A Rose For Emily New South vs. Old

A detailed Summary of A Rose For Emily New South vs. Old

William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" tells the story of a young woman who is violated

by her father's strict mentality. After being the only man in her life Emily's father died and she

found it difficult to let go. Emily was raised during the pre-civil war era. Like her father, Emily

possessed a stubborn outlook towards life, and refused to change. Emily could have been seen as

a representative of the old south. She represented the ideas and mores of a society that was

crushed by both the war and its eventual defeat. This story, on the exterior appears to be little

more than a horror story. However, it is clear that Faulkner intends to show much more than

that. He wants us to see how Emily, the representative of the old south, fought the advent of the

new society. Faulkner uses an unique structure to achieve his goal. As the book progressed there

was not a steady progression of time. He changed from past to present in order to illustrate the

idea of conflict between new and old.

Emily personified a way of living, a society, that was slowly being dismissed. Examples

of her clinging to the old ways of the south are found everywhere. One example can be found in

(Faulkner, ). Homer described himself as a man who couldn't be tied down. This was to be a

office at her convenience. A week later the mayor wrote her himself, offering to call or to send

taxes. She is unable and unwilling to allow change such as taxes to affect her. This stubborn

(Faulkner, ). Her house represented the Old South, like Emily it stood alone to battle the

opposite, "A Yankee--a big, dark, ready man, with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face,"

Approximate Word count = 926
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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