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William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

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“A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, is a significant story in expressing the reality of people’s true selves and addressing their emotions towards death. At the beginning of the short story, the whole town went to Miss Emily’s funeral: the men pitiful for their “fallen monument”, the woman out of curiosity to see the inside of Miss Emily’s house (Faulkner 720). Everyone in the town saw Miss Emily as their “tradition”, which regarded her as a stable feature in the town; she had been there so long that she has become the point of attraction of the town’s life (Faulkner 721). Miss Emily’s father was very protective of her; he completely enforced a policy around his daughter, excluding her from the community. Alive, Miss Emily’s father believed that no one in Jefferson was adequate for Emily; he protected her from humiliation, disgrace, and from those who are beneath her. However, Miss Emily went against her father’s policies and met a guy named Homer Barron, a northern Yankee, who eventually ruined Miss Emily’s reputation. Emily needed love so desperately that she was willing to go against her southern rituals and allow Homer to court her. Nevertheless, when Emily realized that Homer was “not a marrying man”, she found death as the resolution to keep her from being desolated again (Faulkner 724). At first, Emily denies the fact of death itself and becomes haunted by it, but then she becomes captivated from death and finds it as irresistible.
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