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Examples Of Illusions In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

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What is an illusion? An illusion is something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality. Illusions are very common, we believe in something that is not really there. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” he implies that there is no relationship between the townspeople and Miss Emily through Miss Emily’s secluded life, the townspeople talking about her and the reason people attended her funeral. The relationship was nothing but an illusion.
The relationship that appeared to be between Miss Emily and the townspeople was not really there which was a result of many things. Miss Emily lived a very secluded life because of many harsh experiences which affected her relationship with the town. An example would be, “after …show more content…

Eventually Homer was believed to have left. Miss Emily wouldn’t go to town herself as a result, instead she would send her servant. She was suffering and shut herself off from the rest of the town, and no one seemed to care. She began to live a life of solitude. After everything happened to Miss Emily people began to pity her and talk about her. For instance, “as soon as the old people said, ‘Poor Emily,’the whispering began.”(Faulkner 3) The townspeople said this without actually caring, it simply made them feel better about themselves. Another example would be when Miss Emily went to buy poison and the town’s reaction was less than concerned. “The next day we all said, ‘She will kill herself”; and we said it would be the best thing.”(Faulkner 3) The town would not have blinked an eye if Miss Emily would have killed herself, they were expecting it. They were all tired of feeling sorry for Miss Emily and the women of the town really only liked to talk about her. When Miss Emily passed away the town was not aware that she was ill and their reasons for attending the funeral emphasized the lack of a relationship with Miss Emily. “A Rose for Emily”, begins by

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Homer’s body was kept in that upstairs room for over fifty years. After losing her father, Emily did not want to lose the only other male figured she had in her life. Emily thought the only way of keeping him with her for the rest of her life was by death and keeping his

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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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"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner is a short story that uses foreshadowing, symbolism, and irony. He uses the foreshadowing to hint at the story's shocking ending. Throughout the short story, Faulkner drops subtle hints that something is not quite right with Emily and her relationship with the town. For example, the descriptions of Emily's house and her mysterious behavior suggest that she is hiding something. Emily asks, "What's the best you have" in reference to poison, then later it says that Homer Barron disappeared never to be seen again, leading us to assume she poisoned him.

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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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The loss of both her father and husband however would leave the most tragic imprint on her. In Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” he utilizes symbolism and foreshadowing to reveal the dark rabbit hole Emily would go down from the loss of both her father and lover; how she cannot accept their loss of them

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Miss Emily was an aging old lady that took creepy to a whole new level. In the story, "A Rose for Emily", a lonely old lady went to extreme and murdered a man because she was so desperate for company, even if the person was lifeless. Throughout the story, Faulkner used extreme sensory detail, elements of setting, and structure of plot to create suspense. During the story, Faulkner used excessive sensory detail to make the story mysterious. He says Miss Emily was always dressed in black.

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Emily lies about the fact her father has died “for about three days” until finally “she broke down, and they buried her father quickly” (Faulkner 325). Emily had trouble with losing someone she loved dearly, therefore keeping the body of her father seem reasonable. The reader can be influenced by the town rumors about how she is going to kill herself with the rat poisoning but that is not the case. Now as the reader continues reading another clue is revealed when “Homer himself had remarked-he liked men” and “he was not a marrying man” (326). Emily loves Homer and cannot afford to be without him.

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In many situations, the people within the town notice Miss Emily’s odd behavior, but they choose to maintain peace with her instead of helping her when she clearly needs it the most. However, this need to preserve the respectful image of Miss Emily ultimately leads to her emotional breakdown of isolation and

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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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Miss Emily did not associate with the town leaving imaginations to grow wild when she started to openly show interest in and socialize with

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Miss Emily also once again locked herself away in her home, everyone in the town believing them to have broken up. Several believed this was her way of coping. Emily once again stayed within her home in a sense still behaving as if her father was still their controlling her.

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In ‘A Rose for Emily’ by William Faulkner, he tells part of the story from the point of view of the townspeople to give a feel for what people think about Emily and her life rather than from a standard third person point of view. William Faulkner uses this point of view to illustrate how people in small towns act. “So the NEXT day we all said, ‘She will kill herself’; and we said it would be the best thing” (Faulkner 6). William Faulkner illustrates that the people of the town have their own opinion about Emily and have made a prediction on her situation. They believe that she will commit suicide, and they think it will be for the better.

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There was an indention of Emily head on the pillow with her beside him. This showed that she wanted to still be with him, though she didn’t want anything to change. Emily kept Homer’s body hidden inside her home without anybody from the town noticing. She bought the bathroom set and clothes for him to make it seem like they had married. The town believed that they had either married or Homer deserted her.

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Emily is judged for loving a man who is less fortunate than her . In the following line the townspeople’s reactions to their relationship is obvious, “’Poor Emily’, the whispering began. ‘Do you suppose it’s really so?’ they said to one another” (102). The townspeople did not to much care for the relationship between the two because of the barriers set up by social class saying poor date the poor and rich date the rich.

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If there was a missing person now, the people in the town would have been more suspicious and notified the police. The authorities would have questioned Miss Emily about Homer’s disappearance and searched her house since that is where he was last seen. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, it is important to have knowledge of the background history. In order to understand whats happening in the story and why Miss Emily acts the way she does someone must understand why she thinks she is above everyone in the first place.

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