A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner - Book Report/Review Example

Critical Introduction ‘A Rose for Emily’, by William Faulkner, is a short story which haunts the reader for a long time for its melancholic plot and a spine chilling end. In ‘A Rose for Emily’, the writer has told a story of a woman called Emily Grierson. Despite of her isolation from social life, Miss Emily Grierson manages to create a strong interest in the minds of people living in Jefferson. Every move of Miss Emily Grierson is observed and discussed by people living in the town. When she restricts herself to her house, people try to draw conclusions about her on the basis of her African American servant’s movements outside the house. In short, whether she is visible or not visible, people of Jefferson are obsessed with Miss Emily Grierson. Miss Emily Grierson’s mysterious life becomes such an obsession with the town that when she dies, everyone is excited to attend her funeral with the hope of getting a glimpse of the reality of her life. To their shock, they find that Miss Emily Grierson had murdered her suitor and used to sleep with his rotten dead body for all these years. The grotesque reality shocks the people of the town and makes them realize that they actually knew nothing about Miss Emily Grierson. The appealing aspect of the story is the social setting of the town of Jefferson. It represents the psychology of the society. Particularly, it displays the attitude of people towards single women. Through the character Miss Emily Grierson, the author has described how a woman lives a life of suppression in a male dominated society. People have a tendency to expect other people to behave in a way they want them to behave. They have preconceptions about certain things in life. People living in Jefferson develop certain opinions and ideas about Miss Emily on the basis of her family background. They think that Miss Emily has remained single even after thirty years of age because her father held the family “a little too high for what they really were”. They think that proposals from young men were rejected as Miss Emily thinks that no one is good enough for her. Miss Emily’s single status becomes a talk of the town and people become obsessed with her romantic life. When they find her dating Homer Barron, they immediately get excited and think that she will marry him. When he comes back and leaves again without any trace, they feel sorry for Miss Emily. When she goes to druggist to buy poison, they think that she is going to commit suicide. All these conclusions, gossips, ideas and discussions about Miss Emily are made without even knowing what the truth really is. This shows that people have a rigid thought pattern about women and could not imagine a woman to go beyond the conventional boundaries which are set by the society. Hence, revelation of the truth (that Miss Emily was suffering from necrophilia) in the end shocks everyone to the guts. The author has used the grotesque end to represent a revolt of a woman against the suppression at the hands of the conventional and patriarchal system of the society. According to Faulkner ‘A Rose for Emily’ is “a story of a woman victimized and betrayed by the system of sexual politics, who nevertheless has discovered, within the structures that victimize her, sources of power for herself.” ( Fetterley 1978, p.35). Miss Emily Grierson is shown to be a victim of her father’s domination over her life. She does not get opportunity to mix with people and hence, remains inside her house. Later, when she hopes to find freedom and love in Homer Barron, she again gets betrayed. This makes Miss Emily Grierson bitter and she takes her revenge by killing Barron and keeping his dead body as a companion in her lonely life. Chen Lee’s Challenge When Chen Lee came to study at Benton School in New York City, her classmates thought that she won’t last long. She was extremely beautiful, but was frail, slim, short and timid. Her English was poor and they were never able to gauge if she understood what was being spoken to her. Her clothes were simple and she wore no jewelry or accessories. Her face showed no expressions and her eyes were emotionless. She never visited cafeteria, library or playground. Everyone thought that without friends and without play, she is not going to last long. However, at the same time, there was something about her that told them that she was determined to last long. In a few days time, Chen Lee became a talk of the school. During her introduction in the class, she managed to tell her name and her goal of life in broken English. Her goal was “to become independent”, she said. Everyone was surprised at the fact that she was admitted in the school without being good at spoken English. Her classmates came to know that she is from Japan. They were also told that she was brilliant in math and written English. That’s all they could manage to dig out of their teachers. They were not prepared to approach Chen Lee directly as her unapproachable demeanor kept them away from her. Days turned into weeks but no one was able to break the strong wall that Chen had created around herself. She was one of the most disciplined students in the class. She had only three dresses which she wore alternately. She was unaffected by any provocation towards her. Some students tried bullying her verbally but without any result. Her ability to remain unaffected irritated some of her classmates. One day, two of the girls from the class decided to teach her a lesson. They told their friends that they are going to use the “fist power” to make her talk. After the school, they forced Chen to the bathroom to carry out their plan. What happened in the bathroom remained a mystery as the next day, the two girls were absent from the class. The teacher told them that they had met with an accident and have fractured their noses and hands. After the incident of ‘accident’ of the two classmates, the rumors started spreading that Chen was a witch. It was believed that she has a hidden power and does black magic. Everyone started staying away from her. Instead of talking loudly, they started whispering things about her. However, at the same time, their curiosity about Chen increased. Finally, one day, one of the boys in the class, John Miller, decided to know everything about her. After the school, he followed her outside the school. He did his best to keep a safe distance so as not to let Chen know that he was following her. After walking two miles from the school, he found her getting into a taxi. He found it amusing as it seemed as if the taxi was waiting for her. In the front seat, he saw an African American man sitting alongside the driver. John hired the other taxi and asked him to follow Chen’s taxi. He expected to be led into a neighborhood habituated by Asians. However, to his surprise, Chen’s taxi started taking a route going towards one of the plush areas in New York City. The area was well-known as Millionaire’s Paradise as most of the people living there were millionaires. After crossing few beautiful houses, he saw Chen’s taxi taking a turn inside a gate of one of the most beautiful mansions he had ever seen. He got out of the taxi and walked towards her mansion to see what happens next. He sees Chen getting down from the taxi. He also sees the African American man following her inside the gate. The next day, her classmates concluded that Chen is working as a servant with a wealthy family and is trying to support her own education. They felt sympathy for her. They decide not to worry themselves about her and leave her alone. In fact, they realized that nothing that they have done has ever affected Chen’s discipline and her studies. With every passing week, Chen had become good at English and was now answering the questions confidently. They decide to be ‘good’ to her and help her in her efforts at school. However, that day, for the first time, they find Chen absent from the school. To their dismay, they learn that Chen Lee has left the school and has gone back to Japan. Their class teacher explains her sudden decision to leave the school in following words: “Chen Lee was one of the most disciplined, hard working and sincere students. At the same time, she was also a determined person. She had accepted a challenge from her father, to survive in the society without the support of his name or his identity. Her father is Akio Okinawa. He is an emperor of Japan and Chen Lee is the princess. In fact, her name is not Chen Lee. Her real name is Masuyo Okinawa. She had decided to keep her real identity secret to avoid the media and paparazzi from haunting her.” “Masuyo had intended to complete her studies. However, she realized that she was generating unnecessary curiosity in the minds of her schoolmates. She had to use karate techniques to defend herself when she was bullied by her classmates (the teacher glares at two girls from her class). Also, after John Miller followed her yesterday (the teacher glares at John), she made up her mind to leave the school. She realized that her intention of attending the school was fulfilled and there was no reason in continuing till the end of the year. I am sad to see that she had left. However, I am delighted to let you know that she will be coming back at the year end party so that she can share her thoughts and feelings about her experience at the school. ” References Faulkner, W. 1930. A Rose for Emily. [Online] Available at [Accessed 26 September 2010]. Fetterley, J. 1978. The resisting Reader: A Feminist Approach to American Fiction. Bloomington, MA: Indiana University Press. Read More

