Isolation In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

man admit him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening. And that was the last we saw of

In “A Jury of Her Peers,” Minnie Wright grows up in Dickson county along with: Mr. Lewis Hale, Mrs. Martha Hale, Harry Hale, Mrs. Peters, Mr. Peters, Mr. John Wright, and Mr. George Henderson. Minnie Foster is known to others as a sweet and cheerful young girl. After  marrying John Wright, Minnie Wright is not seen or spoken of throughout the town, “Time and time again it had been in her mind ‘I ought to go over and see Minnie Foster’--she still thought of her as Minnie Foster, though for twenty years she had been

People seen that “she use to wear pretty clothes and be lively- when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls and [sung] in the choir” (A Jury). It was noticeable to others that she had hanged after getting married. People in the town knew about Mr. Wright's character. They said that he was a good but cold man. He liked to keep his personal life and house quite, giving off a unhappy feeling to others. Mrs. Hale said, “Yes- good; he didn't drink…kept his word…and paid his debt. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to [spend] the day with him (Shivers.) Like a raw wind that gets to the bone” (Trifles 1417). They did not have any children or pets and that also added to Mrs. Wright loneliness. He was also gone off to work for most of the day, leaving Mrs. Wright at home by herself.

Wright was a talented great singer until she married Mr. Wright. Mrs. Wright was imprisoned in her own home. Mrs. Hale shared, “She used to sing real pretty herself.” (Glaspell) She displayed signed that she was no longer a part of the outside activities in addition to giving up singing. Mrs. Hale stated, “Wright was close. I think maybe that's why she kept so much to herself. She didn't even belong to the Ladies Aid. I suppose she felt she couldn't do her part, and then you don't enjoy things when you feel shabby. She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But that--oh, that was thirty years ago. This all you was to take in?” (Glaspell) In addition she also stated, “ I could've come. I stayed away because it weren't cheerful--and that's why I ought to have come. I--I've never liked this place. Maybe because it's down in a hollow and you don't see the road. I dunno what it is, but it's a lonesome place and always was, I wish I had come over to see Minnie Foster sometimes. I can see now” (Glaspell). Mrs. Wright was stripped of who she was after marrying Mr.

William Faulkner’s short story, A Rose for Emily, is a dark tale of a young girl damaged by her father that ended up leaving her with abandonment issues. Placed in the south in the 1930’s, the traditional old south was beginning to go under transition. It went from being traditionally based on agriculture and slavery to gradually moving into industrial and abolition. Most families went smoothly into the transition and others, like the Griersons, did not. Keeping with southern tradition, the Griersons thought of themselves as much higher class then the rest of their community. Emily’s father found no male suitable for his daughter and kept her single into her thirties. After her fathers death Miss Emily was swept off of

“She was small and thin and didn’t have a strong voice” (1) and “she didn’t seem like a sheriff’s wife” (1) according to Mrs. Hale. Mrs. Peters didn’t feel that it was her place to be determining who the murderer of Mr. Wright was, but she didn’t have to do it alone because she had Mrs. Hale to accompany her. The women were a substantial part of the investigation because they could find minute details about Minnie Foster that the men wouldn’t understand.

As an author establishes the characters he simultaneously attempts to develop the theme of the story. An author uses various elements such as point of view, the setting, and symbols to work toward the expression of one central idea. In looking at "A Rose for Emily." a short story by William Faulkner, it is evident that Faulkner successfully carries one main idea throughout the piece, the idea of being isolated from society.

