Rose for Emily and Stalking comparison
In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and Joyce Carol Oates "Stalking" offer two very different protagonists. One, Miss Emily, is an old, stubborn woman stuck in the past living in the Deep South. The other, Gretchen, is a devious 13 year old who follows around an "imaginary adversary". However being different characters, both are outcasts of society and both perform acts in the story that most people would not approve. It is easy to dismiss people like this, but to take a deeper look will reveal an interesting insight into both of them. Miss Emily and Gretchen are both tough ladies and do not care about the view of the outside world to them. This is evidenced when the Board of Alderman tried to make Miss Emily pay taxes. They are already scared of her in the first place and she tells them that she refuses and does not have to and they adhere to her. It takes an extremely tough person to be able to convince people that they do not have to pay taxes. On the other hand Gretchen is as equally tough if not even more tough. She is described as a mean girl, one that is "muscular with good strong legs and thighs" who intentionally bumps into girls and hurts them when she plays sports. When following her invisible adversary she also
Even though Miss Emily may have killed him and slept with his body it is hard to hate her. Then Gretchen laughs and mocks the imaginary adversary as it gets hit by a car and starts bleeding. However, through the story this loneliness changes for Miss Emily when she met a northern foreman working on sidewalks in her town, named Homer Barron. She immediately took to Homer and the people of the town suspected a relationship between the two. Miss Emily has lived alone for a while after her father's death and the only other person she really comes in contact with is her servant who never talks. During her journey following her invisible adversary through the mall she performs these acts. The relationship could not stand because clues in the story led to the fact that Homer was a homosexual. It is hard not to find sympathy in that the only man that she has ever loved other than her father turns out to be gay. After all everyone already suspected that she was crazy. Most kids know if a car is their mothers or not. She then follows it inside ending the story. Also, it seems she does not have a real close relationship with her parent. Miss Emily is a person that gets what she wants where Gretchen is a more humble character. She undoubtedly loved him, and then he left her.
Common topics in this essay:
Miss Emily,
South Gretchen,
Homer Barron,
miss emily,
Emily Gretchen,
Miss Emily's,
Oates Stalking,
imaginary adversary,
Board Alderman,
blood spots,
imaginary person,
person gretchen,
pay taxes,
invisible adversary,
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Acceptance Essays
