Length: 591 words (2.1 pages)
Rating: Red (FREE)      
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Progress in A Rose for Emily       


The old South was a place where the town ruled. People were full of gossip and Southern hospitality. The town was very close. Socializing and church going was fashionable and those who did not take part were outcast. This was the time Emily lived. "A Rose for Emily" was about a woman who could not deal with progress. Emily attempted to keep herself from the town, taxes and shock of love.

First, there was the town who had always respected Emily and kept distant from her. Yet, there was a time when she was young and part of the world where she was contemporary. She was "A slender figure in white," as contrasted with her father, who was described as "a spraddled silhouette (West 150)." After the death of her father she became distant and aloof. Emily could not accept the death of her father. She denied it to the townspeople for three days. "Just as they were about to resort to law and force. She broke down, and they buried her father quickly (Brooks 158)." Emily refused t acknowledge her father's death. Everyone in the town thought she had gone mad. Emily remained in voluntary isolation (or perhaps fettered by some inner compulsion away from the bustle and dust and sunshine of the human world of normal affairs) (Brooks 158). Even through all her mysterious actions the society still respected her. She represented something in the past of the community (Brooks 158) and they kept their distance.

Next, was the confrontation that Miss Emily had when taxes were collected from her. Emily seemed to get focused and act level headed. She was obviously a woman of tremendous firmness of will. She was utterly composed. Emily refused to believe that she owned any taxes. When the mayor protested, she did not recognize him as mayor. Instead, she refered the committee to Colonel Sartoris, who had been dead for nearly ten years. To Miss Emily the Colonel was still alive (Brooks 158). Miss Emily almost seemed normal. She insisted on meeting the world on her own terms. She never cringed, or begged for sympathy. Emily refused to shrink into an amiable old maid. She never accepted the community's ordinary judgments or values (Brooks 159). Yet, when she referred to the Colonel it proved how mad she had become.

Finally, was the mysterious love Emily had. She was the town aristocrat; Homer was the day laborer. Emily was a raised with Southern gentility, while Homer was from the North and a Yankee. The South was the old and the North was the new. It had appeared that Homer had won her over, as though reality had triumphed over her withdrawal and seclusion (West 149). Emily's denial of emotional love and her act of murdering Homer, let him enter into the fantasy world she retreated to (O'Conner 152). the living Emily and the dead Homer remained together and death could not separate them. Emily had conquered time, but only breifly by retreating into it (West 150). Emily was with Homer to live in their fantasy world, permanently. Therefore, the world that Emily lived in was her own. Emily attempted to keep herself from the town, taxes, and the shock of love. She succeeded and went to live happily in her fantasy world of the past.

Works Cited

Brooks, Cleanth and Warren, Robert.  Understanding Fiction.Appleton Inc.1959

O'Connor, William.  History in 'A Rose For Emily'.  Charles Co., 1970

West, Ray B.  Atmosphere and Theme in Faulkner's 'A Rose For Emily'.Mich.1973.