Study Document
Rose for Emily Nothing Is Essay
Pages:5 (1695 words)
Sources:3
Subject:Literature
Topic:Rose For Emily
Document Type:Essay
Document:#81624931
This is why Homer is killed: he has lied to Emily and to the townspeople, and his deceit is punishable by death (at least, so it seems to Emily -- if Blythe is correct in his analysis). This is why the tension that exists between Emily and the community comes to the forefront in the first place: "Every human lives in a social environment and is influenced by surrounding community, but as individual he also possesses his unique character. When the two come into conflict, it surely will cause great confrontation" (Fang 22). The conflict, here, is one of truth and falsehood -- mask and revelation; false face and real face.
Emily's real face, made-over as much as possible, is finally revealed. But in true Southern manner, it is not revealed until she is safely dead and buried in the ground. There can be no cause for hurt feelings or for personal reaction or vendetta to scandal. The townspeople politely give Emily her space and justify her reasons -- all the while seeming to know that things aren't what they seem. Emily's single solid, iron-gray (a color that symbolizes strength and sturdiness) hair represents the single solid strand of truth, hidden behind her bedroom door beside the man who seemed to love her but didn't -- the man she seemed to love, but murdered.
In conclusion, Fang, Blythe and Klein all agree (as Faulkner seems to want them to) that things are not what they seem in this life; that even the Homer Barrons of the world may be hiding their identities; that even the "high and mighty" Emily Griersons with all their respectability may be hiding a skeleton; that even we -- the members of the community -- may be complicit in the "masking" of reality, preferring a "nice," comfortable falsehood to a nasty, smelling, humiliating when exposed corruption.
Works Cited
Blythe, Hal. "Faulkner's a ROSE for EMILY." Explicator, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Winter
1989), p. 49-50. Print.
Fang, Du. "Whom Makes a Devil out of a Fair Lady? -- an Analysis of the Social Causes
of Emily's Tragedy in 'A Rose for Emily.'" Canadian Social Science, Vol. 3, No. 4 (2007), p.18-24. Print.
Klein, Thomas. "The Ghostly Voice of Gossip in…
Sample Source(s) Used
Works Cited
Blythe, Hal. "Faulkner's a ROSE for EMILY." Explicator, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Winter
1989), p. 49-50. Print.
Fang, Du. "Whom Makes a Devil out of a Fair Lady? -- an Analysis of the Social Causes
of Emily's Tragedy in 'A Rose for Emily.'" Canadian Social Science, Vol. 3, No. 4 (2007), p.18-24. Print.
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