Introduction
A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is a unique story, and experts classify it as a southern gothic because it contains themes of death, lost love, and murder. Faulkner wrote the book in 1930, and it provides readers with an understanding of the cultural and economic values of the 18th and 19th centuries. The story is about the mysterious life of Emily Grierson. The writer narrates the story of Emily through a series of flashbacks divided into five sections. The first section begins with the recent events of Emily’s funeral. The second section narrates how Emily denied an inquiry from officials who had gone to see her on behalf of the town residents who had complained about a powerful odor coming from her house (Faulkner, 1930). The narrator in the third section talks about the illness that Emily suffered from after her father’s death and her relationship with Homer. Finally, in the fourth and fifth sections, Faulkner narrates the fallout of the relationship between Homer and Emily, which led her to buy poison, kill him and live with his dead corps before her death at the age of seventy-four (Faulkner, 1930). This paper will discuss the analysis of the book on the economic and cultural values during that period, analyze how the story is a reflection and a criticism and how Faulkner provides the readers a clear view of the world.
Analysis of A Rose for Emily on the Social, Economic and Cultural Values
William fictioned this story during the period when the hierarchical class systems were in power. The upper class people had power over the low class individuals. This theme is portrayed in the story as Emily, born in a high class, acquires pride that ruins her life later in her social well being. Being a daughter of the ruling family, Emily lives in a secluded society with no other person to socialise with apart from her family members. The aspect restricts Emily from exploring the world after her fathers death. During the 1930s, the upper class individuals were the most elite and their lifestyle differed greatly with the other classes. Everything was available and social roles had individuals to perform them. Emily in the story is a victim of circumstance where she finds it hard to cope with changes after her fathers death. Due to the attitude of the upper class, Emily could not have married life as she did not acknowledge the men around. Ruling class families were rare in the state and no one could provide her needs in the same manner. This made Emily stay single throughout her life. As time passes by, events and situation changes, when Emily’s father died, she didn’t accept the misfortune that had befallen her. To her, the father was the only person in life whom she could rely and talk to. His death was a nightmare to her. This is the major reason behind Emily’s denial to accept his fathers death (Faulker, 1930). She was not able to bear the consequences of living alone without any other person in her life. This denial is manifested when her father passes on and does not show emotions of losing him when people condolences to her. The ruling class in America had workers who helped the family to perform the domestic tasks like cooking, maintaining the garden and doing any other assigned duties. The A Rose for Emily story portrays the same style of living. Emily was confirned in their house because she did not have any business outside. She spent months inside her comfort zone. This is shown in the story when Emily refuses to pay the tax like other citizens referring to a person who died more than ten years ago when they were exempted from paying it. Emily’s father passes on and because the community was not aware of his death, the smelling odour made the villagers suspicious and desired to find out. This means that she did not even interact with the domestic workers she had.
A Rose for Emily helps readers understand people’s economic and cultural values during the 18th and 19th centuries. Faulkner wrote the book in 1930, and philologists speculate that the story’s protagonist, Emily, died around that period. Faulkner sets the book in Jefferson, a government center of a fictional county in Mississippi (Tezcon, 2014). The events in A Rose for Emily took place during the Reconstruction period in the South, which was the period after the Civil War. During the Reconstruction period, southern states were free to govern their communities but had to eradicate slavery, swear their allegience to the Union and remunerate their war debts (Xia, 2020). In the book, Emily resists the inquiry of the new officials to pay her taxes because the former mayor had acquitted her from pay takes by claiming that her late father, Mr. Grierson, had lent the town a huge amount of money. This part reveals the requirement of the people at that time to pay war taxes.
