Town And Emily example essay topic

A Rose for Emily William Faulkner's short story, "A Rose for Emily' is a comparison of the past to the present. Emily is a picture of the past, a monument that had "fallen' in death. The town itself is the symbol of "the next generation, with its more modern ideas. ' The story begins at the end of Emily's life, her funeral.

The narrator, a towns person, tells the story by connections, where one thought triggers another as opposed to a chronological viewpoint. When the narrator mentions Miss Emily as a "sort of hereditary obligation' it prompts the memory of the past when Colonel Sartor is remitted her taxes. As generations of alderman change, so do the town standards, and in attempt to collect these taxes, a dispute arises. With this difference of opinion, we get our first indication of Emily's character. Her home was dimly lit and dusty with a damp smell. She was pale and obese, "bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue.

' Her persona matched that of her dark house, "her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal ' as if she was mentally in some far off place. In the confrontation with the authorities, she simply states she has "no taxes in Jefferson. ' There was no discussion, no debate to her. This was fact and she proceeded to send them away. She was just as defiant when her father died.

For three days after her father's death, she insisted that "her father was not dead. ' When the town brought in Homer Barron to do town renovations, we see a little of Emily's social side. Homer and Miss Emily were seen "on Sunday afternoons driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy. ' Soon the town meddles in the affair and calls on Emily's relatives to intervene. Emily was raised in a high social position, "noblesse oblige' and the town thought the situation with Homer was immoral. Eventually two of her cousins came to visit her.

When she had begun to see Homer, the town talked about them getting married, then about Homer not being "a marrying man. ' The narrator implies that Homer was gay and that the whole situation was not accepted. A historical approach with the view of cultural criticism can be seen in this story. Emily was a woman born in a time where her place in society defined who she was. She was born a noble woman, and therefore society could not accept her going below her standards a having relationship with Homer. Even though today, our society seems more accepting of differences, we still have opposition [gays, marriage outside of your racial and financial class, etc.] The ladies of the town said, "it was a disgrace to the town ' and sent the Baptist minister to confront her.

Apparently, the confrontation did not go well because the minister "refused to go back again. ' We see another instance of Emily's defiance when she visits the town druggist and requests poison with "cold, haughty black eyes. ' The town in their gossip immediately assumed that "She will kill herself. ' Then Homer disappears forever from town and Emily closed herself up in her house for some time. She reappeared once more for a period of six to seven years and taught china painting.

She retreated again to her house, alone except for her manservant that went in and out with food baskets. "She passed from generation to generation And so she died. ' Thus the narrator returns to the beginning of his story, the funeral. After the funeral, the town opened a "room above the stairs which no one had seen in forty years, and which would have to be forced. ' Finally, a long overdue question was answered, the whereabouts of Homer, "The man himself lay in the bed. ' Emily had been abandoned by her father and we are left to assume that she could not handle being left again.

When she was threatened with abandonment and shame, she retreated behind closed doors and kept Homer with her via poison. A psychological approach to this story signifies the repressiveness one falls into when faced with the expectation of being alone. Emily did not deal well with change but instead embraced the past, became trapped in it, then died in it.