Peters finds with a broken door. The birdcage represents the life of captivity that Minnie endured during her marriage to Mr. Wright. It is believed by the women that Minnie was trapped within her marriage, being used as amusement for her husband, much like a bird bring kept as a pet. Mrs. Hale correlates that Minnie was “kind of like a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and – fluttery” (Glaspell 168). After the discovery of the canary with the snapped neck, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale share a look of mutual understanding as the story is beginning to come together. Mr. Wright had strangled the bird, resulting in Minnie feeling as though he had snuffed out the last shred of happiness that she had in her life. Mrs. Hale points out that “[Mr.] Wright wouldn't like the bird...a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that too” (Glaspell

The first blow to the fortress that was Minnie Foster, was thirty years prior to the demise of John. She was a songbird who “...used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir”.(Glaspell 984) John kills this livelihood when he marries her and moves her to a secluded place,ending her participation in the choir. He secludes her from the rest of the world. The couple's home is located “in a hollow and [they] don't see the road”.(Glaspell.986) The hollow is grave like. Mrs. Wright is buried alive and she cannot find a way out of her dying marriage. The location of the home is not the only thing that keeps visitors away. The cold nature John brings about the home also keeps people away. People, such as Mrs. Hale, avoided the Wright’s

Wright explains that someone must have come in, in the middle of the and slipped a rope around her husband’s neck while she was asleep next to him, she states, “I sleep sound.” Mrs. Wright didn’t seem concerned never moving from her rocker, she kept rocking and pleating the apron. The men searched the kitchen which appeared unkept and found only kitchen items, nothing out of the ordinary. Her neighbor Mrs. Hale came in and said that she hadn’t been in the house in years, she states “It hasn’t been a cheerful place” (561). Mrs. Wright is now being accused of murdering her husband and her only concern was her preserves, the county attorney sates, “Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (561). The ladies that was in the Wright house was discussing how Mrs. Wright used to be, dressed up in pretty clothes, was lively and confident, she lost that over the years and now “She didn’t even belong to the Ladies Aid” (562). They guessed she couldn’t do her part and felt shabby, so she kept to herself. The ladies thought she killed her husband and practically convicted her right there in her kitchen. The women are constantly worrying over Trifles, or something that is totally unimportant. After Mrs. Wright is arrested for the murder of her husband the two ladies take Mrs. Wright quilt to the jail to keep her

They found the dead bird that gave Minnie Foster the motive to murder; however they withheld their discovery. This radical act of defiance was monumental. The women who had spent their whole married lives tirelessly following every whim of their dictatorial husbands finally stand up for themselves, and prove that they do not like their lifestyle and want to

In this period women had a role they had to execute. Women are expected “take care of their own children and keep the house clean” (Bomarito and Hunter). In “A Jury of Her Peers” Mrs. Wright wanted her apron, “I suppose just to make her feel more natural. If you're used to wearing an apron” (Glaspell). Mrs. Wright as a woman had to keep the house clean and since she did not get out much that is what she would wear, “She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively--when she was Minnie Foster” (Glaspell). See man have company of other men, but women do not they must remain at home, alone. Plus, a childless woman, like Mrs. Wright, would fell this loneliness even more poignantly then others with kids.

It was as though the death of the cannery was a metaphorical death of Minnie Foster’s spirit. The birdcage is used as a symbol to signify Mrs. Wright’s marriage because she felt that she was a bird trapped in a cage, that was her marriage. Her marriage was filled with silence, solitude, and emptiness, which warped her personality. Mrs. Hale tells the County Attorney about John Wright’s personality, and how their home felt cold and barren. They talk further about how Mrs. Wright did not have the “homemaking instinct”, but Mrs. Hale implies that Mr. Wright is the cold one by saying, “I don't think a place'd be any cheerfuller for John Wright's being in it” (Glasspell).

In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," the main character, Miss Emily becomes quite the legend during her lifetime. In "A Rose for Emily", Miss Emily, the main character, confines herself in a large house in a small town during the early half of the twentieth century. I mention the house in which Miss Emily resides because it plays a significant role in the short story. The way Faulkner sets up the time period, place, and general location is vital in order to understand the entirety of the story.

She had given up on her singing to move out to the farm, so she could serve her gender-assigned duty as a homemaker. However, unable to have children, isolated from others on a remote farm and married to a man who was described as very cold Minnie felt trapped in the cage of her own marriage. Minnie makes one last effort to make a home from the dark and lonely place she lived by getting a canary. However, Mrs. Hales and Mrs. Peters investigation reveals that Mr. Wright strangles the canary, just like he did Minnie’s