A-rose-for-Emily文章赏析.doc

Analysis of A Rose for Emily姓名：* 学号：* 班级* Like so many American writers, Faulkner found himself again and again writing short stories, some of which are considered as equally important as his best novels. Good as his short stories are, they seem always at the threshold of being absorbed into the Yoknapatawpha saga that legendary matrix which is Faulkners real achievement. However, for a beginner of Faulkner scholarship, his short stories may well be an easy start. “A Rose for Emily” is Faulkners first short story published in 1930. Set in the town of Jefferson in Yoknopatawpha, the story focuses on Emily Grierson, an eccentric spinster who refuses to accept the passage of time, or the inevitable change and loss that accompanies it. Simple as it is in plot, the story is pregnant with meaning. As a descendent of the Southern aristocracy, Emily is typical of those in Faulkners Yoknapatwapha stories who are the symbols of the Old South but the prisoners of the past. In this story, Faulkner makes best use of the Gothic devices in narration, and, the deformed personality and abnormality Emily demonstrates in her relationship with her sweetheart is dramatized in such a way that we feel shocked and thrilled as we read along.A Rose for Emily recounts the story of an eccentric spinster, Emily Grierson. An unnamed narrator details the strange circumstances of Emilys life and her odd relationships with her father, who controlled and manipulated her, and her lover, the Yankee road worker Homer Barron. When Homer Barron threatens to leave her, she is seen buying arsenic, which the townspeople believe she will commit suicide with. After this, Homer Barron is not heard from again, and is assumed to have returned north. Though she does not commit suicide, the townspeople of Jefferson continue to gossip about her and her eccentricities, citing her familys history of mental illness. She is heard from less and less, and rarely ever leaves her home. Unbeknownst to the townspeople until her death, in her upstairs room she hides all day with the corpse of Homer Barron, which explains the horrid stench that emits from Miss Emilys house.The storys complexities have inspired critics while casual readers found the work one of Faulkners most accessible (and shortest) works. The popularity of the story was due in no small part to its gruesome ending.The story explores many themes, including the society of the South at that time, the role of women in the South, and extreme psychosis.In the story, the townspeoples points of views on Emily actually reflect the societys value at that moment to some extent. Although the townspeople dont have direct contact with Emily, their views on her and her family greatly affect her life. Their praises and admiration influence her father to keep her sheltered longer than she actually needs to be. Her father controls her thoughts and lifestyle. Emily feels that she is released when her father is dead. She dives into love with Homer and neglects peoples judgments on her. When she realizes that Homer intends to leave her again, she makes sure that he would always be with her, whether he is alive or not. In his death Emily finds eternal love which is something no one could ever take away from her. William Faulkner regarded the past as a repository of great images of human effort and integrity, but also as the source of a dynamic evil. He was aware of the romantic pull of the past and realized that submission to this romance of the past was a form of death (Warren, 269). In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner contrasted the past with the present era. The past was represented in Emily herself, in Colonel Sartoris, in the old Negro servant, and in the Board of Alderman who accepted the Colonels attitude toward Emily and rescinded her taxes. The present was expressed chiefly through the words of the unnamed narrator. The new Board of Aldermen, Homer Barron (the representative of Yankee attitudes toward the Griersons and thus toward the entire South), and in what is called the next generation with its more modern ideas all represented the present time period (Norton Anthology, 2044). Miss Emily was referred to as a fallen monument in the story (Norton Anthology, 2044). She was a monument of Southern gentility, an ideal of past values but fallen because she had shown herself susceptible to death (and decay). The description of her house lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores represented a juxtaposition of the past and present and was an emblematic presentation of Emily herself. I. The Symbol of Miss Emily. In this short story, Miss Emily is a static character who refused to believe that the times were changing and refused to change into the new society. As a Mississippi Southern Belle, she was born and raised in a wonderful state. She is considered a “monument” of southern manners and an ideal of past values. Her southern heritage and points of view are represented through her actions. Her stubbornness and unrelenting attitude are very strong characteristics of the southern heritage, so Emily symbolizes the old southern tradition; her death symbolizes the collapse of the old southern tradition. The Symbol of the House.In this short story, Faulkner applies symbolism to compare the Grierson house with Emilys physical deterioration, her shift in social standing, and her unwillingness to accept changing. When compared chronologically, it is used to symbolize Emilys physical attributes. And Faulkner also sets the house as a symbol for Emilys change in social status. When Miss Emily died, her and her house both become symbols of their dying generation. The Symbol of Rose.William Faulkners symbolic use of the “rose” is essential to the storys theme of Miss Emilys self-isolation. The rose is often a symbol of love, and portrays an everlasting beauty. And for Emily, the “rose” clearly defines something sacred. It is symbolizes the love between Emily and Homer Barron, and Homer Barron was Emilys only “rose”. The Symbol of the Small Town.Most of Faulkners works are set in the American South with his emphasis on the southern subjects and consciousness. In the short story, the small town does not only reveal the social and economic history of Yoknapatawpha Country, but also symbolizes the social and economic history of the south. The Symbol of Homer Barron.Homer Barron who came from the north represented the Yankee attitudes toward the Griersons and also toward the entire south. He was very adaptable to change. So he symbolizes the north and the next generation with its more modern ideas. The Symbol of the Negro-Tobe.Although Faulkner doesnt write a lot about him, he is not a nobody. Because of the slavery system, Tobe lives a walking corpse life and spends his time quietly. He has no freedom of speech and action, so he talked to no one, probably not even to Emily, for his voice had grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse. As matter of fact, we can say, the Negro suffered from aphasia under the long pressure. And only after Emily died, did the Negro become freemen. So Emilys death symbolizes the collapse of the old tradition, and the disappearance of Tobe symbolizes the disintegration of Keeping Slavery System.