The Conflicts in A Rose for Emily.doc

The Conflicts in A Rose for EmilyAbstract This passage attempts to, from a delicate way to analyze the conflicts about the life of Miss Emily in the world-famous short story A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, an American writer. The author first starts from the conflicts in Miss Emilys life, analyzing the reasons of the conflicts. Furthermore, from literal devices in this passage, William Faulkner explains to the readers how the conflicts are displayed. Based on the above, the author points out that Miss Emilys character tragedy lies in the obstinate traditional sense of hierarchy in the Old South of America. The conflicts, between the new system in the New South during its foundation and the old system in the Old South, as well as her greatly twisted character, lead to her tragic fate. Through the series of the specific analysis, the readers are able to make full comprehension of the article.Key words: Conflict Refuse Old South New South North摘要本篇文章力图用一种很细致的方法来透析威廉.佛克纳的著名短篇小说献给艾米丽的玫瑰中所出现的种种冲突。作者首先从艾米丽生活中所出现的冲突切入，进而分析存在这些冲突的原因，然后本篇文章又从威廉. 佛克纳所使用的多种文学手段来进一步说明他是如何把这些冲突展现给读者的，由此读者不难发现艾米丽的悲剧植根于美国南方特权阶级顽固的传统观念，这些冲突的发生实质上是南方旧体制，旧观念和北方新体制，新观念的冲突。通过一系列紧密的分析读者可以更透彻的理解这篇文章。关键词：冲突 拒绝 旧南方 新南方 北方IntroductionWilliam Faulkner, an outstanding southern writer of the U.S.A., was a regionalist, spending most of his time in a small regionDeep South. He invented a county Yoknapatawpha , the capital is Jefferson ,in his imagination . Most of his stories took place in this imaginary place. “A Rose for Emily” is one of them. Faulkner successfully advanced two modern literary techniques: stream of consciousness and multiple point of view. His frequent themes were history and race-family epic, melon-drama (with exaggerated conflicts and emotion), tragedy and comedy. All of these involve war, race, class, soil, and family violence. He defines his ideals in terms of their opposites. He has few characters that have normal sense, and Miss Emily, the main character of the short story, is a typical one who resembles almost all the aspects of William Faulkners writing style mentioned above.Miss Emily Grierson, a typical character described in his world-famous short story “A Rose for Emily”, is the emblem of the Old South and the victim of the Old Souths traditional ideas. Her unusual behavior, proud and aloof character and nearly seclusive lives are always the targets criticized by traditional critics. Miss Emily refused to accept the postbox, the symbol of modernization; and refused to pay taxes, which means that she refused to accept the progress of the society; and refused to accept the passage of timeSo Miss Emilys life are filled with conflicts. And the conflicts lied in the new ideas in the New South and the old ideas in the Old South.Chapter IThere are several conflicts in the story including paying taxes, the smell, the disposal of the dead body of her father, the purchase of poison, her marriage, and the mailbox.On paying taxes, the townspeople want Emily to conform to their standards of living. Emily refuses to succumb to their pressure because of a so-called arrangement made between Colonel Sartoris, who was the mayor at that time, and Emily exempts herself from ever paying taxes. In reality, the arrangement was really to save face or Emilys reputation because she has become poor. Faulkner is so cautious even in the words he uses to reflect this arrangement of a bygone era: “Only a man of Colonel Sartoris” generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it.” (1) However, the town council of Jeffersons next generation has changed their values, demands Emily pay as all the rest of them. Faulkner notes that the townspeople sent the Baptist ministerMiss Emilys people were Episcopalto call upon her, and they also send threatening letters demanding she pay her taxes. But Miss Emily said, “perhaps he considers himself the sheriffI have no taxes in Jefferson.” (2) And she repeated one sentence in fury again and again, just as “see Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson.” Under such circumstances, the city authorities were forced to give up collecting her taxes.On townspeoples complains about the smell, the townspeople had no courage to ask her to get rid of it. That happened, shortly after her sweetheart deserted her. Four townspeople reduced themselves to the roles of nighttime prowlers, “slunk” around Miss Emily's house and “sprinkled” (3) lime. Creeping away, they see Miss Emily silhouetted in the window, “her upright torso motionless as that of an idol,” (4) From the descriptive words, the readers can see that Miss Emily has been dominating the community. On the disposal of the dead body of his father, when her father died, she became “crazy”. Faulkner wrote, “She told them his father was not dead. She did that for three days.” (5) No one could persuade her to dispose of the body until they were going to resort to law and force. Then she broke down and they buried her father quickly. They remembered all of the young men her father had driven away, and they knew that nothing left; she would have to cling to that which had robbed her.On the purchase of poison, Faulkner depicts Emily and her family as a high social class. Emily did carry herself with dignity and people gave her that respect. Emily was a strong willed person especially when she went into the drug store for the arsenic. She said “Arsenic”, “I want arsenic.” (6) the druggist wanted to know what she wanted it for and she answered back “I want the best you have. I dont care what kind.”