ROSE FOR EMILY-PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION
William Faulkner (1897-1962) is known in the world of literature as the"historian of the negative" and narrator of the dark. In other words,Faulkner was obsessed with the dark side of human mind and in his in-depthpsychological exploration of such areas; he would produce stories that wereoften violent and negative. While his celebrated contemporary, ErnestHemingway would also focus on psychoanalysis of characters; his storieswere closer to reality unlike Faulkner's who believed in shocking hisreaders and taking them by complete surprise. Most of his works have asinister air about them as if the author is foreshadowing a really dark andappalling ending. In this paper, we shall study three different pieces ofwriting by William Faulkner to comment on the writer's style and explainthe use of common themes and devices.Faulkner has been associated with thrilling mysteries where he would bringout something evil in the characters. His fascination with the darker sideof human mind is evident from his works including his most famous shortstory, A Rose for Emily. Here Emily stood for twisted human psyche, whichleads to bizarre happenings. The author's style is mysterious as if he is
Instead, she refers thecommittee to Colonel Sartoris, who, as the reader is told, has been deadfor nearly ten years. It was not like ordinary times when some minor changes occur,but was a time of massive global change where industrialization completelyaltered the reality, as people knew it. Celia Rodriguez (1996) writes, "She was a "monument" ofSouthern gentility, an ideal of past values but fallen because she hadshown herself susceptible to death (and decay). Though we agree that this story would touch the hearts of many readersbecause Emily's character certainly arouses sympathy but we should take thetime when it was written into account to understand what Emily actuallyrepresents. " (Page 120)According to modern psychological theories, Emily is a psychopath who failsto think and behave like normal rational human beings. Herfather had mostly kept her away from mingling with young men and this hadresulted in repression of sexual desires, which eventually turned her intopsychopathic killer. We knowthat there are many people who simply refuse to accept change because theyfear the unknown. There are manypsychological causes for her behavior such as her inability to acceptchange and move ahead and also another major cause is sexual repression,which leads to perversity. In this case, Emily was the patient whosesexual and psychological growth was stunted by an over-protective and over-possessive father. This is exactlywhat happens in A Rose for Emily where Emily is shown as a simplemysterious woman who didn't like intrusion or interference in her life. A normalhuman being would have understood that not all relationships work and someare meant to end. All of this explanation prepares us for what Miss Emilydoes in order to hold her lover--the dead lover is in one sense still alivefor her--the realms of reality and appearance merge. Faulkner would often keep his work deceptively simplejust to maximize the impact of the last twist in the plot. Most specific preparation of all, when her father dies, she deniesto the townspeople for three days that he is dead"In short, William Faulkner's Rose for Emily is not a simple story of murderand mystery.
Common topics in this essay:
Miss Emily,
Emily Emily,
William Faulkner,
Barron Homer,
Celia Rodriguez,
Emily Grierson,
Rose Emily,
Ernest Hemingway,
Colonel Sartoris,
miss emily,
rose emily,
accept change,
rose emily emily,
emily emily,
brooks et al,
unreal world,
human mind,
psychological causes,
psychology people,
people simply,
et al 37,
create unreal world,
et al,
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Acceptance Essays
