both protagonist and antagonist. Emily is qualified to be the antagonist because she murdered Homer Barron. Murder is quite a big deal and would definitely go under as being the bad guy.

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793 Words | 4 Pages

This type of dependency, can affect someone’s mental state. After his death, she has a rather difficult time coming to terms with his demise, refusing to believe that one person she connected to most, was gone. This continued for three days, and while the community saw her denial of her father’s death as a normal part of the grieving process, it certainly was something deeper than what it was. After she finally accepts her father’s passing, she meets a Northern laborer who comes into town as a contractor, Homer Barron. Normally, someone of Emily’s status wouldn’t normally associate

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