“We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness.” This quote from Albert Schweitzer represents the isolation prevalent in virtually every community on the planet. No matter how unified a society may appear each individual member is still alone and isolated in their own minds’. In fact, this isolation is also emphasized in the community in William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily”. This literary work of art takes the reader into a town that appears to be united as one, but there is a single outlier that everyone finds to be mysterious. The outlier is a woman named Emily Grierson, and she lives in an old house with her servant who takes care of her. Raised in seclusion by an overbearing father, Emily learns to live in
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For example, when the narrator is describing the area around the Grierson house he says, “But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily’s house was left” (516). This quote from the story paints a picture in the reader’s head of a decrepit, lonely house in which the homes surrounding it have fallen victim to the economic needs of the South. It also constructs a physical setting that may double as a metaphor for Miss Emily where the house represents her presence in the town. Additionally, Faulkner enhances the setting of isolation when he writes, “When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily” (518). This excerpt creates a setting in which Miss Emily is isolated from the rest of the town emotionally. The pity they felt for her gives the reader another example of how she is separated from everyone else other than the physical barrier of her house standing alone. Furthermore, the author does an impeccable job of constructing a setting of isolation when he writes, “We did not even know she was sick; we had long since given up trying to get any information from the Negro” (521). This direct example from …show more content…
This lingering, malicious sense of isolation is depicted in such a superb fashion that it mirrors the isolation prevalent in many cultures today. No matter where one is in the world, there is always the potential for them to feel alone in a crowded
For example, when the narrator is describing the area around the Grierson house he says, “But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily’s house was left” (516). This quote from the story paints a picture in the reader’s head of a decrepit, lonely house in which the homes surrounding it have fallen victim to the economic needs of the South. It also constructs a physical setting that may double as a metaphor for Miss Emily where the house represents her presence in the town. Additionally, Faulkner enhances the setting of isolation when he writes, “When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily” (518). This excerpt creates a setting in which Miss Emily is isolated from the rest of the town emotionally. The pity they felt for her gives the reader another example of how she is separated from everyone else other than the physical barrier of her house standing alone. Furthermore, the author does an impeccable job of constructing a setting of isolation when he writes, “We did not even know she was sick; we had long since given up trying to get any information from the Negro” (521). This direct example from …show more content…
This lingering, malicious sense of isolation is depicted in such a superb fashion that it mirrors the isolation prevalent in many cultures today. No matter where one is in the world, there is always the potential for them to feel alone in a crowded