English 11 Literature #21

Mr. Rinka

William Faulkner“A Rose for Emily”

William Faulknerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Faulkner

William Cuthbert Faulkner (1897 – 1962) was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi.

Faulkner wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career. He is primarily known and acclaimed for his novels and short stories, many of which are set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, a setting Faulkner created based on Lafayette County, where he spent

most of his childhood. Faulkner is considered one of the most important writers of the Southern literature of the United States, along with Mark Twain, Robert Penn Warren, Flannery O'Connor, Truman Capote, Eudora Welty, Thomas Wolfe, Harper Lee and Tennessee Williams. Though his

work was published as early as 1919, and largely during the 1920’s and 1930’s, Faulkner was relatively unknown until receiving the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. Two of his works, A Fable (1954) and his last novel The Reivers (1962) won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

In 1998, the Modern Library ranked his 1929 novel The Sound and the Fury sixth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century; also on the list were 1930's As I Lay Dying and Light in August (1932).

“A Rose for Emily” Characters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rose_for_Emily

Emily Grierson An eccentric recluse, Emily is a mysterious figure who changes from a vibrant and hopeful young girl to a cloistered and secretive old woman. Devastated and alone after her father’s death, she is an object

of pity for the townspeople. After a life of having potential suitors rejected by her father, she spends time after his death with a newcomer, Homer Barron, although the chances of his marrying her decrease as the years pass. She ultimately poisons Homer and seals his corpse into an upstairs room.

Homer Barron A foreman from the North. Homer is a large man with a dark complexion, a booming voice, and light-colored eyes. A gruff and demanding boss, he wins many admirers in Jefferson because of his gregarious nature and good sense of humor. He develops an interest in Emily and

takes her for Sunday drives in a yellow-wheeled buggy. Despite his attributes, the townspeople view him as a poor, if not scandalous, choice for a mate. He disappears in Emily's house and decomposes in an attic bedroom after she poisons him. She sleeps with the corpse of Homer.

Judge Stevens The 80 year old mayor of Jefferson, Judge Stevens attempts to handle the complaints about the smell coming from the Grierson property. To be respectful of Emily’s pride and former position in the community, he and the aldermen decide to sprinkle lime on the property at night.

Mr. Grierson Emily's father. Mr. Grierson, is a controlling, looming presence even in death, and the community clearly sees his lasting influence over Emily. He deliberately thwarts Emily's attempts to find a husband in order to keep her under his control. We get glimpses of him in the story: in

the crayon portrait kept on the gilt-edged easel in the parlor, and silhouetted in the doorway, horsewhip in hand, having chased off another of his daughter's suitors.

Tobe An African American who is Emily's servant. Tobe, his voice supposedly rusty from lack of use, is the only lifeline Emily has to the outside world and he cares for her and tends to her needs. After her death, he walks out the back door and never returns.

Colonel Sartoris A former mayor of Jefferson, Colonel Sartoris absolves Emily of any tax burden after the death of her father, which later causes consternation to succeeding generations of town leaders.

“A Rose for Emily” Summary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rose_for_Emily

The story is told in nonlinear narrative and begins at the huge funeral for Miss Emily Grierson. Nobody has been to her house in ten years, except for her black servant. Her house is old, but was once the best house around. The town had a

special relationship with Miss Emily ever since it decided to stop billing her for taxes in 1894. But, the "newer generation" wasn't happy with this arrangement, and so they paid a visit to Miss Emily and tried to get her to pay the debt. She refused to acknowledge that the old arrangement might not work any

more, and flatly refused to pay. Thirty years before, the tax collecting townspeople had a strange encounter with Miss Emily about a bad smell at her place. This was about two years after her father died, and a short time after her lover disappeared from her life. The stench got stronger and complaints

were made, but the authorities didn't want to confront Emily about the problem. So, they sprinkled lime around the house, and the smell was eventually gone. Everybody felt sorry for Emily when her father died. He left her with the house, but no money. When he died, Emily refused to admit it for

three whole days. The town didn't think she was "crazy then," but assumed that she did not want to let go of her dad. Next, the story doubles back and tells us that not too long after her father died Emily begins dating Homer Barron, who is in town on a sidewalk-building project. The town heavily disapproves of the affair

and brings Emily's cousins to town to stop the relationship. One day, Emily is seen buying arsenic at the drugstore, and the town thinks that Homer is giving her "The Shaft," and that she plans to kill herself. When she buys a bunch of men's items, they think that she and Homer are going to get married.

