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A Rose For Emily And The Last Of The Crazy People Essay

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Similar themes of death, mental health, and isolation are portrayed through characters’ internal and external conflicts within the short story, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and the novel, “The Last of the Crazy People” by Timothy Findley. Together these themes illustrate how traumatic experiences can result in an inability to function within society and a stigma impacting their overall wellbeing. These actions and behaviours are explored through Emily and Jessica, who both experience depression and struggle with their ability to function within society, without gaining negative attention from their peers.
Undergoing traumatic experiences impacts characters’ ability to function and sustain within society. This is seen in …show more content…

She had been inside her room by then, for three months” (Findley 76). This is clear evidence that Jessica has isolated herself for prolonged periods of time. These periods of isolation, have caused various issues within social situations, since she does not know how to properly react. Extreme mental and physical isolation has various consequences on one’s mental health that it expressed through their thoughts and behaviours throughout both pieces of literature. It is clear that Jessica is unable to function within society. To be considered able to function and contribute to society as an individual, one has to be able to communicate to others. However, Jessica is unable to do so and Hooker learns this through a conversation he has in town:
‘How’s your mother, Hooker?’ he asked with a slight German accent. Hooker did could not answer. All he could think to say was, ‘She’s crazy’ […] Hooker went away, but before he went, he heard something else- Mrs. Gaylor’s voice. ‘They are all crazy, you know, all of them. I heard them last night, yelling at each other…’ […] Why were they called “crazy people”? And why did Mrs. Gaylor say it, too? Was it what everyone thought?.(Findley 136-137)
It is clear that the neighborhood surrounding the family believe that Jessica herself, as well as her family are crazy after the few encounters that they experience, because they that result in poor outcomes. Parallel, to

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