I really like “A Rose for Emily” so I’m going to post again, not only because I’m slightly desperate to make up a few, really. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I read one of Faulkner’s interviews on “A Rose for Emily.” This dialogue led me to start thinking of this story as a southern ghost story, given all of its eerie qualities and its focal position in the past. I think that the story is utterly haunted; reappearing words like “once been” emphasize the importance of the past from the very beginning to the end of this story which circulates in a sporadic time frame around a funeral and death. If we look in to the characters names, as we always do with Faulkner, we will notice that Emily’s last name, Grierson, almost contains the word eerie. Mentions of shadows, dust, and “a close, dank smell” are suggestive of life after death or an open coffin. Emily is described as submerged, perhaps like a ghost that lingers on earth unable to enter heaven. This could be one way I would support that the conflict of God and Satan, as I mentioned in my previous post, is present here because Emily is so much like a ghost trapped between these realms. One example of her being stuck in the middle is that she knows and is taught that every woman must marry yet she is unable to do so because her father denies her this opportunity.
I think all of the allusions to death and the afterlife have one very important objective here. Perhaps Faulkner, in his attempt to tell a story about the human experience, is demonstrating the inevitability of Miss Emily’s fate. She is predestined to be lonely, has been submerged by her father her whole life, and remains steadfast in her traditional ways, which no longer are valid in present Jefferson (exemplified by her refusal to pay taxes).
Faulkner wants us to recognize that Miss Emily is different and unusual. He describes her as “what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her.” We have to interpret this as Faulkners way of alluding to the uniqueness of Miss Emily’s existence. I believe this uniqueness forces the reader to relate Miss Emily to that of a ghost.
In every way Emily is a ghost. This story is of that ghost, that stranger, whose would have never been told nor know. Moreover, it’s as if the story itself is a ghost, one that is “on a paper of archaic shape, in a thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink,” at least I could have imagined it to be. In telling it, Faulkner is demonstrating his respect and offering tribute to Miss Emily’s experience. I think it symbolizes something quite simple actually, I think it’s like Faulkner communicating to this character via letter and on that letter it says,
Here is a rose for you Emily.
Love,
Faulkner.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I completely agree with your comment that "A Rose for Emily" was written as a ghost story about the old Southern identity. It reminds me of the stories told on the New Orleans ghost tour through the French Quarters. Miss Emily sort of reminds me of Madame Lalaurie of New Orleans who lived in the mansion on the corner of Royal Street. That struck me as interesting and bizarre.
ReplyDeleteDeath and the perception of death being the ultimate fate is definitely present in this story. The idea of living was only seen in those who lived in Miss Emily's community, never in Miss Emily. Miss Emily actually rejected their efforts of communicating with her because of their zest of life. The only person she trusted was her African American servant who others didn't view as having the same social status as they did.
I'm not sure about the conflict between God and Satan but I'm all for Miss Emily being a ghost. She's a creepy character and a ominous figure in this story.
I find the idea of "A Rose for Emily" being a ghost story really interesting. Especially because I am considering writing my essay on Faulkner as a writer of ghost stories.
ReplyDeleteThe imprint on the pillow is certainly alluding to her ghostly presence.
To answer your question of if this is about God and Satan... I think it certainly could be. A Rose For Emily is a story full of conflict. Her father wouldn't let her marry, yet in the southern culture, all women are "supposed" to be married. She was also conflicted within herself because she knew it was wrong to kill someone, but she did. This demonstrates the classic push and pull that exists so blatantly in the world we live in, manifested in all forms of life. The most overt in the Christian world being God and Satan.
ReplyDeleteKristen, I totally agree with your comparison to that of Madame Lalaurie of New Orleans. That's truly brilliant and I too am very interested in the ghosty presence in Faulkners works. In the interview that I read Faulkner tells of the origin of this story in particular: It "came from a picture of the strand of hair on the pillow. It was a ghost story. Simply a picture of a strand of hair on the pillow in the abandoned house"...Simply brilliant right?
ReplyDeleteRyan, I'm glad you contributed your comments to my post. That was also how I felt and I my suspicions have been reaffirmed. This is a story of conflict, of God and Satan, or, more specifically, of good and bad intentions. Those intentions, I have found, are located not in society nor in the town of Jefferson but rather, more locally--within the human heart, the heart of Miss Emily.
ReplyDeleteThis discussion is really interesting. I see what you mean about "A Rose for Emily" written as ghost story, though I would never have seen it quite that way myself. You make some really valid and interesting points, and I think I will read it again as a ghost story, seeing how that changes things.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen Emily as a ghost in "A Rose of Emily," but I have seen the ghost of the old south. I see this story more as a figurative ghost story, where the ghost is the ghost of the past and what was and might have been. But putting Emily in the position of actual ghost puts a whole new spin on the story, one that warrants further research.