Transcript A Rose for Emily - Rocky View Schools

A Rose for Emily
By William Faulkner
William Faulkner
•
•
•
•
William Faulkner was born in New
Albany, Mississippi, on September 25,
1897.
His family moved to Oxford,
Mississippi, just before he was five.
Faulkner belonged to a once-wealthy
family of former plantation owners
and spent his boyhood hunting and
fishing in and around Lafayette
County.
He grew up listening to the stories
and myths of the region, and he was
especially impressed by the
legendary life of the greatgrandfather who was his namesake.
He was a high school dropout, but he
nevertheless developed a passion for
literature, originally planning to be a
poet.
William Faulkner
• After working briefly as a clerk for the Winchester Repeating Arms
Company, he reported to a recruiting station to sign up for World
War I.
• He hoped to become a pilot and fight the Germans in the skies over
France; however, they rejected him for being too small.
• He later signed on with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) to train
as a pilot, but the war ended before he saw any combat.
• After the war ended, Faulkner worked in a bookstore in New York,
where he met Elizabeth Prall Anderson, the wife of noted writer
Sherwood Anderson.
• His apprenticeship as a serious writer began when he traveled to
New Orleans and lived among a group of writers and artists,
including Anderson, who encouraged Faulkner’s vision.
• Although he originally dreamed of being a poet, he ultimately found
his voice in fiction.
William Faulkner
• Faulkner used pieces of his own life and family history in his fiction.
• He based part of the character of Emily on a cousin, Mary Louise
Neilson, who had married a Yankee street paver named Jack Barron.
More importantly, the character of Miss Emily is the town eccentric.
• Faulkner published almost twenty novels, several volumes of short
fiction, and two volumes of poetry.
• He wrote many screenplays, essays, and articles for magazines and
newspapers. Also, he traveled widely, giving lectures at American
colleges as well as foreign universities.
• Faulkner won two Pulitzer Prizes, a National Book Award, and the
Nobel Prize for Literature.
• He died on July 6, 1962, the same day his great-grandfather, the Old
Colonel, had been born on 137 years earlier.
Gothic Literature
• The Gothic novel took shape mostly in England from
1790 to 1830 and falls within the category of Romantic
literature.
• It acts, however, as a reaction against the rigidity and
formality of other forms of Romantic literature.
• The Gothic is far from limited to this set time period, as
it takes its roots from former terrorizing writing that
dates back to the Middle Ages, and can still be found
written today by writers such as Stephen King.
• But during this time period, many of the highly
regarded Gothic novelists published their writing and
much of the novel's form was defined.
Gothic Setting
• The setting is greatly
influential in Gothic novels.
It not only evokes the
atmosphere of horror and
dread, but also portrays the
deterioration of its world.
• The decaying, ruined
scenery implies that at one
time there was a thriving
world. Now, all that lasts is
the decaying shell of a once
thriving dwelling.
• Gothic Elements in “A Rose
for Emily”
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Old house
Mysterious activities
Smell
Strange servant
Closed rooms
Dust
Darkness
Decay
External Conflict
• Emily vs. Her Father
– Her father keeps her
single and chases suitors
away. There is the
possibility of insanity
and some critics suggest
incest.
– Resolution: He dies and
leaves her to fend for
herself.
• Emily vs. Homer
– Emily is a southern
aristocrat and desperate
for marriage.
– Homer is a day labourer,
and not the marrying
kind
– Resolution: She kills him
and keeps his body.
Additional Conflicts
External Conflict
• Emily vs. Town
– Doesn’t want believe she
should have to pay her taxes.
– Doesn’t want to add a
mailbox with house numbers
to the outside of her home.
– They judge her based on what
they believe to be acceptable:
her relationship with Homer,
and the smell.
Internal Conflict
• Emily vs. Herself
– She is conflicted with the idea
of maintaining her status or
getting married.
– She decides to take a lover
over religion and tradition.
– She murders what she loves
in order to prevent losing
him.
Symbols
• The House
– It mirrors how others see Emily, as it is closed off from the outside world
and seems to decay as she becomes older and more decrepit.
• Rose
– The first time Emily is given flowers in this story is as her funeral.
– Also, the room Homer is found in
is filled with rose coloured details.
• Dust
– Represents being neglected or
overlooked. Possibly showing a
return to dust or appearing antique.
• Barron
– Barren, meaning the lack of ability
to produce vegetation or fruit,
or possibly the inability to have
children.
Themes
•
•
•
•
•
Resistance to change
Isolation
Memory of the past
Visions of America
Reality vs. Illusion