(7) Needless to say, the druggist never got an answer. The druggist gave Emily poison out of fear and respect, possibly.On the marriage of Miss Emily with Homer Barron, after the shock of her fathers death, Miss Emily got another shock from Barron because he did not want to marry her. Homer was just as a liar to Emily. She had a tragic life, one of the reasons was her fathers death, and we can notice this because when he died she denies it. She didnt want to be left alone and when Homer tried to leave her she prefers to kill him. Homer was a Forman for a road construction company, Faulkner writes “ a foreman named Homer Barron, a Yankeea big, dark, ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face.” (8) Emilys father probably would not be pleased with this affair with Homer. Homer was a “commoner,” a “northerner” and did not fit the social standards of her father. Emily, like most women dreamed of getting married and having a family and most of all, being loved. The gossip around town was spreading; the townspeople said “when she got to thirty and was still single, we were not pleased, but vindicated; . She wouldnt have turned down all of her chances if they had materialized.” (9) Emily wanted to be loved, and she was determined that Homer would be her true love to rescue her from fear, of being left alone. Emily took a great liking to Homer, but Homers feelings about the relationship were different. It was rumored that “even Homer himself had remarked-he liked men, and it was known that he drunk with younger men in the Elks clubthat he was not a marrying man.” (10) Homer left Emily and the town for three days, and then came back. While Homer was gone, Emily was still preparing for her wedding. She bought invitations and clothes for Homer. Emily grew fearful of Homers departure, afraid of being left alone again. Faulkner writes “A neighbor saw the Negro man (Tobe) admit him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening. And thats the last we saw of Homer Barron.” (11)Miss Emily could not accept change to any degree. She was unable to ameliorate as the rest of society did. The new generation became the backbone and the spirit of the town. The old south is becoming the New South. Miss Emily did not allow a house number to be placed on her house when the town received free postal service. Miss Emilys ability to refuse change was very strong. She conquered the town. And she was not willing to face new things.Mentioning so many conflicts here, William Faulkner has his own ideas. And it is only the first step of creating the story successfully. When the readers understand Emily, they can a clearer view of actions that go on during the story. William Faulkners use of conflicts proves to a positive way to exemplify the readers feelings about certain characters and tribulations they experience.Chapter Most of us may think Miss Emily is a queer woman. However, if we carefully go through this short story, we would find that she is not queer at all. William Faulkner shows great sympathy to Miss Emily, the lady of a declining aristocratic family. It is not Miss Emilys own fault that caused her tragedy. One reason is that her fathers influence over her is deep-rooted all her life. Being the last descendant of the Griersons family, it seemed that it was Miss Emilys responsibility and duty to be “a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town.” (12) Another reason, the influence, or the restriction of the town folks in Jefferson never stopped. She had been regarded as “a fallen monument” which was respectfully sought guidance from by the old town folks and became the symbol of the Old South. What they wanted to see was a never degenerative true noble southern lady. After the American Civil War, everything of the Old South had been on the way of decline and death. Most of the southerners could not adapt to such kind of change, they refused to accept such kind of change. They eagerly tried to find an image, an unusual person to stand the glorious past for them to respect and recall. Miss Emily, the last descendant of the Grierson, just living in such period of