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Racism In A Rose For Emily

Decent Essays

A Rose for Emily Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is centered on the American South at the turn of the century. He uses this short story to address the fact that the South is refusing to accept the unavoidable historical and social change. Faulkner uses symbolism in order to help the reader understand that if the South does not adapt to the changing times, it will die a slow, nefarious death just like Miss Emily herself. A Rose for Emily takes place in the South at the turn of the twentieth century. At that time period the South was a province marked by history and tradition; it is a place where the influences of class and order are dominant. At the turn of the twentieth century, industrialization was taking place and transformed the once agricultural South into industries. Neighborhoods known to be high class as well as the “select streets” were now being bombarded with garages and cotton gins. Emily’s house is now decaying and is best described as an “eyesore among eyesores”. The old South was known for its extreme enmity and racism. Faulkner clearly displays this with the use of the derogatory term “negro.” By using this derogatory term the African Americans were stripped of their human qualities and in severe cases they became property. Colonel Sartoris ruled that “no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron” this ensured that African Americans should be seen as workers, not people. Not only was there a racial divide, but also a lack of equality

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