A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner - Essay Example

A rose for Emily In the story a rose for Emily, the author explains in details the selfishness and loneliness of a woman named Emily. The author asserts that Emily is not able to grip the concept of death and suffers a lot via the denial. For example, William Faulkner argues that after Emily’s father died, people in town expected her to be in great grief and isolation but she never got grieved. Rather, she goes on to state that her father is very okay and alive. This implies that the author’s concept of grieving is clear in this narration since he portrays to his audience that is good and healthy to accept the sorrows and sufferings of death than ignore it via accounts and events of Miss Emily. The author’s story takes place in the south at the time of increased racial discrimination and significant political transformation. Therefore, the story shows how to understand the issue of race and gender via anthropology (Wheeler 28). The author attempts to reveal the hidden meaning and message in his story. William Faulkner conveys this message via the subject of death and change. Death revolves in the entire story from the start up to the end as the narrator starts explaining and describing the start of Emily’s funeral. Emily the protagonist refuses to accept the death of her father who had been too controlling and protective in that he turned all of her suitors away. As a result, Emily never got married even despite the society at time had great value for marriage. During this time in American society, women were recognized and defined by their work as a wife, mother, or daughter (Faulkner 36). Due to this, the town people felt bad for Miss Emily. In addition, due to respect and honor they had for Emily’s father, the town mayor exempted Emily from paying all the taxes. Emily met the town’s people who had come to attend her father’s funeral at the door. She looked normal with no trace of grief or sorrow on her face. Instead, she tells them her father was well and not dead. This shows how Emily was resilient and defied the sufferings that death brings by holding to the corpse of her father. In addition, she treated the whole situation as if her father was alive and how she feared change. Furthermore, Emily killed Homer so that he could never abandon or leave her. In the entire story, Emily attempts to block any kind of change via death and other means from taking place in her town. However, Homer’s death rendered him distant. Homer and Emily’s grotesque marriage portrays her disturbing trials to merge life and death but in the end, death conquers everything when she died age seventy-four. Via the mysterious character of Emily, the author portrays the struggle that comes from attempting to maintain and preserve traditions in the face of strong waves of radical change. For example, Jefferson was confused in that he tried to embrace contemporary lifestyle while at the same time was immersed and stuck in the past from the vanished magnificence of the Grierson to the cemetery in town where unknown civil war servicemen had been buried (Faulkner 80). Emily stuck to traditions in that she always lived the same lifestyle despite numerous changes taking place in her society. As a living monument of the past, she represents the past traditions that individuals need to honor and respect. However, she is also cut from accessing the outside world by nursing eccentricities that other people did not understand. Additionally, Emily stays in her own world in that she refutes to have the mailbox fixed to her house at the time when the town got modern mail service. This implies that she is not in touch with the reality and changes that constantly attempts to break via her blocked and sealed perimeters (Wheeler 55). The author attempts to bring the issue of race in a rose for Emily. For instance, the south where Emily was born was known and recognized for racism and prejudice. In order to portray racism, the author asserts that they were admitted by the blacks or Negro into the hall from which the terraces and stairs mounted into the calm shadow. This utilization of the term black or Negro portrays the intentions of the author. In addition, William Faulkner reveals the experiences of the African Americans at the time the story was written because he shows how people identified them with derogatory terms. When people in society used the term black, nigger, or Negro, the African Americans were stripped off their human identities and qualities. This was so entrenched in society in that some African Americans were seen as property. The author’s application of terms shows how African Americans suffered prejudices in the south. The author reveals that prejudice in the South was an insidious social and moral disease affecting populations and people all over the world. This type of prejudice is characterized by the cataloguing of its different manifestations and symptoms such as fear, separation, discrimination, hatred, and intolerance. While all of these features may be manifest, ignorance is the underlying cause of racial prejudice (Faulkner 32-33). The story also reveals the issue of gender. For instance, through the figure of Emily, the author shows women’s role in the south. Further, he shows how men viewed women in society. When Emily died, the entire town attended her funeral. For men, they came to the funeral due to the respect and honor they had for Emily while women came because of curiosity. When story starts, the author asserts that men are serious and caring while women gossip. This passage reveals how society portrays male figure as caring and strong than a female figure in society. When Emily met Homer, a constructor with many scandals, she thought he was the right man for her. Homer never thought of marrying nor having a family because he feared lifelong commitment. However, the town people were against the union of Homer and Emily when they knew the two were spending time together. It is significant to note that Emily and Homer never talked about marriage. This implies that she was a fallen woman meaning that she was guilty of sex before marriage or adultery. Therefore, the society judged Emily as a fallen woman with mysterious nature (Wheeler 71). The motif of the story is very clear. For example, Emily is the subject of deep controlling gaze of the people of Jefferson. In line with the real linkage to Emily, Jefferson people create distorted and subjective interpretation of the woman they barely understood or knew. The town people attend Emily’s funeral under the disguise of honor and respect but in real sense, they wanted to satisfy their curiosity about the town’s known eccentric (Faulkner 63). Emily accounts and struggle in life highlight vulnerability of human beings to social and environmental factors. Her background of living in a home that made him vulnerable to developing a state of mental condition influenced his choice of work, interpretation, and view of life. Trying to protect and maintain his family as a young child with an alcoholic, suicidal, and depressed mother, he developed depression because she did not like to accept certain aspects in life such as death. This theme runs through his book for all the cases of artists. Emily never had a chance to marry since her protective and controlling father turned away all her suitors. This means she was a victim of her father’s sternness and lived struggling with herself esteem. Emily was so hopeless, developed insomnia, and became suicidal. She could write a lot of creative art during her periods of emotional instability, but unfortunately, she succumbed to her divine madness (Wheeler 145). In sum, the story of a rose for Emily by William Faulkner brings many struggles and experiences that people in society face. The author was in a position to create a moving story incorporating many ideas about the community. Further, the author shows how society functioned in the 18th century. Therefore, in order to understand the story of a rose for Emily, a person can utilize the reader criticism and evaluate the ideas of the hidden message found in the story. The story is a significant element in the world of literature because of the assessment and examination of the effects of transformation or change established in the olden South. In addition, Faulkner attempted to relate the past in order to inform readers about the culture of the South, as he knew and understood it. For the author of the story, the past is never dead as portrayed through the character of Emily who reluctantly accepted modernity and the changes that accompanied it. Work cited Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. New York: Perfection Learning, 1990. Print. Wheeler, David. A Rose for Emily' William Faulkner: A Critical Analysis. New York: Dog’s Tail Books, 2011. Print. Read More