William Faulkners A Rose for Emily Essay - 1382 Words

Emily’s Downward Spiral: An Analysis of â€Å"A Rose for Emily† In William Faulkner’s short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† the main character of the story is Miss Emily Grierson. To analyze and examine her character, it is almost impossible not to look at the psychological aspect of it. Through the narrative of Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† Miss Emily’s behavior and character is revealed as outright strange from any average standard of characters. A few days after they lay Miss Emily’s body to rest, the townspeople of Jefferson come to Grierson’s home to open one particular room upstairs, which has not been seen or entered into for the past several years. Miss Emily has kept this room closed from others for at least 40 years. When the door†¦show more content†¦As a result, Miss Emily remains unmarried. This situation perhaps helps readers understand how Miss Emily is trying to cope of all the burden and pressures of great expectations that others have of her. While most individuals can handle this kind of stress, Miss Emily unfortunately is unable to develop healthy, adaptive coping mechanisms. Another glimpse of her character is when the sheriff office attempts to collect taxes, Emily tells them â€Å"see Colonel Sartoris† (33), who had been dead almost ten years. â€Å"I have no taxes in Jefferson† reasserts Emily (33). Despite many attempts to collect taxes, Emily simply continues to ref use to cooperate with the town authorities. This observation of Miss Emilys behavior is telling us how irrational and inappropriate she is when she interacts with other people. Another episode of her erratic behavior occurs when Judge Stevens, the new town mayor, receives several complaints from the neighbors that a powerful, terrible odor is originating from Emily’s property and ordered by the neighbors to â€Å"send her word to have her place cleaned up† (33). This is another hint that Emily is becoming separated from her community and is totally unable to relate to other people in an appropriate matter. In the beginning, the townspeople â€Å"did not say she was crazy then.† (34). They sympathize with Miss Emily just after she loses her father, and just after the man whom the townsfolk believed she would marry deserts her. â€Å"PoorShow MoreRelatedWilliam Faulkners A Rose for Emily1600 Words   |  7 Pages William Faulkners A Rose for Emily  is set in the small southern town of Jefferson during the early decades of the twentieth century . At this time, vast and cardinal changes were being made by the upcoming new south to conceal and move from the horrid truths that were a part of the towns history. In lieu of this, Jefferson was at a turning point in which they were having difficulty coming to terms with these changes . Integrating Faulkners use of character and symbols with other sourcesRead MoreEssay on William Faulkners A Rose for Emily1539 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Faulkners A Rose for Emily As any reader can see, A Rose for Emily is one of the most authentic short stories by Faulkner. His use of characterization, narration, foreshadowing, and symbolism are four key factors to why Faulkners work is idealistic to all readers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The works of William Faulkner have had positive effects on readers throughout his career. Local legends and gossip trigger the main focus of his stories. Considering that Faulkner grew up in Mississippi, he wasRead MoreWilliam Faulkners A Rose for Emily: An Analysis807 Words   |  3 PagesConsider Faulkners own words as you think about A Rose for Emily. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Faulkner said,  ¦the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat. How is A Rose for Miss Emily a story about the human heart in conflict with itself? In William Faulkners A Rose for Emily, the protagonist Miss Emily GriersonRead MoreAn Analysis of William Faulkner’s â€Å"a Rose for Emily†1428 Words   |  6 PagesThe Devastating Outcome of Oppression: An Analysis of William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† When a person has only been taught dysfunctional love, it is all too often that this is the only kind of love they will ever experience. In â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, William Faulkner explores an unorthodox relationship between an aristocratic southern lady named Miss Emily Grierson, and a blue-collar northern fellow named Homer Barron. The narrator, who likely represents the townspeople, describesRead More William Faulkners A Rose for Emily Essay729 Words   |  3 PagesWilliam Faulkners A Rose for Emily â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner is set in a small Southern town during the post-Civil War era. The story revolves around the strange and tragic events of Miss Emily Grierson’s life. At first glance, Emily seems like a lonely woman with little self-confidence and low self-esteem that seems to stem from her upbringing by her father. There seemed to be some kind of abuse by her father and the fact that she had seemed to have lived such a sheltered lifeRead MoreThe Reconstruction In William Faulkners A Rose For Emily1243 Words   |  5 PagesAfter an extended period of the Civil War and the Reconstruction, William Faulkner published his short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† in 1930. In his fictional Jefferson, Mississippi (the county seat of Yoknapatawpha), Faulkner tells a story about Emily, an unhappy woman. The story begins at Emily’s funeral, and all the villagers in the town come to see the inside of the abandoned building (nobody has entered the house for at least ten years). The story flashes back decades before the funeral, Emily’sRead MoreDiagnosing Miss Emily in William Faulkners A Rose For Emily 918 Words   |  4 PagesIn William Faulkners A Rose For Emily there is more than enough evidence to determine that Miss Emily is mentally ill. Most of the clues and hints are subtle, but when they are all pieced together the puzzle becomes clear. Not saying it is clear as too what Miss Emily was suffering from, the only way to know that for certain would be if the author or narrator told us in the text. We can conclude, however, she was suffering from some form of mental illness. Miss Emily was seen as a recluse and oddRead More The Importance of Plot in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily1431 Words   |  6 Pages The Importance of Plot in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily In â€Å"A Rose For Emily†, by William Faulkner, plot plays an important role in how the story is played out. Faulkner does not use chronological order in this short story. Instead, he uses an order that has many twists and turns. It appears to have no relevance while being read, but in turn, plays an important role in how the story is interpreted by the reader. Why does Faulkner present the plot of this story in this manner? HowRead MoreAnalysis of William Faulkners A Rose for Emily Essay1187 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† In â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, William Faulkner uses symbolism, imagery, simile and tone. Faulkner uses these elements to lead his characters to an epiphany of letting go of out-dated traditions and customs. The resistance to change and loneliness are prominent themes within â€Å"A Rose for Emily†. Faulkner uses â€Å"A Rose for Emily† to caution his readers that things are not always what they appear to be. The tone of â€Å"A Rose for Miss Emily† couldRead More The Role of the Watch in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily1199 Words   |  5 PagesThe Role of the Watch in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily Even the casual reader of William Faulkner will recognize the element of time as a crucial one in much of the writers work, and the critical attention given to the subject of time in Faulkner most certainly fills many pages of criticism. A goodly number of those pages of criticism deal with the well-known short story, A Rose for Emily. Several scholars, most notably Paul McGlynn, have worked to untangle the confusing chronology