Time Change
Furthermore, there are many contradictions in the story the encompass the theme of change. The major paradox is the main character, Emily. In the story, when the townspeople describe her death, they use the word "perverse", but when her life is described, she was "inescapable, impervious, and tranquil." Also, Faulkner constrasted teh past and present era of the stouth. The past, being before the Civil War, and the present, being after. The elements that represent the past are Emly, Colonel Sartoris, the old Negro, and the Board of Alderman. The present is symbolized by the new Board of Alderman and Emily's love, Homer Barron. The changes after the war were not readily apparent, though, events like the death of Emily gave the townspeople an awakening the life was changing. Emily definitley represents the past in this story, but also represents the fact that changing is hard t
o do. Emily did not belive in death and refuses to believe that her father is dead until the townspeople were "about to resort to law and force." Emily, herself, was described almost as a living idol. She was characterised as an aristocrat and this is evident when the townspeople describe the Griersons as being "high and mighty". According to Davis, she is described as "if she is some sort of sacred vault," when the narrator talks about Emily being "submerged in motionless water" (Davis). The critic goes on to say that the "room and corpse are described as if they are the accounterments of an ancient toumb." By doing so, he enhances the plot and presents two different perspectives of time held by the characters. The first perspective (the world of the present) views time as a mechanical progression in which the past is a diminishing road. The second perspective (the world of
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 593
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)
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