The Southern states took advantage of their freedom to rule themselves after the Civil War and passed the black codes, which limited the rights of the freed blacks, and they were able to control and force them to provide manual labor (Xia, 2020). In A Rose for Emily, the Mayor, Colonel Sartoris, indicates that no black woman is allowed in the streets without an apron (Faulkner, 1930). That statement portrayed the racism that the blacks experienced during the 18th and 19th centuries in the South. In Faulkner’s story, Emily’s male servant was black. The judge when addressing the complaint about the odor from Emily’s house indicated “it’s probably just a snake or rat that nigger of hers killed in the yard. I’ll speak to him about it.” (Falkner, 1930 3). In that period, society viewed blacks as servants or whites’ properties. The story revealed the economic values of the people at that time. The economic structure was in the form of a hierarchy, with the upper class, referred to as the landed gentry being at the top and servants at the bottom. (Xia, 2020) Emily belonged to an upper-class family, and she and her father displayed the arrogance and superiority complex that goes with that class. Such economic structures were prevalent during the 18th and 19th centuries.
How A Rose for Emily a Reflection and a Criticism
A Rose for Emily is Faulkner’s reflection. William Faulkner was born in Oxford, which is the original model of Jefferson, the location the story took place. Faulkner’s grandfather had strong Southern values that made him respect the tradition (Xia, 2020). The grandfather also had a prominent position for an extended period. Faulkner also enjoyed reading western classics of Dickens, Shakespeare, Conrad, Hugo, Voltaire, Balzac, and others, which is a trait his mother had inspired. He also enjoyed listening to stories about the past, such as those by veterans of the Civil War. Faulkner’s family lived in a downturn due to the poor railway company operation, and the environment made him get stuck between remembering the beautiful past or seeking his identity (Xia, 2020). The dark and distant Southern tradition that people could not escape influenced Faulkner. The modernization of the north also attracted him. Faulkner criticizes the Southern tradition in A Rose for Emily, especially the economic structure. The tradition comprised of different hierarchical economic classes. Emily belonged to the upper class, which was the highest in the hierarchy. Society viewed blacks as servants, and the servant that worked in Emily’s house was black. The authority in the town did not have much control over the upper-class members. The officials visited Emily to request her to pay taxes, but after she declined, they took no action (Bai et al., 2020). Emily went to powerful poison and when asked by the druggist “ Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye until he looked away went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up.” (Faulkner, 1930 6). Because of her superior class, the chemist delivered it to her house, which she used to kill Homer.
How the Writer makes Opinions about the world clear to the Reader
The atmosphere and setting of A Rose for Emily make the world’s opinion clear to the reader by providing the background of the character’s beliefs and values and assisting the reader in understanding Emily’s and the townspeople’s motivation, actions, and reactions. The author also portrays the belief and values of the people of the South during the Reconstruction period and the economic structures present that Emily represented (Bai et al., 2020). By reading the story, the reader can understand what the world was like after the Civil War. The story also helps people appreciate where the world is currently as compared to where it was in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, one can marry or get married to any person of choice regardless of class or race. However, as illustrated in the book, when Emily’s father refused suitors for Emily that did not belong in their social class, economic status was a vital consideration in marriage and socialization.
Conclusion
A Rose for Emily is an exciting story by William Faulkner which helps the reader understand how life was in the South during the Reconstruction period. As illustrated in the story, people in high social classes were highly valued and above the authority. The people in high social classes comprised the whites while the blacks occupied the lower social classes because society viewed them as servants. Faulkner portrayed this when the mayor indicated that no black woman was allowed to the streets without an apron. The book makes the reader appreciate the strides that the world has taken.
References
Bai, X., Zhang, X., & Li, Y. (2020). An Analysis of Emily’s Characters in A Rose for Emily from the Perspective of Narration. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 11(4), 611-615.
Faulkner, W. (1930). A Rose for Emily.
Tezcan, T. (2014). A Stylistic analysis of A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner and its Turkish translation. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 158, 364-369.
Xia, H. O. U. (2019). A Study of Class Discrimination in A Rose for Emily From the Perspective of Western Marxist Criticism. Journal of Literature and Art Studies, 9(9), 929-934.
write