A Rose For Emily Essay -- essays research papers

William Faulkers " A Rose for Emily" tells the story of a young woman who is violated by her fathers strict mentality. After being the only man in her life Emilys father dies and she finds it hard to allow go. Emily was raised in the ante-bellum period before the Civil War. This story takes place in the Reconstruction Era after(prenominal) the war when the North takes control of the sec. Like her father, cast Emily possesses a stubborn outlook towards life and refuses to change. This short story explains Emily, her mystified ways and the townsfolks sympathetic curiosity.The plat of the story is mainly about Miss Emilys attitude about change. "On the first of the year they mailed her a tax notice. February came and there was no reply. They wrote her a formal letter asking her to call the sheriffs office at her convenience. A week later the mayor wrote her herself, offering to call or to send his political machine for her, and received in reply a note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink, to the effect thats he no longer went out at all. The tax notice was enclosed, without comment." (189). Miss Emily was convinced that she had no taxes in Jefferson because before the Civil War the South didnt have to pay taxes and since her father had made a contribution to the town of a generous amount, Colonel Sartoris, mayor at that time had remitted her taxes, she felt that that promise or rather gift still stood good. "After her fathers death she went out very little after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all."(190). Miss Emily might have stayed out the public eye after those two deaths because she was finally alone, something she in her life was not used to. Emilys father never let her alone and when he died Homer Baron was a treat she was never allowed to have. Miss Emilys stubborn attitude definitely came from her fathers strict teachings.The characters of this story are very briefly mentioned, Miss Emily and Mr. Homer Barron are the two main characters described. Miss Emily was described as a short, fat, aged and mysterious women during her later years. Miss Emily had been done much and had seen many generations grow before and around her. This brings to reason her strong Confederate beliefs. Homer Barron on the other hand was quite the opposite, "A Yankee... ..., and angle of inclination forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a ling strand of iron gray hair."(195). This excerpt leaves the reader ball over and disgusted.Faulkners style is quite difficult to read because it isnt written in chronological order. It begins by telling about Emilys past and her family history. This information explains her future behavior and opinions. The mop up seems rather abrupt and sudden, but very chilling and non-expectant. The diction and sentence structures are fairly advanced, but soon lead to a greater mind of the passage because it sets the mood of that specific time. "And now Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of those august names where they lay in the cedar-bemused cemetery among the ranked and anonymous grave of the Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at battle of Jefferson". (194). Terms like this were used throughout to aid in setting the Reconstruction Era mood.In conclusion, "A Rose for Emily" is a shocking tale about Emily Grierson, her love, and her inability to accept change. Emily is a prime example of the Old South and its changing hardships.