This essay analyzes the short story 'A Rose for Emily' by William Faulkner, exploring the social conditions and suspense in the southern United States. The story revolves around the life of Miss Emily Grierson, an aristocratic woman who leads a life of isolation and eventually commits a shocking crime.
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Running head: A ROSE FOR EMILY A ROSE FOR EMILY Name of the Student Name of the University Author Note
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1A ROSE FOR EMILY Background The story which has been taken up for analysis in this particular essay is titled, ‘A Rose for Emily’ authored by William Cuthbert Faulkner. He is a noble prize winning American literary artist who is best known for his signature style of imbibing the social life and the social conditions that prevailed in the southern part of the United States of America. The chosen short story is also based on the life in the southern part of the United States of America with particular reference to the aristrocracy and the elitism that the people maintained in the region. In the chosen short story the class division and the class solidarity which prevailed in the southern part of the United States of America has been showcased which shall be discussed in the following sections. Summary The chosen short story tends to be amalgamation of two very distinct themes. One is pertaining to the social conditions that prevailed in the southern part of the United States of America which was blatantly white supremacist in its orientation. The second one being concerned about suspense is more pertinent as a genre in the field of literature and has literary significance much more than any social or political importance. The plot of the short story revolves around the life of an aristrocratic lady by the name Miss Emily Grierson who led the life of isolation under the strict disciplinarian father of her. When she had attained the marriageable age her father had jeopardized her prospects of finding a suitor as all were rejected on grounds that none were eligible for her. After the death of her father she fell in love with a man named Homer Barron who was much lower than her in social
2A ROSE FOR EMILY hierarchy. The town dwellers scorned her courtship with him and he too was disinterested in marriage. Upon the death of Miss Emily it was found that she had killed Homer Barron whose skeletal remains were discovered from her estate. Main Thesis or Idea of the Author “in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the mayor--he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron-remitted her taxes(Faulkner, Carradine & Huston, 1958)” This particular quotation shows the class division that prevailed in the region and the negroes being second class citizens of the nation. “Colonel Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect that Miss Emily's father had loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business, preferred this way of repaying.(Faulkner, Carradine & Huston, 1958)” This quotation shows the solidarity among the white race who ensured that their brethren remained safe and free from troubles even if that necessitated indulgence in corruption. “She carried her head high enough--even when we believed that she was fallen. (Faulkner, Carradine & Huston, 1958)” The main idea of the short story was to show the futility of the class division that existed in the region and the nation at large. The quotation shows that the elitism which Miss Emily and her likes put up was a mere pretence. Her father’s obsession with status was of no avail and the irony lies in the fact that she was forced to choose someone below her status whom she could nit get unfortunately.
3A ROSE FOR EMILY References Faulkner, W., Carradine, J., & Huston, A. (1958).A rose for Emily(pp. 170-179). Paderborn, De: Verlag F. Schöningh.