Violence in a Rose for Emily - Essay Example

Therefore, it is not an easy task even for law enforcers to be involved in certain violent acts that could be potentially considered criminal as in the case of such portrayal in William Faulkner’s short story A Rose for Emily. Marvin Eugene Wolfgang, the most influential criminologist in the English speaking world had his interest in the subcultures of violence where he theorizes the origins of violence (Silverman). One of the theories as observed from the high rates of crime in Southern America is based on the values and norms which either support violence or does not prohibit such (Lee & Bartkowski).

From this perspective, it could be fairly said that some of the elements of the aforementioned short story are accurate. For instance, when Emily bought arsenic from the druggist, the townspeople were quick to suspect that she would kill herself and yet did not do anything to prevent the woman from doing so, rather were quite agreeable of the idea. Such a reaction seemed to give a thumb up to suicide and encourage a person that killing one’s self would be best when all is not going well. . ther angle, in the murder of Homer Barron, the neighbors and law enforcers of the town have been quite lenient with an investigation regarding the foul smell that came from Emily’s house.

They knew that the woman bought some arsenic just a few days before the foul smell filled the neighborhood air and that they even suspected she would kill herself. When they still found evidences of her being alive when her place got smelly, they should have suspected about the smell and spent more serious time considering what might have happened. The absence of Barron after he was last seen entering Emily’s house was totally scratched from the picture which shows how her people could easily think highly of a noblesse oblige, that she could not possibly kill a northerner who they supposed was married to her.

This, and the aforementioned prospect of Emily killing herself brings about the picture of the people in her town where they take separately murder in different levels that is, Emily can possibly kill herself and that is fine with them and Emily cannot possibly kill Barron which is revealed in the end was what happened in the story (Kennedy). Looking at the effects of the values and norms of the people in A Rose for Emily, a crime was performed and was never found out until the perpetrator died.

The words of Judge Stevens, “Dammit, sir, will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?” seemed to be more of an attempt to protect Emily than to show respect to her. It is true that circumstantial evidences might have been known for suspicion and there is also the consideration of the limitations of the law and enforcers however, there was also no evidence of some extended effort to know about the foul smell that was affecting the neighbors because they seemed to be afraid