A Rose for Emily Analysis
A Rose for Emily Analysis: The Main Elements
A lot of nice stories begin with usual literature components: the initial scene, a conflict, complexity, culmination, suspense atmosphere, outcome or literature denouement, and the final conclusion in the end. Looks like a standard recipe for easy cooking. However, some talented writers increase the recipe’s length by adding some unexpected ingredients.
A Rose for Emily Critical Analysis: There is no room for personal opinion!
"A Rose for Emily" was written by William Faulkner. In fact, it is a mysterious short story in atmosphere of Southern American gothic. To increase the atmosphere of suspense and mystery, authors used various methods such as prediction and an irregular time sequence to change the story’s perception and mood. There is some criticism that supposed:
- The Faulkner's story is quite similar to that of his own in his young age. As we mentioned above, the story’s Southern American atmosphere reflects all the events of early 1900’s, Civil War, Depression. The story shows us that the resistance to death will lead to bad and miserable consequences. In other words, author tried to say that people have to admit the changes that they faced during their lives;
- The Faulkner's story is quite controversial, but also it is highly discussed in numerous high schools and colleges due to its depth conception. "A Rose for Emily" let the reader to fully submerge in the story. The readers could imagine themselves as the story’s characters, as the town’s citizens who discuss the rumors about Emily’s mysterious life;
- Often Faulkner uses the covered allusions of foreshadowing, however the reader could not notice them during the first reading. For instance, under the word "bloated" he hides the symbol of death, or the word "arsenic" characterized as the approaching death. When you read the story at first you do not even suppose about the name of the victim. Of course, the naïve reader would think the Emily is going to commit suicide, however, the reader will receive a natural surprise in the end of the story;
- The story reflects the traditions of those times, describing the social relations between the human classes. There are the clear and sharp relationships between black and white American population, between rich and poor families, between the citizens of South and North America that distinctly depicted in "A Rose for Emily".
A Rose for Emily Analysis: Main Characters
As analysts, we should consider two main characters of the Faulkner’s story:
- Emily Grierson – the main character of the story. She is quite mysterious and person-of-few-words figure. Emily represents the features of the stereotypical southern “crank”: desperate, absolutely depressed figure - the symbol of weird behavior. Emily follows her personal idea of law and moral deeds, and she wants to live life surrounded by her personal terms and conditions;
- Homer Barron. In the beginning this characters attracts the reader’s attention. Homer is a personification of modern being with its special attitude to industrialization. Also he depicted as the power of progress that alters the traditional human values and arouses the chaos among all traditionalists.