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Example research essay topic: Miss Emily House Rose For Emily - 2,179 words

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Rose For Emily A Rose For Emily was written by William Faulkner in 1931. Not only is this story sad, and in the end a bit horrific, but it appears to be somewhat autobiographical. It is written with a certain first-hand knowledge. There appears to be a direct link between Emily and the author, not the narrator, but the author, William Faulkner. Some indications of this relationship can be found in the characters and the setting. Mr.

Faulkner seemed to be at a low point in his life when he wrote this short story, and perhaps found a release by describing his struggle in a work of fiction. In A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, the author uses the element of time and history to tell the story of Emily Grierson. Emily attempts to resist the progression of time and modernization in the American south during the post-civil war era. Emily's struggle of transition from old south to new south values is portrayed in a unique story-telling style. Faulkner uses many symbolic meanings associated with Emily, in relation to time and history, to decipher and interpret Emily's life. He also manipulates his story by offering key incidents out of chronological order.

The authors use of these techniques is particularly effective in bestowing his perception of Emily upon his readers. In A Rose For Emily, Emily Grierson is described in her younger days as having a slender figure, and in one instance being compare to an angel. She may have been described this way, because Faulkner thought highly of himself in his younger years. But in her later years, Emily is described as, ... a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head. Her skeleton was small and spare; perhaps that is why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her.

She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. With age, Faulkner had become a wealthy man, but also began to gain weight. During this dark time, he probably thought of himself this way; old, depressed, and worn down by lifes long struggles. The two also endured similar love lives that ultimately ended in pain.

Faulkner himself lost his first love to another man. Her family kept her from William because they thought the other man would make a better husband. In Emily's case her father turned away many young suiter's of whom she could have had her pick and then her first love abandoned her shortly after her fathers death. Her next love turned out to be a homosexual, who enjoyed spending much of his time drinking with younger men in the neighborhood.

Rather than be abandoned again, and robbed of her one last chance at happiness, she secretly married him, poisoned him with arsenic, and kept his body locked in her upstairs bedroom for decades. There he remained until after her death when neighbors found his decaying body. The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace... What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust. In a not so extreme fashion, Faulkner, after the loss of his first love, never went looking for love again, but rather engaged in a series of affairs. Parting from the dreariness of the story, both Emily and Faulkner were considered to be artistic.

As a child Emily drew a picture described only as, On a tarnished guilt easel before the fireplace stood a crayon portrait of Miss Emily's father. Even though the portrait wasnt described as anything great, it must have had an important meaning because it is mentioned in the story three times. In her forties she also instructed young women in china painting out of a studio she created in her home. William demonstrated artistic talent at a young age, drawing and writing poetry, but around sixth grade he began to grow increasingly bored with his studies. Much like how Emily showed artistic talent when she was a little girl, but drew away from it until her forties, when she began to teach. Faulkner, also did not start using his talents until later in life.

Emily, not by her own efforts, seemed to be the talk of the town. All the other people in the story could seem to do nothing but speak of her. They were hypocritical of everything. The women hated her when she was beautiful and rich and yet when she lost all those she cared for they pitied her and still gossiped behind her back.

Even after her death, Emily remained to be the most famous person in that town. Faulkner chased this fame. He wrote great works of fiction and achieved more in a matter of decades than most writers achieve in a lifetime. Since his early years in the airforce, he liked the attention he received from others. He even bought uniforms for airforce positions he did not earn just to have his pictures made in them. He also, after getting an honorable discharge, adored the attention from telling untrue or exaggerated stories about his career in the Royal Air Force in Canada.

Another similarity between the story and reality was the setting. Emily lived in a small town. Her home is described as, ... a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires, and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street... only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores.

Faulkner's home is described as, ... a decrepit antebellum house in Oxford... it lacked plumbing, electricity, and was in a general state of disrepair. These are very similar homes in very similar small towns.

It is also interesting, that the story takes place in the south, and Faulkner lived in the south at this time. They both spent the rest of their adult lives in these houses. Undoubted, it should be assumed that this story is a reflection on William Faulkner's own life. There is certainly enough evidence to support this theory. Emily lived the dreary and sufferable life Faulkner felt he had up to the point of writing this story. They both were attractive in their youth, then their beauty decreased as they grew older.

Both had failed attempts at love and eventually gave up trying to find true love. Although neither would have had a difficult time of it. Emily and Faulkner demonstrated artistic talents at very young ages, but did not pursue them until later in life. Emily's talents lying in drawing and painting while Faulkner's in poetry and other works of fiction, such as this story.

Living the majority of their lives in small, fairly rural towns. Each living in large homes they could not afford due to things like; creditors and numerous dependants. In a statement from Faulkner about this story he stated, ... it was a young girl that just wanted to be loved... in which he was in conflict with himself...

