A Rose For Emily by William Faulkener - Essay Example

? A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner May 11, A Rose for Emily The story A Rose for Emily (Faulkner clearly shows the sad story of Emily’s love life. The research centers on Emily’s desire to love and be loved. The story centers on Emily’s hurdles the different changes in her life. After suffering throughout her life, Emily deserves a rose. Analysis, explanation and criticism of the symbols, themes, time period using a Using a Historism approach. In terms of historism, Emily’s fate was determined or influenced by conditions and inherent processes beyond the control of human beings. The natural laws govern historical events. Consequently, the historical events determine the social and cultural phenomena. In terms of themes, the story focuses on change. Emily could not cope with the change. Emily could not accept the passing of her father. While her father was alive, he prohibited her from accepting the love and courtship of the young men of the community. Her father refused her marriage to the young men in order to keep her for himself until his death. The father wanted her to watch the family home, while he was still around, and take care of him. Until her death, she never left the house. This indicates that she refused to accept the change where she could not accept the overtures of the young bachelor men in her community. Likewise, the story centers on the theme called love. The father does not want Emily to marry because the father wants Emily for himself. Emily decides to poison Homer Barron in order to keep her suitor for herself forever. The talk of the town goes “Homer himself had remarked he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elk’sClub that he was not the marrying kind.”(4). Feeling that Homer would not marry her, Emily had no other alternative but to poison Homer Barron and keep him beside her until her death. Vincent Rosivach (51) emphasized “the relationship between the young woman and her lover is always approved by the mother or guardian, and it often involves an agreement between the mother or guardian and the young man in which the young woman has no say. In some cases the young woman is in love with the young man, but in others she merely goes along with her mother's or guardian's wishes. Even when the young woman is in love with the young man it is not a simple matter of "boy meets girl"; rather we are either told or we must assume that the mother or guardian first provided the young man with access to the young woman and thus created the circumstances wherein her love could develop.” The story centers on the independence theme. The father refused to grant independence to Emily by refusing to let her marry. Emily refused to grant Homer his freedom not to marry her by poisoning Homer Barron. Historically, the theme of independence is very evident. Further, Elaine Hatfield (231) insists “The modern world highly esteems individualism: personal freedom, personal expression, personal growth, and personal fulfillment. It also celebrates relationships between two loving and committed people; many historians of ideas indeed see individualism and intimacy as two sides of the same modernist coin. Sadly, in the realm of quotidian life, it is hard for many people to put these two values together, either theoretically or practically. Being a free individual does not easily comport with the commitment, fidelity, bargaining, and compromises that successful relationships generally seem to require.” In terms of symbols, the exemption from tax symbolizes the town’s debt to Emily’s father. Former mayor granted tax exemption to Emily because the town had borrowed money from Emily’s father, while he was alive. When the tax collector visited Emily to collect her back taxes, he stated “I received a paper, yes. Perhaps he considers he self the sheriff… I have no taxes in Jefferson… See Colonel Sartoris. I have no Taxes in Jefferson.” Emily’s manservant was instructed by Emily to show the visiting tax collector out of her premises (1). Having Homer’s dead corpse symbolizes eternal love for Emily. The author states “a small fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony case with a tarnished gold head. Her Skeleton was small and spare: perhaps that was why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity to her” (1). Analysis, explanation and criticism of the symbols, themes, time period using a Feminism approach. In terms of themes, the story focuses on change. The feminism approach allows the right to do whatever she pleases. Emily has the right to refuse her father’s bidding to avoid marrying the first person that touches her heart. Emily has the right to marry the person of her dreams, Homer Barron. Emily has the right to force the current community’s political leaders to abide by the agreement between her and the former mayor by refusing to pay the taxes levied on her. Likewise, the story centers on the theme called love. Women have the right to be respected. The father should not prevent her from following the love murmurs of her heart. The father should not have given Emily the right environment for her to experience the love overtures of the many male suitors during her time. The statement “some of the ladies began to say that it was a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people”, when Emily fell in love and accepted the love overtures of Homer Barron clearly shows that women of the community should give Emily the freedom to love the person of her dreams. Further, Emily should not succumb to the community’s women’s standards in terms of who Emily should marry, who Emily should love, and who Emily should spend the rest of her life with. Oliver Tzeng (65) proposes “The Personality Attribution Paradigm of Love considers an individual's personality as the major determinant of love development, and thus as dictating the subsequent nature of the relationship. Emphasis is placed on childhood experiences and the role they play in determining an individual's personality development and changes. Love is viewed as a changing or modifying process reflecting the developmental progress of the individuals in the relationships.” The story centers on the independence theme. Again, Emily must be allowed to exercise her feminist right to be independent. Women must be treated equal, like men. Consequently, the father has no right to treat his daughter as a woman who cannot think for herself. The