I have read “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner many times, but I never could figure out exactly what the story was supposed to mean. It was just some creepy story. Being an English major, I tried to look for a deeper meaning to this story. But it never came to me. I remained some creepy story about a lady who killed the man she loved and kept his body in her house. I found this very disturbing.
This article finally helped me to understand this story a little bit better. It helped me to realize that this story was not just trying to make the South look like a place full of people with disturbing minds and creepy ways of doing things; it actually had the purpose of showing the awful effects of pride. And this is the moral of this short story. It’s the moral that I’ve been searching for since I first read the story in the first semester of my junior year of high school.
This article does a really good job of telling what you’re actually supposed to get out of this story. It gives some really good questions to ask when you’re reading “A Rose for Emily”. The article made me really want to go back and reread the story again, keeping these questions in mind so I can get something out of it this time. The article points out things to pay attention to as you read, which can be very helpful in reading this story. Faulkner is kind of difficult to understand, as he has a tendency to use strange characters who do really bizarre things to illustrate his point, whatever his point may be, so any kind of suggestions of what to focus on is very useful in reading his work. Of course, you’ll still have to work to understand it. But any advice is useful.
I think it’s kind of interesting that the article refers to the acts of Miss Emily as being both heroic and disturbing. I’m a very stubborn person, so stubborn acts of rebellion against the norm do strike me as heroic. At the same time, I am very anti-murder and I think that she handled the situation badly. She did a horrible thing, but at the same time, she was refusing to allow the man that she loved to leave her and thus go against her will. The article helped me to understand this, and thus to understand what Faulkner was trying to say in this short story. Miss Emily allowed pride to dominate her whole character. She let it get far enough that she was willing to commit murder to defend it. Pride is actually quite a big problem in society. It can cause people to do very strange things. In the Book of Mormon, it causes the destruction of entire nations.
There really is a good message in this short story, and this article finally helped me to see that message. Until I read this article, “A Rose for Emily” was just a really creepy short story that sent chills down my spine every time I read it. I always focused my energy on figuring out how anyone could have come up with the idea for this story. What kind of sick, twisted mind could possibly invent a character that would behave in the way that Miss Emily behaves? After reading this article, I realized that I wasn’t looking deeply enough to get any meaning out of the story. Reading this article was kind of a reminder to me to not be a lazy reader and actually look more deeply for the real meaning of a literary work. You have to look for the answer or it won’t come to you.
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This helped me understand some more things of “A Rose for Emily,” too. I had not really looked into the aspect of pride but focused, originally, on her loneliness, which I sympathized. I still hold an understanding for Miss Emily and how all her pressures led her to commit the acts she did, though they are still inexcusable. Even the insane still have a choice and power to control themselves. It may be difficult, but that choice and control is still available to anyone in that kind of mental condition.
ReplyDeleteI never understood the theme of William Faulkner’s "A Rose For Emily," as well. It was always a story about a creepy old lady who killed her boyfriend, kept his body in her house, and would lie down next to it occasionally. Reading Brooks’ article helped me finally understand what Faulkner was trying to convey—the consequences of pride. I also liked the insight Brooks shared on the lighthouse simile at the end of "A Rose For Emily." I had never caught the significance of that line and the fact that Miss Emily was a beacon warning of the dangers of pride, without actually seeing those dangers for herself. I now understand the purpose of Faulkner’s "A Rose For Emily."
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, this critique shed a lot of light onto the short story for me. I am very intrigued by it, particularly the line "Or are the dead more alive to her than the living?" in reference to Colonel Sartoris. How could she have not known he was dead? I didn't realize this at first, but it doesn't quite add up. But now it matches, because she killed her lover to keep him with her, because apparently that makes sense to her? Well, the two instances correlate and I am glad to have made the connection.
ReplyDeleteWow, yeah, this analysis altered my view of this story quite a bit. When I first read the story, the theme I took out was lonliness and Emily's twisted response to hers. I enjoy hearing other people's perspectives on issues or pieces of literature I have a strong opinon or beleif about. Brooks's view was very interesting to me. I especially liked his analogy about how Emily was a beacon or example (a lighthouse) to others, warning them the danger of pride. Brooks's article changed my perspective--I love when that happens.
ReplyDeleteRemember the BYU devotional a couple weeks ago by Kim B. Clark called "Stripping Ourselves of Pride"? Clark's red flags of pride seemed very apparent in Emily's character. Emily's lonliness caused her introverted pride, or perphaps her pride caused her lonliness. Either way, I found it very interesting to keep some of the red flags Clark listed in mind while I read the article. They forshadow Emily's twisted spiral of ruin in the story. This was a good analysis and response to Faulkner's story and Clark's red flags helped me understand its twisted nature a little more.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of this article was the end paragraph about pride and the lighthouse keeper. It was a subtle simile that I didn't pick up on when I read the article, but that totally illustrates the point Faulkner is trying to make. I think there are a lot of reasons to avoid pride, but the reason illustrated here is in my opinion the most powerful. Miss Emily lives alone and sad and without happiness. That right there is a reason to be always humble.
ReplyDelete"I'm very anti-murder" haha. Yeah, I read this junior year of high school as well, and of course being the very mature 16 year olds that we were, we all had no trouble in proclaiming EWWWWW at the top of our lungs after we finished. The movie version with Angelica Huston (has she ever had a role where she wasn't some creepy villain?) didn't help matters much either. We just couldn't see the deeper meaning behind it back then. This article brought me back to that day and made me realize that far from being a creepy perv, Faulkner was quite effective at showing us the despicable acts that pride can lead us to do.
ReplyDeleteI loved Cleanth Brooks' method of explication -- he leads you effortlessly through the text, explaining things as he goes in such a plain and fluid manner that you almost think the ideas are yours. I think that is the epitome of good literary criticism -- to be a leader in the discovery of literature instead of the holier-than-though lecturer who proves his own cleverness. He makes "A Rose for Emily" easy, not an easy feat.
ReplyDeleteAlso -- I loved his lighthouse metaphor, something I most certainly had not picked up on before. Faulkner is subtle (annoyingly so at times), and so this was a nice guide to pointing out ideas within his writings.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Brooks's criticism. He brought up a lot of points that I had never thought of. I found it very interesting when Brooks talked about the hair from the pillow and the time period it was most likely from. It was interesting to read his comments.
ReplyDeleteI really liked his comments on the lighthouse. I didn't make that connection when I read the story on my own. It gives Emily's decisions a new meaning and shows them in a new light.
Pride is a very dangerous thing. Pride is, ultimately, what condemned Satan. And I pretty sure none of us want to be like him. So moral of the story, be humble.