How Does Faulkner Uphold His Standards Of Good Fiction

1100 Words5 Pages

A Rose for Fiction (Does Faulkner uphold his standards of what good fiction should be through A Rose for Emily?) William Faulkner was a brilliant writer who never finished high school. He wrote several works before he was critically acclaimed. He was finally recognized for his bold novels - that addressed the subjects of southern families after the Civil War and racism - in the year 1948 when he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. In the speech he delivers when he accepts his award he makes a statement of what he believes makes a good fiction story. Faulkner's goal as an author is " to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been …show more content…

When her father was alive he denied every suitor that chased his daughter. He forced her to remain single into her thirties. Even after her father's death she does not have luck with love until Homer Barron comes to town. He is the foreman of a construction project. They spend a lot of time together and the town believes they will marry. However, after some time they no longer see Homer around and believes he has deserted Emily. In the end it is revealed that to preserve their forbidden love, as desired by the town due to their notion that she should remain single. "A rose for Miss Emily? A tribute to her, who kills not to be deserted, who clings to those who rob her of that which she has not, who shuts herself off from the world with a dead lover and lets the mad, mad world go by outside." (Skei) Being denied that which she so desperately desires does not make Emily hesitant to get what she wants despite all opposition. To cure her loneliness in the only way possible, Emily kills her lover to ensure he will always stay with her. Through this act Faulkner portrays an obsessive love and the strength of