Flannery O Connor A Rose For Emily Analysis

American author Flannery O’Connor stated in her essay that “[t]he form of a story gives it meaning which any other form would change.” Gothic writer William Faulkner wrote the story “A Rose for Emily” in five parts not in chronological order so that the reader is engaged throughout the entire story. By using this format, he is able to get across his intentions of Emily to the reader, that she is crazy; however, she is worthy of the town’s care and affection. In Part I, the story opens with Emily’s funeral and all of the town attending. Though, Emily’s death is not what the author wants the reader to focus on, instead, he attempts to get across the image of her house, an old house that “had once been white” and had no one other than a servant has entered the inside for around ten years. On line 18, the author states that Emily’s house is “an eyesore among eyesores.” Gothic literature focuses on the potential evil and uses settings of dark, eerie, and in this case, Emily’s “decay[ing]” house. Nonetheless, it is stated that even with an eyesore of a house, while Emily was alive, she was considered a “tradition, a duty, and a care.” This leads the reader to be curious and caring towards her just as the old generation was; however, when

The reader becomes engaged throughout the entire story and understands his intentioned meaning of Miss Emily, that she is crazy, yet the town shows her care since they understand why she is the way she is. Within Part II Faulkner includes a crucial line stating, that her father drives all the men away and when Emily knows that she has nothing left, “she [will] have to cling to that which had robbed her.” This helps the reader to understand why Emily killed Homer, so that they could be together since she was robbed of love by her father. By having no love, Emily lost the hope of ever marrying and became a complete replica of her