Comparing Writing Styles of Faulkner and Gilman
I. Writing instructors often tell people to "write what they know." When Faulkner wrote "A Rose for Miss Emily," he was familiar with the Deep South and its attitudes toward women. When Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wall-Paper," she was familiar with society's beliefs at the time about whether women should have intellectual pursuits. Although the two stories are told differently, each author has produced a story about a woman who was emotionally unstable, and each story has been colored by the beliefs at the time regarding women.II. Faulkner grew up in the Deep South, and presumably, heard many tales about the Civil War. In his story, he drew on those experiences to create a quietly chilling picture a woman's declining years. He hides the history of her life in the history of the town and of the house in which Miss Emily lived. For instance, he shows how time has passed her by describing the gas station on the corner of her street whe
She dares not return to social life in her small town. The mores of the day allow her to seclude herself for the rest of her life mourning for her father, so her charade can play out. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is written in first person, giving the reader a clear look into the mind of a woman as she descends into insanity. Miss Emily ends up in her predicament because of the expectation that all women will marry. Someone might notice an odd smell, which has already happened once, or a visitor might stray into private parts of the house, and then her terrible secret would be revealed. It becomes clear to the reader that it is the incessant boredom that is aggravating the woman's condition. Although she loves to write, she has to write furtively and secretly because her husband believes that such intellectually taxing activities will only make her worse. We know we are not seeing reality, but we do not completely know what is really going on. Miss Emily is trapped by the need to hide what has happened in her home. It is revealed, finally, that Miss Emily has continued to sleep in that bed with his remains for some years.
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