Misery In Emily's Life example essay topic

Aman Malhotra So Rich but yet so Poor It's a nice Sunday evening. You sit at home and watch a movie with your family. The basic theme of the story A rose for Emily shows how a man from a royal background still lives with his fake status and considers himself separate from those he calls the lower classes. But is he any different from the rest of us?

Even after modernization, should our society still be divided into classes? Doesn t the so-called social elite have relations like anyone else? William Faulkner depicts one representation of such declining aristocracy in A Rose for Emily. The story gives a brief account of the life and history of Emily Grierson, on eccentric old woman living in a small southern town in the 1930's. Emily, in this story, is a woman who has a very strong relationship with her father who taught her the values of the upper crust of society that she represents.

Emily, because of her love for her father, even after his death, lives life in the same royal way that she used to. She does not want to change with time even though her feelings for a small time constructor worker Homer Baron pull her to do so. The portrayal of Emily's character in this story represents a combination of female and male characteristics that show the extent of the influence her father had on her life. Emily's actions and motives are analyzed in the content of her self image by a member of the social elite who feels largely superior to the Malhotra 2 other town people who perpetuate this attitude to preserve there accustomed social stability (Allen 691).

Emily's ego provoked her to live a life of loneliness to a degree that she was never introduced to the concept of love in her life. Does that sound just? Does the mere fact of one's being rich restrict them to meeting only those who share the same kind of wealth? Personally, I say not. Mere economic discrepancy should not stop a person from interaction with society. A person might have a huge amount of accumulated wealth, but by the end of the day, he needs someone to be with.

If one lets their materialistic factors decide their choice in friends or love, they would never be content with life. As in the case of Emily, her refusal to be a part of her town left her to lead a life of loneliness and sorrow. The misery in Emily's life is no different than that of those elite people who raise their egos with their bank accounts. The lives of such people, in my opinion, do not remain blissful for a long time. No money or high status can fulfill the emotional needs that a person carries within himself.

Many a times people who look beyond this social distinction, and try to gel in with people from a supposed lower social group are not accepted within their own class. But is it worth being between those people who value someone not because of the person he is, but rather because of their status. Emily's attraction to a mere construction worker was nothing but the realization of her inner self that required more than the emptiness of her money. Emily's actions Malhotra 3 and motivations are analyzed in the context of her self image as a member of the social elite who feels herself superior to the other towns people who perpetuate this attitude to preserve their accustomed social stability (Allen 691-696). Such self-portrayal by a person is the main cause that our society is being divided into separate social groups. She decided to mend her ways just so she could be near her beloved Homer.

Her visits to Homer were met with surprise from the townspeople. They all felt that Emily had finally seen the faults of her ways and that she was on the track to leading a happy life with her newfound love. But their love story takes an unseen twist when Homer mysteriously disappears and Emily starts displaying her reserved attitude of the past. It was later discovered that Emily had murdered her one and only love and had kept him secretly hidden in her mansion. The strange behavior displayed by Emily throughout the entire story makes sense once one probes into her life. The sequence of events that took place in her life left her desperate and mentally confused.

Her father had created in her mind a sense of elitism hatred towards the outside world. She never left the compounds of her home as a child as her servants waited her on hands and foot. She had never experienced the power of love and the joy that it bought to life. The entry of Homer into her life forced her to rebel against the teachings of her father and adapt a lifestyle of normal people.

This left her feeling uncomfortable and morally unstable. On one hand she was determined to please her father by respecting his teachings and on the other hand she had to express her love Malhotra 4 towards Homer. She found a solution to her problem in taking Homers life. This helped her. I believe that Emily's royal life, as a child, was the main cause of her problems. She was like a frog in a well.

She was deprived of making contact with the outside world. She believed that the well was her entire universe. This psychological attitude pushed her towards her downfall. She may have been monetarily rich but at the same time she was always poor.

Bibliography

Allen, Dennis W. Horror and preserve delight: Faulkner's A Rose for Emily. Modern Fiction studies 30 (1984): 685-96 Garrison, Jr.
Joseph M. Bought Flowers in A Rose for Emily. Studies in short fiction 16 (1979): 341-44.
McGlynn, Paul D. The chronology of A Rose for Emily. Studies in short fiction 6 (1969): 461-62.
Stafford, T.J. Tobe's Significance in A Rose for Emily Modern Fiction Studies 14 (1968): 451-53.