time. Therefore we can safely conclude that it is the influence of her father, the town folks, the environment and her own character that caused the twisted humanity of Miss Emily that resulted in her tragic fate. We know clearly that her father was an absolute authoritativeness to her - the horsewhip in the hand (the emblem of authority), a spraddled silhouette (her fathers firm, obstinate character) and his back to her (the emblem of Miss Emilys fate controlled by her father). There is no doubt for us to say that Miss Emily would be controlled and influenced by her father all her life and so is the fact. Miss Emily was not married when she was almost thirty because “all the young men her father had driven away.” (13) After her fathers death, she refused to have her father buried, saying her father was not dead. In fact, it is just because “with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” (14) However, her reaction to her fathers death did not really mean how much she loved her father, but it was just because she had already been accustomed to be controlled by her father. Being a normal young lady, she was not ready to be an old maid. But her father had driven away all the young men around her, which was totally contrary to normal reaction and common sense. Miss Emilys so called aristocratic. And the character of this old family had been twisted, and “that quality of her father which had thwarted her womans life so many times.” Thus, the tragic fate of Miss Emily had already been destined.“When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house which no one save an old manservant - a combined gardener and cook -had seen in at least ten years.” (15)Through these lines and the whole story, the attentive readers would surely find that the narrator is always using the collective expressions as “we /us” and “our town”. In other words, the narrator, when making comment on the life and death of the eccentric Miss Emily, did not from an impartial judges unbiased point of view. On the contrary, the narrator, one member of the town folks, seemed to be in loss of thought and cherish the memory of the grave crisis of life and death of his own relative “alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town.” (16) The narrator went on “she passed from generation to generation - dear, inescapable, tranquil and perverse.” (17) The use of such a long bunch of self-contradictory adjectives is one of William Faulkners typical writing style. These adjectives show the complicated and strained relation between Miss Emily and the other town folks, and more important, they show that it is a deep relation in innumerable ways.If we say that the reason why Miss Emily doesnt get married all her life is that “ all the young men her father had driven away ” (18) when her father was alive, After her fathers death, she once made friends with Homer Barron and fell in love with him. When she got ready to marry him, however, the town folks took the place of her father and barred the way of their marriage. The reason was very simple: Homer Barron was a Yankee, “a northerner, a day laborer.” (19) How could Miss Emily, their noble lady be so degenerate to get married to a Negro, a northerner, a day laborer to smear Miss Emilys blood lineage. So when Miss Emily went to the drug store to buy arsenic, all the town folks thought “she would kill herself ” (20) and they all said “it would be the best thing. ” (21) Because if things really went on like this, Miss Emily would get married to that Yankee, which was the last thing they wanted to see.In the short story, “A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner put Miss Emily in a typical environment. This environment includes not only the surroundings around, but also the social background and family background. After the American Civil War, the Old South became declining and everything was rebuilt. But most of the southerners could not adapt to such kind of change and refused to accept it. They always thought of their glorious past, so they eagerly tried to find an image, an unusual person standing for their glorious past for them to respect and recall. Miss Emily just lived during such period of time. She was the last descendant of the Grierson, an aristocratic family, and a noble lady. So Miss Emily was the very person that the town folks were looking for .As the typical emblem of the Old South, Miss Emily tried to resist this change in vain during her life and kept herself in captivity of the past stubbornly. Such kind of social environment and her own personality led to her tragic fate.William Faulkner described the environment for Miss Emily from the very beginning to the end of the story. She lived in an old, classical house with peeled off-colored walls .Such a house was the witness of her familys glorious past and also the mark of these days