8/9/2019 Alyahya Term Paper 2 Original

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Luai Alyahya

ENGL201 - Dr. Nadeau JTerm P

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over the disturbing realities of the "Old South" which included, among others, slavery, racisma d classism hough to be fair, the latter seems to be a defining feature of American society in

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The story also discusses how Emily's personal life underscores the conflict she faced yc" d t ,between her past and her P O S S i b f u t u r e . mily's father was a dominating man, and an ..la u t h i t a r i a n figure in her life. Faulkner himself described h i r;ISh"{she denied E m i l Y ..L;"sV ~ t \the courtship of other men so that only he has her full attention. en he s h e refused to let wk..., \go of his body, clinging to her past as much as she can. Also, due to her father's stem rules sheumed out to have very little experience with men, so it was easy for Homer to seduce h e

:t+her father r e p r e s e e d the past to her, she seems to have hoped that Homer would open the g of a happier future. hen she realized Homer never intended to marry her she felt that her future VI tkkp ,>i ; . J'} was also finished, just like her past (represented in her dad). is situation pushed her over the I.., 7

, edge, ergo she committed the murder and slept next to the ody until her d e a t hus, while she r ; ;; - ,I

murderer, she is also a tragic victim of her unfortunate circumstance: ) I;.,..... . ,I 't \ I C ..,fj l Then there was the town itself. The story is narrated from the perspective of "we" 0 , . aJ representing at different times the men of the town, the women of the town, or the whole own. ("" dl c.. o r y not once does the reader learn anything about Emily from her directly, but simp l

hrough the perspectives of the town ' p pie. Since the town did not communicate wi th Emi lit simply created assumptions about her, changing them as the situation changed. For instance, ilt . J.V\ __ f "'-J

, \y ,one point the town's folks suspected she may be having an affair with Homer, prompting theminister's wife to write "to Miss Emily's relations in A l a b a m a t e r , however, their feelingst /1 J

r ~ Q W ~i t W e b . William Faulkner, "A Rose fo r Emily".h t t P S / W 0 ; o n / f , " I k o e ' p MM':::.0;

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The narrators viewed Emily the same way they viewed their South: through

about the subject changed, and they started to "support" Emily against her cousins. herefore,when Homer disappeared after the cousins anived in their town, the nanator notes that thetown's people "believed that he had gone on to prepare for Miss Emily's coming, or to gi,ve her achance to get rid of the cousins. (By that time it was ([ cabal. and we \vere allk/iss Emily's alliesto help circumvent the cousins)".

These assumptions, however, did not truly describe Emily and her situation, and( ultimately resulted in the town's people's ignorance of the murder and the fact the body was kept

for 40 years in Emily's hOll . After all, she is of an aristocratic lineage, a "real lady" who couldnever forget her "noblesse ohlige". Thus, when Homer disappeared, they simply assumed he lefther and did not bother to check her house, even when the stench reached other houses in herneighborhood The fact the town's It! false assumption also plays to the theme of the"Old South", where some S o u t h e ~ r s fonn assumptions that are not true, be it about "Emily" orthe South's past. In as nse, the narrators represent the spirit or perspective of Southerners afterlosing the civil wara lens of fantasy whjch obfuscates realit: ']

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