All these conclusions, gossips, ideas and discussions about Miss Emily are made without even knowing what the truth really is. This shows that people have a rigid thought pattern about women and could not imagine a woman to go beyond the conventional boundaries which are set by the society. Hence, revelation of the truth (that Miss Emily was suffering from necrophilia) in the end shocks everyone to the guts. The author has used the grotesque end to represent a revolt of a woman against the suppression at the hands of the conventional and patriarchal system of the society.

According to Faulkner ‘A Rose for Emily’ is “a story of a woman victimized and betrayed by the system of sexual politics, who nevertheless has discovered, within the structures that victimize her, sources of power for herself.” ( Fetterley 1978, p.35). Miss Emily Grierson is shown to be a victim of her father’s domination over her life. She does not get opportunity to mix with people and hence, remains inside her house. Later, when she hopes to find freedom and love in Homer Barron, she again gets betrayed.

This makes Miss Emily Grierson bitter and she takes her revenge by killing Barron and keeping his dead body as a companion in her lonely life. Chen Lee’s Challenge When Chen Lee came to study at Benton School in New York City, her classmates thought that she won’t last long. She was extremely beautiful, but was frail, slim, short and timid. Her English was poor and they were never able to gauge if she understood what was being spoken to her. Her clothes were simple and she wore no jewelry or accessories.

Her face showed no expressions and her eyes were emotionless. She never visited cafeteria, library or playground. Everyone thought that without friends and without play, she is not going to last long. However, at the same time, there was something about her that told them that she was determined to last long. In a few days time, Chen Lee became a talk of the school. During her introduction in the class, she managed to tell her name and her goal of life in broken English. Her goal was “to become independent”, she said.

Everyone was surprised at the fact that she was admitted in the school without being good at spoken English. Her classmates came to know that she is from Japan. They were also told that she was brilliant in math and written English. That’s all they could manage to dig out of their teachers. They were not prepared to approach Chen Lee directly as her unapproachable demeanor kept them away from her. Days turned into weeks but no one was able to break the strong wall that Chen had created around herself.

She was one of the most disciplined students in the class. She had only three dresses which she wore alternately. She was unaffected by any provocation towards her. Some students tried bullying her verbally but without any result. Her ability to remain unaffected irritated some of her classmates. One day, two of the girls from the class decided to teach her a lesson. They told their friends that they are going to use the “fist power” to make her talk. After the school, they forced Chen to the bathroom to carry out their plan.

What happened in the bathroom remained a mystery as the next day, the two girls were absent from the class. The teacher told them that they had met with an accident and have fractured their noses and hands. After the incident of ‘accident’ of the two classmates, the rumors started spreading that Chen was a witch. It was believed that she has a hidden power and does black magic. Everyone started staying away from her. Instead of talking loudly, they started whispering things about her. However, at the same time, their curiosity about Chen increased.

Finally, one day, one of the boys in the class, John Miller, decided to know everything about her. After the school, he followed her outside the school. He did his best to keep a safe distance so as not to let Chen know that he was following her. After walking two miles from the school, he found her getting into a taxi.

Read More