Homer leaves town, then the cousins leave town, and then Homer comes back. He is last seen entering Miss Emily's house. Emily herself rarely leaves the home after that, except for a period of half a dozen years when she gives painting lessons. Her hair turns gray, she gains weight, and she eventually dies in a

downstairs bedroom that hasn't seen light in many years. The story cycles back to where it began, at her funeral. Tobe, Ms. Emily's servant, lets in the town women and then leaves by the backdoor forever. After the funeral, and after Emily is buried, the townspeople go upstairs to break into the room that they know has

been closed for forty years. Inside, they find the corpse of Homer Barron, rotting in the bed. On the dust of the pillow next to Homer they find an indentation of a head, and there, in the indentation, a long, gray hair.

“A Rose for Emily”

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/wf_rose.html

“A Rose for Emily” Discussion

What is the theme in a “Rose for Emily”?Change and our reaction to it is a major theme in this story. Since many feel a lack of control over an ever-changing life, people often try to control aspects of life so that they feel more secure.

Emily’s father imposed control over Emily even in death by leaving her only the house. Emily imposed control over Homer by not letting him leave and killing him. Colonel Sartoris imposed control on the town by honoring a strange tax-free exemption for Emily.

Tobe maintained control over his old life by remaining in service to Emily.What happens when people try to fight change? Time takes its revenge. People grow old and die. Houses deteriorate. Neighborhoods evolve. Corpses decay. New generations fail to uphold the traditions of the past.

Is there a connection to the theme and the changes in the South?There are distinct connections to the resistance to change and what the South was going through. This story covers three generations of a southern family that begins before the Civil War and carries on into the 1930’s. Trying to hold onto old traditions that no longer fit the situation is evident

throughout. The house that Emily’s lives in is a reflection of the old South and its deterioration magnifies the changes that region goes through. The mayor had even forbade Black woman from walking the streets as he tried to respect the agreement that was supposedly made between the town and Emily’s father. The

cover up of the smell around Emily’s house is similar to the cover up or denial that the South was truly changing. Even Tobe, Emily’s man servant, was a denial that slavery was abolished. What could not be denied is the fact that the old South was dead. The third generation manifests this as they demand answers to the

mysterious 30 year isolation of Emily.

What are some of the ironic points of this story? It is very ironic that Homer happened to be a Yankee in the south and fell victim to the Southern woman who refused him to change his mind. It is also ironic that the subject of death and taxes play a role in this story because both “death and

taxes” have been recognized as never changing facts of life. There is also additional irony in the fact that there are no roses in this story. The reader does learn that the curtains in Emily’s bedroom where the corpse lies are faded rose colored and the lamp shade is as well. So, that color is associated with her wedding suite.

Last, it is very ironic that Homer disappeared from sight and shortly after a smell of decay was detected around the house, but the mayor simply chose to cover up the smell. Readers might surmise that people suspected murder all along. Even the purchase of the arsenic was questioned but then ignored.

Discussion

In a Socratic Seminar explore this topic:

Do you feel any sympathy for Emily even though she murdered Homer? Why or why not?

Additional Assignment #1

Read & listen to William Faulkner’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech.William Faulkner Nobel Prize Acceptance Speechhttp://quietube2.com/v.php/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxM0C7zjoAc&feature=related

Additional Assignment #2

Journal #17:

Describe a change in your life that you found most difficult to accept.

English 11 Literature #21

Mr. Rinka

William Faulkner“A Rose for Emily”