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Faulkner’s bio and “A Rose for Emily”
Faulkner’s bio and “A Rose for Emily”
Literary analysis a rose for emily
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Recommended: Faulkner’s bio and “A Rose for Emily”
The city of Jefferson, Mississippi in A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is an allusion to the American South from the Post-Antebellum Era to the Gilded Age. The Antebellum Era began after the War of 1812 and ended before the Civil War started, and the Gilded Age began after Civil War. As the Civil War reached an end, there was a new need for jobs and income, so there had to be Industrial Growth in the United States. A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is an excellent example of the beginning of the transitions from two different eras. A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner enables the theme of Post-Civil War reconstruction from the setting.
In "A Rose For Emily" William Faulkner discusses the theme of isolation. In the story there is a lady whose name is Emily, who lost her father. Emily 's father was over protective and strict. A foreman named Homer Barron had a relationship with Emily later on after her father died. One day Homer goes to Emily 's house and the town never sees him come out.
The quote “only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores” (1) shows that her house was the last one standing in the neighborhood as if it were the last of a dying breed. Faulkner is trying to show that she was one of the final pillars left from the prewar South. Just as described above it was an “eyesore” in the literal view and conscious of the town, they no longer wanted to have their community’s reputation tarnished with the bloody stain of what the South once stood for. Miss Emily’s house staying the way it was and never changing relates to the mentality many had after the war and their stubborn attitudes towards Reconstruction. The town wanted to move on from the war and not to have the constant reminder of a darker time that Emily and her house symbolized.
“A Rose for Emily” is a dark, suspenseful Gothic tale in which a young girl is put on a pedestal by a town who sees her as haughty and scornful. Miss Emily Grierson’s father controls her and her love life, pushing away all people until he dies and Emily is left alone. As her life goes on the townspeople watch her and judge Emily, almost turning her life into a spectacle to be talked about. At her death, a gruesome sight is unfolded when her lover of over forty years ago is found decomposed in her upstairs room. William Faulkner effectively builds epic suspense in “A Rose for Emily” by the unchronological order of the story, the treatment of Emily’s father towards her, and her family’s history of mental illness.
Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers in American literature usually and southern literature specifically. His first published Story “A rose for Emily”, is one of the most famous that an American has written. Faulkner captured Southern Gothic in this short story by giving the story a moody and forbidding atmosphere. “A Rose for Emily” depicts southern gothic literature through the characters, the setting, and the mysteries and secrets.
A Rose for Emily William Faulkner was an American writer and Nobel prize laureate from Oxford Mississippi. Faulkner wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays. He had assorted styles of writings. He is one of the most celebrated writers in American literature generally and Southern literature specifically.
Even the narrator’s often disjointed accounts of the past all push towards a fond remembrance and need without a want in today’s society. “an eyesore among eyesores” Miss Emily’s house was called, that was to show that even with its cobwebs and peeling paint this building stood as a testament to an age long gone, a
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” critiques the American South Describing Emily’s vibrant life full of hope and buoyancy, later shrouded into the profound mystery, Faulkner emphasizes her denial to accept the concept of death. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” takes place in the South during the transitional time period from the racial discrimination to the core political change of racial equality. Starting from the description of her death, “A Rose for Emily” tells the story about the lady who is the last in her generation (Emily Grierson). Being strong, proud and a traditional lady of southern aristocracy, Emily turns into an evil, unpredictable and mysterious old lady after the death of her father. Even though “A Rose for Emily”
The Old South is very stubborn and set in its ways, as is Miss Emily. Emily is so attached to her southern ways and does not want to accept any change that she even keeps her dead lover in her home for years. She denies her father's death and tries to hold on to his dead body by insisting nothing is wrong. " The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face.
William Faulkner wrote about the rise of the poor white family and the simultaneous decline of the “aristocratic” families (Faulkner, 2013, p. 2180). In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner shows the life and attitude of the people residing in the American South after the conclusion of the civil war. Many changes both political and social were implemented as a result of the Union winning the war, however, many individuals in the South still considered themselves Confederates and wanted to maintain this status quo. The study of William Faulkner’s, A Rose for Emily illustrates the main character’s resistance towards the physical and emotional changes instituted within the post-civil war era.
William Faulkner is a complex writer who knows how to set a great pace in his stories. He is also a very flexible writer which allows the openness of many topics to write on because of his unconventional style. In his short story, "A Rose for Emily", you can interpret how times are so different from today. Although it was not during slavery times, things were not much more advance than that. The dominance of gender or social roles shown on women, particularly Miss Emily, may be seen as harsh or unfair.
The Civil War took place in 1861-1865. Since Emily was raised in the South, her family had the same values and morals of the confederate side. Emily’s family was very wealthy and owned a beautiful home. Unfortunately, after the South lost the Civil War they
The titled short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is set in the post-civil war era in a southern town named Jefferson. The story discusses the themes of race and social class through the characters, Tobe and Miss Emily. Miss Emily Grierson is a distinguished woman in southern society while Tobe is her black manservant. Tobe stays with Miss Emily until her death and suddenly disappears afterwards because their relationship is a remnant of the race relationship in the antebellum South: master and slave. He no longer has any obligations to stay in Jefferson because his duty to Miss Emily is no longer needed since she died.
Emily’s house is described as “lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay” (451) and “an eyesore among eyesores” (451). Her house is from the Old South and is outdated compared to the rest of the buildings in the town, but she refuses to change anything with the house, leaving it to decay with her. The street that her house is on “had once been our most select street” (451), but now everything has changed around her house and her house is the only thing remaining from the Old South on the street. Industrialism is occurring around this time and is changing the town, but she refuses to change her house to match with the New South. On the same street as her house, “garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily’s house was left” (451).
I love William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” It contains literary devices that Faulkner uses to make the short story perfect. The three literary devices that Faulkner uses are symbolism, setting and point of view. These three literary devices are what makes it an enjoyable story to read.
