The Aspect of Time in A Rose for Emily - Book Report/Review Example

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner William Faulkner was a well-known person in literature as he earned the Nobel Prize from Oxford. He had written his works in many forms such as play, poems, essays, short stories and novels. Among the genres of his literature, he became very popular with novels and short stories which shared a common setting known as the Yoknapatawpha County which he was inspired by the real Lafayette County where he lived (Doyle 5). Faulkner spent a big portion of his life in Lafayette County but he actually originated from New Albany in Mississippi where he was raised together with his three younger brothers namely Jack, John and Dean Swift. From New Albany, their family moved to Ripley because of their father’s work. Their father worked as a treasurer for a railroad business that the grandfather of William once owned. Because it was sold to outsiders, the father of William decided to become a rancher but the mother of William went against it (Porter 12). As a result, the family settled in Oxford where the grandfather had many businesses. While growing up, William was heavily influenced by his maternal relatives and his nanny that is why he developed his passion and abilities in arts. He had been exposed to classic novels before he went to school for education. He also had learned about the crucial societal issues of race and sexuality as reflected upon his literary works (Towner 34). Because of his experience, background and efforts, he became one of the prominent writers in USA together with Flannery O’Connor, Mark Twain and Harper Lee. He was unknown for decades until he got the big recognition by 1949 when he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. His achievement did not end there as his two works entitled A Fable and The Reivers both won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (Porter 167). One of his works is entitled A Rose for Emily which was the short story that he was able to release first in a famous magazine. Although he had been writing since 1919, he struggled to get a good name in the spotlight of literature until he was able to publish the said short story. To popularize the short story, he included A Rose for Emily in his collection of fiction that he published in 1931 and 1950 (Towner 76). A Rose for Emily became popular and is a subject of analysis for various studies today. It was once considered as a ghost story of Faulkner with its dark appeal and gothic theme, larger issues were tackled. The changing of the order of the world had been a big part of the story where religion and culture were not able to unite people and solve problems. He also uncovered the issues of the conflict between the North and South of America, the hostility towards women and the abuses in social hierarchy (Ruthmann 3). With all of the issues, the readers were drawn to the uncommon perspective of Emily Grierson. The story started with how the narrator revealed the death of Emily Grierson as the town folks were present in the funeral. They had entered the house of the Grierson after more than ten years that nobody had seen the insides of it. It was considered to be a vintage, the remnants of the luxurious past. The previous mayor had exempted Emily from paying taxes as her deceased father once provided help for the town (Ruthmann 4). When new leaders in town emerged, they demanded Emily to pay taxes but she refused to pay. The story ran backwards as thirty years earlier than the present setting was retold. The officials in that time investigated Emily as they smelled bad odor coming from the house of Griersons. During that time, the father of Emily just died recently and she was left by her fiancé. To solve the problem, the mayor had decided to use lime around the property of Emily during the night for the odor to subside (Ruthmann 5). Then, rumors continued as the people around the Griersons had known that the aunt of Emily got into a psychological disorder and they suspected Emily might fall to the same state. Because of the incident, Emily forgot the pride of her family and became depressed. She dated Homer Barron, a northerner who became popular in town as he got the contract in making the sidewalks. Then, one day Emily ordered arsenic and revealed to the public about it but she denied the purpose of purchasing it. The townspeople suspected that she will commit suicide though she did not take her life after several months. The change that happened was that Emily ordered silver toiled with engraved name of the initials of Homer. In response, the townspeople contacted the two cousins of Emily residing in Alabama (Ruthmann 7). After the cousins left Emily, Homer was not seen again and the top floor of the house was sealed. Emily only came out for a little time to teach arts until her death. The people of Jefferson learned that Emily was necrophiliac when they found out that the body of Homer was locked in a room upstairs (Ruthmann 8). One theme that the short story conveyed is the conflict between tradition and change. Emily Grierson was the figure that exemplified such theme as she remained the same despite of the fast changes around her. Just like the town Jefferson with changes in terms of pathways and commercial standing, Emily had remained the same as a monument of the past. Jefferson also still had the remnants of tradition from cemeteries to the property of the Grierson (Gehmlich 3). Emily was also a burden as she resisted change because she cut her connections with the outside world. She even went to the extreme of stopping time by killing Homer and locking his corpse in a bridal-set room. Death was also a theme of the story as Emily tried to defy it. She was the symbol of the old glory of tradition that slowly died through the years as she transformed from an eccentric young woman to a grumpy bloated and disfigured hag (Gehmlich 15). She also symbolized the old view of the South that collapsed through time when modernization came into the picture. Work Cited Doyle, Don. Faulkners County: The Historical Roots of Yoknapatawpha, 1540-1962. USA: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. Print. Gehmlich, Kerstin. The Aspect of Time in William Faulkner ́s Short Story A ROSE FOR EMILY. Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2007. Print. Porter, Carolyn. William Faulkner: Lives and Legacies. USA: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print. Ruthmann, Davina. The Chronology of William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Emily". Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2007. Print. Towner, Theresa. The Cambridge Introduction to William Faulkner. USA: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print. Read More