I choose to explore William Faulkner’s tale, “A Rose for Emily”. The two principal themes I am writing about is the “Old South” vs. the “New South” and the portrait of human loneliness and desperation.
Emily’s house is very much like herself. Her house is a symbol of the dying world of the old south, as the rest of the developing town represents the new south. The house’s architecture and style is from the 1870s and much has changed by the time the story took place. The town describes her house as “stubborn and coquettish decay. . . an eyesore among eyesore” ( ). In a way, the house is somewhat a simile of Emily to the town’s residents. Her house is a preservation of the past and the souths old values and is now becoming out of place as the town develops. As miss Emily got older, “The newer generation became the backbone and the spirit of the town” ( ). She is out of touch with the reality that constantly threatens to break through her carefully sealed perimeters, “when the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to it.” ( ). She clearly does not want to let go of the …show more content…
Emily lived by herself after her father died. Her house was the only thing she had left. Emily’s house also represents loneliness and desperation. Even when her father was alive she still grew up lonely, “we remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” ( ). Assuming her father was a strict and selfish man that it is the reason why “when she got to be thirty [she] was still single” ( ). After her sweetheart Homer Barron suddenly disappears, she chooses not to step foot out of her house for many years. As years go by, her house is the only one left on the block while a new generation of houses starts being
Emily’s house is very much like herself. Her house is a symbol of the dying world of the old south, as the rest of the developing town represents the new south. The house’s architecture and style is from the 1870s and much has changed by the time the story took place. The town describes her house as “stubborn and coquettish decay. . . an eyesore among eyesore” ( ). In a way, the house is somewhat a simile of Emily to the town’s residents. Her house is a preservation of the past and the souths old values and is now becoming out of place as the town develops. As miss Emily got older, “The newer generation became the backbone and the spirit of the town” ( ). She is out of touch with the reality that constantly threatens to break through her carefully sealed perimeters, “when the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to it.” ( ). She clearly does not want to let go of the …show more content…
Emily lived by herself after her father died. Her house was the only thing she had left. Emily’s house also represents loneliness and desperation. Even when her father was alive she still grew up lonely, “we remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” ( ). Assuming her father was a strict and selfish man that it is the reason why “when she got to be thirty [she] was still single” ( ). After her sweetheart Homer Barron suddenly disappears, she chooses not to step foot out of her house for many years. As years go by, her house is the only one left on the block while a new generation of houses starts being