Analysis on Writing Techniques in Faulkners A Rose for Emily英语专业毕业论文.doc

Analysis on Writing Techniques in Faulkners A Rose for EmilyI. IntroductionWilliam Faulkner was among the greatest experimentalists of the 20th century novel. He was one of the greatest modern writers along with James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. “The 1950 Nobel Prize presentation speech calls Faulkner the unrivaled master of all living British and American novelists”(Blythe 49). As far as writing techniques are concerned, Faulkner is among the greatest experimentalists of the 20th century novel. He uses effects of the stream of consciousness, multiple points of view, symbolism and imagery. He is regarded as a “deep psychologist” and the short story A Rose for Emily lives up to that high praise.A Rose for Emily is one of his most frequently anthologized short stories and is widely used in the American class room. Its true that the setting of the story is the American South. Yet, the theme of the story is universal, transcending the boundaries of time and space. Like many other works of great literature, this short story tells about love, death, honor, pride, change, and loss. In A Rose for Emily we can see how the author tells a good story skillfully, how he creates an atmosphere needed for the storytelling, how he keeps the suspense and unfolds the conflict bit by bit, and how he digs deep into the social world of his character. Vague references, ambiguities, symbolism, imagery, experimental point of view, jumbled time sequences, avoidance of clear transitions, withholding of vital information are often exploited in his works. “It is essential to readers to participate in the process of seeking the truths of the inner life of the townspeople as they cope with Miss Emily. Once we do, we will surely enjoy reading the story. Its like working at a puzzle: when we start to figure it out, it will become more and more interesting” (Phillip 185).Faulkner writes in a way that makes it harder for the reader to understand. He uses long sentences that challenge the reader to make out the speaker, the time, and even the subject of the narrative. “Faulkner uses stream of consciousness interior monologues, and frequently combines time to stress his belief that the past and present are linked together in the human psyche. The story A Rose for Emily exemplifies these points very well” (Taojie,271). A Rose for Emily is one of Faulkners most critiqued stories and it is also one of his best stories as well. It is a popular book for its elements of mystery, suspense, and the macabre. II. SymbolismA. Emily-Symbolizing the Old Tradition of South AmericaFaulkner applies symbolism throughout the story and makes this simple story pregnant with meaning. This short story contains a high rate of symbolism, which is thoroughly distributed and revealed throughout the entire story. Symbolism is very prominent throughout the story, and plays one of the biggest roles in the underlying meaning of the entire story.“When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument” (qtd. In Meirenyi,103). The following also reveals to the readers that Miss Emily is a symbol: “And now Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of those august names where they lay in the cedarbemused cemetery among the ranked and anonymous graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the  battle of Jefferson” (qtd. In Mei,103). Miss Emily was referred to as a fallen monument in the story. She was a monument of Southern gentility, an ideal of past values but fallen because she had shown herself susceptible to death and decay. In addition, Miss Emily survives though everything around her is changing. In the first paragraph, she is described as a fallen monument - she represents a way of life that no longer exists.  She represents that old south, and that is part of the reason the townspeople view her that way that they do. She is a relic who survives by remaining locked up in her house untouched by outside influence. She is a tradition, a duty, and a care for the town.The story basically addresses the changes in the South after the Civil War. For one point, Miss Emily represents the old South tradition. Her southern heritage and points of view are represented through her actions. Her stubbornness and unrelenting attitude are very strong characteristics of the Southern heritage. She refused to believe that the times were changing and refused to change into the new society. The Southern heritage is also represented through Miss Emily strict and repetitive ways. Miss Emily is considered a monument of Southern manners and an ideal of past values. The Old South generations were deteriorating very rapidly by changing traditions, and as well as mannerisms. When Miss Emily died, she and her house both become symbols of their dying generation.In the beginning of the story the reader is informed that Emily is dead and the whole town goes to her funeral. Most of the people at the funeral were part of that young generation, and they could never really accept Emily into their generation. To them she was the classic idea of an old fashioned southern woman. Miss Emily then becomes a symbol of the old generations values and the sins of the old fathers. Many readers see Emily as just a symbol of the past, but to a point that is not completely correct. On the other point, as the story goes on, the reader finds out that she is not really part of the old generation either. She, in fact, is part of the post war generation, which was a defeated group that yearned for their Old World that they once had. The reader also finds out that the new generation is nothing but a bunch of posers, because of the way they adapted their life to fit the American way. As the reader can see the two generations are complicit in ignoring the real Emily and creating and maintaining the myth of Emily as an example of southern womanhood from a lost age. The new generation sees the Greirsons as a high and mighty power. They also inherited a land sullied with cotton gins and garbage that commemorate the old souths defeat. In the end, the narrator, a townsperson himself, reveals Miss Emilys real purpose. She was a reminder that both generations were guilty of the same misplaced value. Not only did they let Miss Emily, the murderess, come into being, but also that they covered up her crime and enshrined her in a tableau into which they can inset themselves. There is an interbreeding of ideas between the two groups that allow them to have such bad ideas in maintaining the ideas of what they would like to be. Miss Emily is a fallen monument not only to her family but also to the ends of the two generations. The monument is topped with death and not by the ethical evolution of the town. The narrator realizes it was the towns fault for Miss Emilys actions, because they drove her into isolation madness by treating her bad.B. Rose-Symbolizing the Love and Peoples Respect for EmilyThe title A Rose for Emily is somewhat ambiguous. A rose is a popular flower symbolizing love, caring, friendship, courtship, peace, respect, etc. One gives a rose to a loved one, especially male to female. This suggests that the town loves her, but also that it is somehow a masculine entity to her feminine identity. One also leaves a rose on the grave of someone who is dead. If the town is leaving a rose for her, they are already recognizing shes dead, which symbolically, she is, long before she dies. It could also be a tradition: a rose for Miss Emily. It also indicates the distance with which she is regarded: this is not Emily, this is Miss Emily. Finally, it refers to the love from Homer that went bad. The townspeople admire Emily and respect her as a former aristocrat of society. She is an educator and deserves their care because of all she was forced to endure by her tyrant father. They once had seen her as a monument. A Rose for Emily is a dedication to Emily from the townspeople, like an ode is to a great writer.   