Racism, Social Class Issues, and Stereotypical Gender Roles: An Analysis of “A Rose for Emily” and “Dry September” William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and “Dry September” exhibits social class issues and the stereotypical gender roles that prevailed in the South during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. “A Rose for Emily” is about the life of an upper class woman, Miss Emily Grierson. When Emily’s father passed away, the town became concerned with how she was going to carry on. Emily managed to remain in her house and was usually the talk of the town. Coming from a mighty and rich white family, she had a servant, a black young man by the name of Tobe. The town was also very quick to judge her when she decided to pursue someone of a lower class than herself. “Dry September” exploits the racism abiding in the South in the mid-nineteenth century. When Miss Minnie Cooper accuses Will Mayes of rape, the white men in the town decide to condemn Mayes in order to prove their belief that blacks are inferior to whites. Racism is apparent when Tobe was dehumanized by the townspeople because he was referred to as either “that nigger of hers” (222) or “that negro” (222). Only Miss Emily referred to him …show more content…
She had an obligation to behave honorably but instead she went out of her social class and fell in love with “Yankee construction foreman” (123). One critic, Alice Robertson, analyzes “A Rose for Emily.” She argues that Emily's life is dictated by the rigid gender structure of the south. Emily wanted to become a woman of the changing post-civil war south, but was held down by her father. An upper-class young woman who only wanted to fulfill her culturally prescribed maternal and familial destiny as wife/mother but was denied the fulfillment by circumstances she was too weak to overcome. Indeed, the villain…. Emily’s father