Genocide In Faulkner's Facade

Throughout Module 2, one theme in particular persisted distinctly in almost every single one of the various pieces. The whole concept of a façade is a facet that parallels in literature and in life. As humans, it is almost innate that we at one point or another create an outward appearance that is maintained to conceal a less pleasant reality. Specifically, this motif burgeoned in “A Rose for Emily”, “The Story of an Hour”, and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. Despite these three particular pieces were written numerous years apart, they all involve a person struggling with a façade. In “A Rose for Emily”, Faulkner creates Emily’s façade by strategically stating the town’s collective opinion of her, which in Emily’s case ultimately drives her crazy. The narrator of this piece explicitly describes Emily as a “tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation” (714). Furthermore, Emily exacerbates society’s opinion of herself by never mingling, thus allowing society to continue to believe she is this prim and proper daughter of an influential father. Faulkner develops this motif throughout the entire piece by repeatedly stating the town’s apocryphal opinion. Moving to “The Story of an Hour”, the façade corresponds to the front that many women in the same time …show more content…
For similarities, all three pieces include a person struggling with a façade and ultimately seeking happiness. Moreover, one of the biggest differences is that in “A Rose for Emily”, the façade is actually created by society and not the person, which is important because it could possibly impact Emily by unconsciously adhering to it. An additional difference is that in “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard overcomes her façade, but ultimately dies because of it. I think we should take that with a grain of salt though because overcoming her façade was not her intention, regaining her freedom