The “Rose” clearly defines something “sacred” to Emily. At the end of the story after Emilys death some curious women went into the top room. In the following paragraph: The violence of breaking down the door seemed to fill this room with pervading dust. A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valence. curtains of  faded rose color, upon the rose shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of  crystal and the mans toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished  that the monogram was obscured. Among them lay a collar and tie, as if they had just been removed, which, lifted, left upon the surface a pale crescent in the dust. Upon a chair hung the suit, carefully folded; beneath it the two mute shoes and the discarded socks (qtd. in Mei, 110).The “Rose” is a symbol of the age of romance in which the aristocracy was obsessed with delusions of grandeur, pure women being a symbol of the ideal in every phase of life. In other words, the story is in a way, a “rose” to Miss Emily for standing up for the things that she believed in and died believing in Miss Emily is a lonely old woman, living a life devoid of all love and affection.C. The House-Symbolizing the Deterioration of Her Family and the Old SouthMiss Emily is compared to her house in many different ways: descriptions of the decaying house symbolize Miss Emilys physical and emotional decay, and as well as her mental problems. The representation between herself and her house is shown through constant neglect and unappreciation. In one point that Faulkner makes, the house is described to be stubborn and unrelenting. When Miss Emily died her house become symbols of their dying generation. The society was changing every minute but still, Emily's house was still remained like a symbol of seventieth century. In this short story, Faulkner applies symbolism to compare the Grierson house with Emilys physical deterioration, her shift in social standing, and her unwillingness to accept change .When compared chronologically, the Grierson house is employed to symbolize Miss Emilys physical attributes. Just as their physical characteristics, Faulkner sets the Grierson house as a symbol for Miss Emilys change in social status. It is obviously showed that according to the story:It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; 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 (qtd. In Mei, 163).D. People in the Town- Symbolizing the Obstacles of the SocietyPeople in this town and the community are the real subject. In other words, this story is not just about Emily, but also about people talking about Emily. Indeed Emily appears as a dead person from the beginning and is only brought to life in gossip. It is because that this community narrative technique limits readers from knowing Emilys thoughts. “Indeed Miss Emilys anti-socialized life keeps the townspeople from knowing the truth. The readers hardly know many facts bout Miss Emily from the townspeoples narration” (Skei 352). In this situation, all the people in her own can do is observe and guess, so what they explore to the readers are just what they “feel”, “think” or “see”. Therefore, it naturally formed the differently opposite group between Emily and the people in the town.People in this town liked to gossip a lot about Miss Emily. When she went to buy the poison from the pharmacy, the town was convinced she was going to kill herself and that she was crazy. It seemed that she should have to choose to die. When her father had died people called and dropped by the house to give Miss Emily their condolences. For three years she told them that he was not dead and that he was still alive. She refused for her fathers body to be disposed. The town thought she was crazy. One of the things they talked a lot about was Miss Emilys servant that worked for her. They made racial comments about him for example when Miss Emilys house started giving off some sort odor. People started complaining to a judge named Judge Stevens about the smell. All he could say was “Its probably a snake or a rat that Niger of hers killed in the yard” (qtd. In Mei,105). One lady who complained accused Miss Emily of smelling bad. Miss Emily was pitied throughout the town because she wasnt married. The reason for this was because every time a man wanted to have something to do with Emily her father would scare them away. When Emily started seeing Homer Baron, people started to gossip that she would marry him and she would persuade him yet people would say. The town people also have the role in making Emily crazier. They looked at her like a fallen monument, still accepted her immense effect, no one had come to take her out of the shadow of the past that isolated her from the society. All the fact that the towns people thought was not really true. What Emily acted is not followed their wishes. Just because of this, we can explore obviously that Emilys odd behavior is enforced by the outside world in most extent. That is to say people in the town just like the obstacles of the society. III. Gothic Style DescriptionA. PlotThe plot of the story does not fully come to light till the end of the story. The beginning of A Rose for Emily, depicts a women that has just past and causes the entire town to spark an interest because of the secluded and semi-mysterious life she lead. The story immediately jumps from Emilys passing back to her youth and discusses her tax situation that illustrates her ability to influence and control people even in her old age. Miss Emily is faced with a dilemma concerning a lack of money and an inability to give up loved ones. These two factors force Miss Emily to place a shroud over her life in order to hide both insecurities in finance and in relationships. After her fathers passing Miss Emily is distraught and in turn keeps the remains of her father for fear of losing her only loved one. Her father did not allow her any male suitors, so he became one of the only loved ones in her life. Almost to the brink of force did she finally release her father which in turn enabled her to seek companionship. With this newly found freedom she seemed to attach herself to the first man she could find, even if he had not meet any criteria the family usually would evaluate at this point with the death of her new acquired male suitor Mr. Homer Barron. After a description