Scissorhands By Tim Burton And A Rose For Emily By William Faulkner

Social Isolation is a state of aloneness in which people are cut off from others physically or emotionally. This topic is a common theme in gothic literature. It’s shown in the film Edward Scissorhands by Tim Burton and in the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. Edward Scissorhands is about a man that was created who had scissors for hands. He was brought out of his home into the town where he was completely different from all of the “normal” people that lived there. “A Rose for Emily” is about Emily who all the townspeople were interested in only because they didn’t know what she was like. She stayed secluded from the town and when she died everyone was curious. Both characters lived in social isolation as they were put away

Although gothic fiction was popularized a few centuries ago, its common themes are still important today. Social Isolation is still an idea that occurs now more than ever.

Tim Burton’s film shows the theme of social isolation through the character, Edward Scissorhands, being affected by other people’s actions and through his surroundings. At the start of the film, all of the townspeople loved Edward at the start because they were curious about him. They had him cut their hedges, dogs, and hairs. However, when they realized they had found something undesirable, they threw him away (Burton). This evidence supports the topic sentence as the townspeople’s actions reflected their ideas that Edward only mattered to them because of his blades. He was helping everyone, almost forcingly by the people, but due to his kind nature, he went along with it. Edward was being integrated into society but was still isolated emotionally as no one cared about what he thought. But when he was framed by the people for breaking into a house, they all hated him.

One day someone came to collect Miss Emily’s taxes and “knocked at the door which no visitor had passed since…eight or ten years earlier” (Faulkner 2). Miss Emily became socially isolated physically when she stayed in her home devoid of all outside contact. She had been away from other people for almost a decade and due to these conditions, the surroundings caused her to become isolated. Miss Emily’s surroundings were close to Edward’s in that they lived in houses apart from society and how they never left. Both further proved what one’s surroundings do to affect a person. However, it’s not only surroundings but also actions as “when [Emily] got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated” (Faulkner 4). The people themselves feel like it's their actions fault for Miss Emily’s social isolation. The quote says how they were “vindicated” which means that they think they were at clear blame for what had happened to her. For her whole life, everyone had thought of her only through her family, a Grierson, and didn’t think about her. This led to her being socially isolated emotionally all due to other’s actions towards her. She was shunned by society and would stay in her house for the rest of her life which caused the surroundings she had to live