Modern Short Story Term Paper

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ROSE FOR EMILY'-William Faulkner

William Faulkner's short story "A rose to Emily" is one of the best short stories of 20th century American literature because it contains all the mystery, drama, conflict and intensity that mark a good piece of literature. Emily the female lead of the story is an intriguing character who refuses to mingle with townspeople which gives rise to many vicious rumors about her. This story has been very popular among the readers especially those who are Faulkner's loyal fans as a story involving mystery and dark secrets of a woman who is a total recluse. Townspeople never get to see her or talk to her therefore hewn her father dies, they get a chance to meet this woman who had hitherto remained confined within the four walls of her house. Notice how Faulkner has carefully created the background of this woman; she is not a person who has suddenly turned into a loner. She was probably not allowed to mingle with other people by her father and that is why Emily refuses to talk to any one even after the death of her father. She is not scared of people as many might conclude; she is simply not interested in talking to those who do not share the same values as she does. Now let us focus on the woman's psychology to see why she was against future and change.

The love that Emily has for her father should not be interpreted or read as the same kind of devotion that daughter usually have for their loving fathers. It is instead an obsession with the past and old values that makes her stick with the memories of her father and that is why she refuses to believe that he is dead. While some may feel that in this story, Emily is a lonely woman who loved her father so much that she couldn't accept that he had passed away but there is more to it than meets the eye. One should read between the lines to understand why Emily is such a recluse and why she is so obsessive about her father and his memories that she doesn't even let anyone bury him.

Emily is one of those stubborn obstinate people who cannot move ahead with time, they refuse to accept that world is changing and that new values are replacing old ones. She is scared that she would not be able to keep pace with changing times and therefore simply closes her eyes to the future and turn deaf ears to bells of change.

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The story is written about a time when change was entering American with a vengeance. It was not like ordinary times when some minor changes occur, but was a time of massive global change where industrialization completely altered the reality, as people knew it. We must understand that this kind of change must have been very hard on some people and therefore they created a world of delusion around them. This is what Emily did too. She wanted to believe that past was still intact and could not come to terms with the fact that life moves and we are required to leave the past behind and accept the future with open arms.

Though we agree that this story would touch the hearts of many readers because Emily's character certainly arouses sympathy but we should take the time when it was written into account to understand what Emily actually represents. Faulkner does not want people to simply sympathize with this character and read the story as a mystery, which contains an evil twist in the end. Instead the story was primarily written to describe the psychology of some people during times of massive nationals and global change. The story is about romance of the past, freshness of the future and fear of the unknown. It presents the struggle of the past to overcome the future but future ultimately wins because that it is destined to beat the past. Note these lines below from….....

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