father should not make the decisions for Emily. The father creates a situation when Emily cannot think independently as she makes her daily personal and love decisions. Janet Shucksmith (11) opines that independence includes “Individuals may have reasons either for exaggerating behaviors which (to them) seem admirable, or for concealing behaviors, attitudes or prejudices which may be illegal or strongly condemned by society generally or the peer group in particular.” In terms of symbols, the exemption from tax symbolizes the town’s debt to Emily’s father. As a feminist, the former mayor, Colonel Sartoris, gave her tax exemption. The author states “Miss Emily had been a tradition. A duty and a care: a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town. Dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Santores, the mayor, he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron—remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity…Colonel Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect that Miss Emily’s father had loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business, preferred this way of repaying.”(1) The city must honor the agreement between the community, represented by the former mayor, and Emily. Emily’s staunch defiance to the insistent tax collector to pay her taxes symbolizes her resolve that the community must not violate the terms and conditions of agreement between the community and Emily. Emily is not afraid to fight for her right to enjoy the tax exemption privilege, as a female member of society. Having Homer Barron’s dead corpse symbolizes eternal love for Emily. Emily bought Arsenic in order to murder Homer. Emily then kept the dead Homer’s body in her bedroom. She slept beside the deteriorating corpse until her death to symbolize that their love will never end. She bought poison to kill Homer stating to the drug store sales person “I want poison… I want the best you have. I don’t care what kind… Arsenic… Is that a good one?” I want arsenic.” (3). Analysis, explanation and criticism of the symbols, themes, time period using a Marxism approach. In terms of themes, the story focuses on change. The Karl Marx concept of change includes the compulsory acceptance of change. Emily had to accept changes by accepting the annual tax collection notices, which were returned by the post office because no one received the letters, which show the community had changed its prior stand on Emily’s tax liabilities. The author states that “Each December we sent her a tax notice, which would be returned by the post office a week later, unclaimed.”(5) This indicates that the prior mayor’s granting tax exemption to Emily has been revoked. However, Emily refuses to accept change. Emily still hangs on to her prior status as a tax exempt citizen of the Town. Emily instructed the tax collector to leave her home because she was holding on to the words of the community’s former mayor, who died ten years prior, that the town granted her tax exemption in exchange for her deceased father’s help to the community. Her father’s financial help to the town was the basis for the former mayor’s granting tax exemption to Emily. Likewise, the story centers on the theme called love. Emily has the right to fall in love, just like the average woman. Emily has the right to choose who she will marry. In the same manner, Emily has the right to refuse any love overtures of persons proposing marriage to Emily. Homer Barron has the right to offer Emily a different kind of love. Homer Barron can prefer to love Emily some time. In the same light, Homer Barron can prefer to love Emily by offering marriage to her. In the same manner, Homer Barron can choose to show his temporary love for Emily, without having to marry Emily. The story centers on the independence theme. Karl Marx emphasized that women can change for the better. Emily should change her independence concept. The women have the right to be independent. The women have the right to refuse independence. Emily preferred to give up with her independence when she decided not to marry any of her young and bachelor suitors, courting her in the community. Emily preferred to independently decide to implement the agreement between her and the community, by strongly refusing to pay her back taxes. Emily independently decided, as a feminist member of society, to stay within the confines of her ancestral home away from the prying eyes of the community’s residents. In terms of symbols, the exemption from tax symbolizes the town’s debt to Emily’s father. Karl Marx insists that Emily should comply with the town council’s decision to revoke her tax exemption privileges, if she cannot prove that former Mayor Sartoris strictly stated that her tax exemption is a lifetime agreement. Emily will go out of her way to ensure that the symbol of the agreement between former mayor Sartoris and her will be implemented. Emily feels she is the aggrieved party and will fight until her last female strength to counter the town’s forceful sending of a collector to collect Emily’s annual tax dues. In addition, having Homer’s dead corpse symbolizes eternal love. Emily poisons Homer Barron in order to comply with her wish to keep Homer Barron for her selfish self until her death. Females need a male’s love. By keeping the rotting corpse of Homer Barron, Emily’s desire to embrace her love interest is satisfied. An ordinary person may think this is bizarre. An ordinary person may judge her as insanely in love. Another person may say that keeping a rotting corpse beside her at night shows Emily is out of her mind. However, Emily is the queen of her life. Emily’s preference to keep Homer Barron’s fleshless body beside her at night indicates a symbolism of a love that entwines the two lovers together for eternity. To ensure that her act prospers, Emily refuses any person to enter her room for more than 40 years. Emily knows that if someone finds a corpse inside her room, the people will grab and bury the bones. Likewise, the community may file a case of murder for Emily’s poisoning Homer Barron. Society will strongly brand her as a criminal or a murderer for her independent act of using wrong symbolism. Analysis, explanation and criticism of the symbols, themes, time period using a Psychoanalytic approach. Emily needs professional help to get her out of her misery. The psychiatrist or psychologist will give her professional advice on how accept change. The professional will convince Emily