It seems, by his own admission, that he wanted exactly what he told of Emily wanting. Faulkner begins to foreshadow Emily's character by describing her house; he associates the symbolic use of Emily's house to that of her own character. Faulkner first describes the house as stubborn and coquettish and an eyesore among eyesores. This description gives the reader the impression that Emily's house, much like Emily, was a burden.

The word coquettish suggests the shyness of Emily and her attempt to shut out the rest of the town. Faulkner's statement about the house it smelled of dust and disuse reinforces the link between Emily and her house. The fact that Emily never maintained her house and refused to post a mailbox and an address shows her struggle with modernization. Inside the walls of this stubborn and coquettish home, lives a woman struggling with the progression of time. As the town progresses and modernizes, Miss Emily's house remains persistent, much like Emily herself. Miss Emily is also described as a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head.

Faulkner effectively uses symbols within this description to paint a more vivid picture of Emily to the reader. Traditionally, in the old south people wore black while they were grieving the death of a loved one. The color black, in reference to Emily's description, can be symbolically interpreted as Emily's unwillingness to accept her fathers death. The cane Emily uses is a symbol of her physical weakness. Faulkner imposes the picture of a frail woman by describing how she leaned on the cane.

The mystery of the descending gold chain is then revealed; Then they could hear the invisible watch ticking at the end of the gold chain. This invisible ticking symbolizes Emily's reluctance to observe the passing of time as generations succeed each other. Faulkner's use of intertwining symbols with the physical description allows the reader to develop their own perception of Emily. Emily's reluctance to change is symbolized by her refusal to pay delinquent taxes. When the representatives of her town waited on her concerning her taxes, she declared that she had no taxes in Jefferson. Emily based this belief on a verbal declaration made by Colonel Satoris.

The Colonels declaration had been pitted against modernization. This caused Emily to react see Colonel Satoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson. The Colonel had already been dead for ten years, but Emily refused to acknowledge his death. The refusal to acknowledge the Colonels death symbolizes Emily's failure to accept the progression of time. As well as ignoring the Colonels death, Emily tried to ignore Homers and her fathers.

The reaction to these deaths is almost child-like. When children lose a loved one, these children try to convince themselves that the deceased is not dead. In a sense the child attempts to stop time. Much like the child, Emily attempts to put a halt on time. Emily's refusal to accept the fact that things change as time progresses is symbolized through her reaction to these deaths. The very old men-some in their brushed Confederate uniforms-on the porch and the lawn, talking of Miss Emily as if she had been a contemporary of theirs, believing that they had danced with her and courted her perhaps, confusing time with its mathematical progression.

This quotation strengthens Faulkner's ability to symbolize not only Emily's struggle with time, but also the struggle all seniors experience with the progression of time. William Faulkner manipulated this story to keep the reader from imposing judgement. Faulkner manipulated this story by offering key incidents out of chronological order. The story first starts with Emily's funeral.

At the funeral, Faulkner describes the attitudes of the men at the funeral towards Emily; respectful affection for a fallen monument. This excerpt serves to give the reader a discriminating first glimpse of Emily's characteristics. His style of writing can be linked to Quentin Tarantino, one of todays great movie directors. Tarantino used this same style in two of his blockbuster hits, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. Much like Tarantino, Faulkner arranged his story like pieces of a puzzle.

He only revealed the pieces he wanted you to see, when he wanted you to see them. This finished puzzle then subjects the reader to dissect and interpret Emily's life the way he wanted you to see it. Emily was a fallen monument of Southern aristocracy. She was a product of an earlier era and seemed to surround herself with constant reminders of the past.

Faulkner's effective use of symbols in the story allowed the reader to develop their own perceptions of Emily. He used symbols associated with time, history and progression to describe Emily's ancient-like characteristics, as well as fundamental incidents. The details of the story are revealed slowly and out of chronological order to build a sense of suspicion before the killing of Homer Baron are climaxed. After we are introduced to these symbolic meanings of Emily's life, then we can begin to properly analyze Emily's motives. Bibliography Faulkner, William.

A Rose For Emily. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 5 th ed.

Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 1999. Padgett, John B. William Faulkner. World Wide Web. 29 Mar. 1999. < web >. Allen, Dennis W. "Horror and Perverse Delight: Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily. '" Modern Fiction Studies 30 (Winter 1984): 685 - 96.

Clausius, Claudia. "'A Rose for Emily': The Faulknerian Construction of Meaning. " Approaches to Teaching Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. Ed. Stephen Hahn and Arthur F. Kinney.

New York: MLA,


Free research essays on topics related to: william faulkner, miss emily house, rose for emily, fallen monument, emily grierson

Research essay sample on Miss Emily House Rose For Emily

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