A Rose for Emily

1. A Rose for Emily William Faulkner Dana El TannaMalaka Al Harazin Maice Badereddeen

2. Outline William Faulkner A Contextual Background about South & North Summary American Features Modernity of the Text

3. William Faulkner He is an American writer who was born in New Albany, Mississippi, on 1962. He is the first of four sons to Murry Cuthbert Falkner and Maud Butler. He had three younger brothers. Both his mother and grandmother were great readers and also painters and photographers, educating him in visual language.

4. He wrote a play, poetry, essays, novels and short stories. • He was unknown till he received Nobel Prize in Literature on 1949. • His works : • "A Rose for Emily“ "Red Leaves“ "That Evening Sun“ "Dry September“ " As I Lay Dying“ " Light in August“ • "Absalom, Absalom! " It would one day be recognized as among the greatest novels ever written by an American.

5. A Contextual Background about South & North  • In his work ''a Rose for Emily'' Faulkner attempts to paint a picture of the changing south after The Civil War. • ''A Rose for Emily'' can be seen as affective allegory of the relations between the north and the south during Faulkner time . • The south is known of being traditional , and the north of being very adaptable to change.

6. In this short story Faulkner symbolizes the north and the south through two individual people .Miss Emily represents the south, and Mr. Homer represents the north . • Homer was from the north and also represented '' the next generation with it's more modern ideas ''. • Miss Emily represents the old south .Her southern heritage and point of view are represented through her actions . • Miss Emily is ''denying progress'' in order to stop the changing tradition of the south.

7. SUMMARY

8. American Themes • 1- South/Slavery • 2- American dream • 3- Southern Gothic • 4- Disillusionment • 5- Death, Rebirth ( the conflict between the young and old generations ) • 6- Identity/ Feminism

9. South/Slavery • Why did the South want slavery? • The south wanted slavery mainly because they wanted to be able to have workers but not have to pay them. • This way the South could make more money to either buy more slaves, more land, and be able to pay their taxes. • This is mainly why the Civil War started. • The North didn't like how the South didn't have to pay workers and the North did. • The South also depended on slavery to keep the growth of their farms, and plantations good. • With out slavery the South would have been much worse. 

10. The South, needed slavery. The North didn't and were more against slavery than the South. The North worked in mills, factories, they owned and operated. The South grew cotton and tobacco. They needed people who would work in the fields for little or no money at all. The south even used their slaves for the army. They didn't let their best slaves go to war but they let their more uncontrollable slaves go. When the south realized they needed more men in their army they turned to slaves and had them work in factories so whites in the factories could fight. But soon they needed more men again and this time they had slaves go into the army. Most slaves were even offered freedom if they fought in the war.

11. The author employs the literary element of figurative language when he states that the “no negro woman should appear on the street without an apron”. Use of this form Faulkner tells about the racism.

12. American Dream • Thomas Jefferson described the American Dream as "...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". • Every person has a dream and in the three short stories, "The Catbird Seat" by James Thurber, "Winter Dream" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, the theme is one common American Dream: happiness.

13. American Dream • Emily Grierson the main character of "A Rose for Emily" was a lady of high status as well, but she had an overprotective father whom felt she was too good for any of the men in their town. • When her father dies, she meets a man and fails in her attempt to find happiness with him. • The main character will struggle to fulfill her/his American Dream.

14. Southern Gothic • Southern Gothic literature is a sub-genre of the Gothic writing style. • Writers of Southern Gothicism examine the decay of the old south and the families that went along with it. • William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” does a great job of demonstrating southern gothic literature by defining a stereotypical gothic character, creating a decaying southern setting, and revealing a looming family secret.

15. The setting: • the story’s setting is that of typical southern gothic literature. The story takes place in Jefferson, a town somewhere in the south, which was the site of a civil war battle. • Also, Miss Emily’s house is a symbol of the decline of the wealthy in Jefferson. “Only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eye sore among eyesores”

16. The house is described as dim and “It smelled of dust and disuse-a close, dank smell…It was furnished in heavy, leather-covered furniture…they could see that the leather was cracked; and when they sat down, a faint dust rose sluggishly about their thighs, spinning with slow motes in the single sun-ray” • Also, the sound of the clock ticking in an atmosphere of silence creates a sense of mystery.

17. Miss Emily's character: • a stereotypical Southern Gothic character. She comes from a well-to-do family who once stood among the elite of the South. This “old south” is now decaying, as is Miss Emily. • She believes that she is above the law just because of who she is or was. Miss Emily is described in her later years in a very gothic, morbid way, “a small, fat woman in black…leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold heart” (paragraph 6).