that avoiding change would be disastrous to her current and future self. The professional will advice Emily that there are more advantages to accepting change than to insist on holding on to the fading past. The professional will use psychoanalytic techniques to ferret out the causes of her “insanity”. Her insanity includes having to poison Homer Barron to keep Homer Barron beside her fore the rest of her life. Her insanity includes refusing to meet the people in the community and preferring to hide behind the tight doors of her ancestral home. The psychoanalysis professional will explain to Emily the proper way of loving. The professional will convince Emily that love should not be included poisoning one’s love interest. The professional will convince Emily that her father’s love for her is wrong when it includes refusing to allow Emily to love the first suitor that crosses her path. The psychoanalysis professional can explain to Emily that her past should be left behind, including her father’s instructions that she must not marry in order to watch over her father and take special care of the ancestral home. Further, Victor Munck (91) reiterated “love has assumed special importance in interpersonal relationships research and in theoretical discourse on love for a number of reasons: Romantic love is generally sought after by individuals and exalted in Western culture; romantic love has become the sine qua non of the marriage contract; and the absence of romantic love may be a factor in marital dissolution.” The story centers on the independence theme. The psychologist should focus on reframing Emily’s concept of independence. The professional will remind Emily that her father has finally left her. Consequently, the professional will persuade Emily to understand that she must celebrate and implement her independence after her father died. The psychoanalyst must convince Emily that she should not mind the hurting criticisms of the people within her community. Emily must not take serious consideration of the town’s women when the stated Homer Barron, a poor road worker, is not the right person for her high stature in the community. The psychoanalyst must convince Emily that being independent includes taking chances. Taking chances includes having to face suffering directly whenever she is hurt by her action or inaction in any given situation. The psychoanalyst must persuade Emily to understand that independence includes responsibility. Responsibility includes taking punishment for her acts. Independence includes letting Emily face the courts for the murder of Homer Barron. Responsibility includes ensuring that her house visitor, Homer Barron is alive and all measures are taken to ensure that nothing will befall her home visitor, Homer Barron. Further, the psychoanalyst must convince the father that he should grant Emily her rightful independence; the psychoanalyst should ensure that the father should not trample on his daughter’s right to independence. The psychoanalyst must convince the father that Emily’s marriage will not mean that Emily will never return to her father in the near future. The psychoanalyst must convince the father that marriage will ensure Emily has a child, the father’s grandchildren. The psychoanalyst professional must convince the tax collector that Emily is right in refusing the tax collector’s moves to force Emily to pay her taxes. The psychoanalyst professional should persuade the town council that contracts are contract, agreements are agreements, and that they must implement the prior Mayor Sartoris’ policy of exempting Emily from paying her taxes because the town owes lots of money from Emily’s father. The psychoanalyst professional should persuade Emily that she is right in refusing to pay her taxes. The psychoanalyst professional should convince Emily to visit the town council and personally explain her steadfast stand on the tax collection issue. The psychoanalyst professional must persuade Emily that she should bring enough evidences to prove to the town council that former mayor granted a lifetime tax exemption to Emily in exchange for borrowing money from her father, while her father was still capable of loaning money to the community. Having Homer’s dead corpse symbolizes eternal love for Emily. The psychoanalyst professional must persuade Emily that keeping a dead corpse as a symbol of their everlasting love is wrong. The psychoanalyst professional must be stern in insistent without any letup as the professional explains to Emily that her murder act (killing Homer Barron) is illegal and she will have to place behind bars for her criminal act. The psychoanalyst professional must explain to Emily that having Homer’s dead corpse beside her at night is a wrong and punishable symbolism of Homer Barron’s eternal love for Emily as well as Emily’s eternal love for Barron. The author states that the people broke down Emily’s bedroom only to find the bones of Homer Barron on the bed. The author vividly states “For a long while we just stood there. Looking down at the profound and fleshless grin, the body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, the long sleep that outlasts love. That conquers even the grimace of love had cuckolded him.”(7). The people were able to see proof that Emily was out of her mind or insane for murdering Homer Barron. CONCLUSION Based on the above discussion, the story A Rose for Emily indicates the unsuccessful story of Emily’s love life. Emily’s desire to love and be loved is realistic. Emily’s could not successfully hurdle the different unexpected changes and challenges in her life. Indeed, after having to go through so much suffering throughout her life, Emily deserves a bunch of roses for trying her best to beat the insurmountable odds stacked against her. Works Cited Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. New York: Perfection Learning Press, 2007.Print. Hatfield, Elaine. Love, Sex, and Intimacy: Their Psychology, Biology, and History. New York: Harper Collins Press, 1993. Print. Munck, Victor. Romantic Love and Sexual Behavior. Westport: Praeger Press, 1998. Print. Rosivach, Vincent. When a Young Man Falls in Love: The Sexual Exploitation of Women. New York: Routledge Press, 1998. Print. Shucksmith, Janet. Health Issues and Adolescents: Growing Up, Speaking Out. New York: Routledge Press, 1998. Print. Tzeng, Oliver. Theories of Love Development, Maintenance, and Dissolution. New York: Praeger Press, 1992. Print. Read More