"A Rose for Emily"

Paper Summary:

This paper focuses on characterization techniques used in "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. The author uses narrator biases and symbolism to illustrate the character of Emily and to give us an insight into her decayed mind. William Faulkner's short story, "A Rose for Emily" is not as much about murder and mystery as it is about a woman's struggle against time and future where the narrator is used as a tool for effective characterization.

From the Paper:

"The struggle between past and future was actually taking place in those days, people were rapidly leaving small Mississippi town to move to large cities to explore better job opportunities. While this change was taking place outside, it was the world within that required dramatic readjustments. Those who failed to make these adjustments suffered from numerous problems as past clashed with the future and their old values were threatened by the strong winds of change. Imagine what effect this must have had on people like Emily. Faulkner has first hand experience of this massive change and understood the emotional and psychological problems that were associated with change. In this story he has tried to highlight those problems and has made it clear that it is important to come to terms with reality as and when it changes because otherwise one might become a living corpse."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily."Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. New York: Mc Graw-Hill,2004.73-79
• Renee R. Curry. Gender and Authorial Limitation in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily. The Mississippi Quarterly; Volume: 47. Issue: 3. 1994. 391+.
• Powell, Janice A. "Changing Portraits in "A Rose for Emily"" SMSU http://www2.semo.edu/cfs/powell.html (Nov 27, 2005)
• Rodriguez, Celia An analysis of "A Rose for Emily" An American Literature http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/reader/south/rodriguezerose.html (Nov 27, 2002)
• Anonymous - A Rose for Emily. [Online website] Available from: http://www.enotes.com/rose-emily/ [Accessed on: 27/11/2005]

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