18. Also, it is important to note that after her father passed away and her lover “left”, Miss Emily slipped into a life of seclusion and never left her home. She became the decaying, morbid character of a Southern Gothic story.

19. Disillusionment • The story deals with the stubborn refusal of some southerners to see that the America they believed in – an America based on slavery – was no more. • ''.. only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps – an eyesore among eyesores..''.

20. Death, Rebirth • One of the aspects we could look at the story is through the conflict of the past and the present. Emily Grierson, Colonel Sartoris, the Board of Alderman, and the Negro servant represent the past and the traditions of the old South. • Homer Barron, the new Board of Alderman, the new sheriff, and the town symbolize the present and the modern world.

21. Identity/ Feminism • Feminists have fought for the right of women to be free from the old social restraints which have been in place for so long. A feminist believes a woman should be strong and independent. In some ways the main character, Emily, is this kind of woman, but for the most part she is portrayed as weak and fragile. •  Throughout the story, Emily is depicted as a weak and dependent woman because of the way that she is treated by the town. When her father died and she had no man to care for her, the town absolved her tax duties. The people of the town attempted to accommodate her needs by offering their help and sympathy. '' alive , miss Emily had been a tradition , a duty and a care , a sort of heredity obligation upon the town ''.

22. Modernity of the Text • Memory • Time Scheme • The Language (The Little ) + Schema - Oriented Language

23. Memory • The Rose as a Symbol of Memory • Roses are often used as memories, as a way to preserve a moment in time or to keep a person close to one’s heart. They are dried and kept, not only because they are beautiful, but usually because it is a way to retain a precious time in one’s life.

24. So why would Faulkner use such a symbol of beauty and memory to present the horrific narrative of “A Rose for Emily”? • Firstly, the story is written in the form of a memory, the narrator speaking in the first person about events that to him and the community were very real. • Secondly, however terrible the tale may be, it serves as a reminder to the reader that some integral things in a person’s life should never be forgotten: love, devotion, and selflessness. • By presenting a woman who possessed none of these attributes, Faulkner calls on his readers to remember the things that make life beautiful, especially love. Hence the rose can be seen as a call to memory.

25. Time Scheme • The author/narrator does not utilize a chronological order of events as they actually happened in Miss Emily's life. • The narrator refers backward and forward to different episodes in the protagonist's life. • In addition, the time expressions and words are ambiguous and difficult to comprehend. This needs more effort on the side of the reader to achieve cohesion in the text and adds to the mystery of the story.

26. It seems Faulkner deliberately makes use of a complex time in A Rose for Emily. • The effectiveness of this style is producing the odd structure of the story which reflects the complexities of Miss. Emily's world. • The character's life/circumstances are as complex, confused, ambiguous and mysterious as the time management in the text which consequently reflects the complexities of modern times and how they negatively affect the individual/Miss. Emily.

27. Language : the title • The title of the story, A Rose for Emily constitutes four words. On the first reading of these words, readers may expect a love story with a happy end. • 'A Rose' is one of the symbols used in the story inviting the reader to think of: love, affection, admiration, and sympathy. In an interview, Faulkner answered a question about the meaning of the title of the story, "Oh, it's simply the poor woman had had no life at all. Her father had kept her more or less locked up and then she had a lover who was about to quit her, she had to murder him. It was just "A Rose for Emily"-- that's all," Faulkner in Meyer (1996: 61).

28. In addition, the reference in the title to the main character, using the first name, without the social title (Miss.), is an example of how social deixis can be effective in understanding relationships between speakers in the text. • It suggests a close relationship between the speaker/author and the Miss Emily. • He is deeply sympathetic with her and what she represents as a victim of her society's rotten values of past and present.

29. Schema - Oriented Language • Schemas are organized representations of background knowledge which readers bring along to texts, Short (1996: 231). • In A rose for Emily, the author/narrator utilizes schemata that help the reader interpret/understand the text. The varying attitudes a reader offers towards the topics encountered in the text require cultural, historical and social insight to determine the narrator/author's intentions/meaning. • In an interview, William Faulkner has stated, "…it had been argued that "A Rose for Emily" is a criticism of the North, and others have argued saying that it is a criticism of the South. Now, could this story, shall we say, be more properly classified as a criticism of the times?"

30. 1- Curiosity : Social norms (women's curiosity). Their interest to know every detail about Emily's life. • 2 An eyesore among eyesores :Reference to Emily's old house and surrounding signs of modern life: corruption of past and present. • 3 Union and confederate soldiers : American Civil war between north and south • 4 The next/rising generation : The difference between the old generation and the new generation. Change in the American society and its negative effect on Miss Emily. She is a victim of both generations. • 5 The negro : A symbol of slavery

31. Thank you