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Themes In A Rose For Emily

Decent Essays

. The narrator reveals the main events of her life, such as the death of her father, the disappearance of her lover, and the events surrounding her death, and the thoughts of the townspeople on Emily. This is related with the signs of patriarchy, religion and its influence, and also at the expectations on women in the story “A Rose for Emily”. The central idea of the story is how narrow-minded attitudes can cause others to withdraw. The principal themes of the story are: bitterness, social class, generation gap, and forbidden love. Emily is one of the people who withdraw because of narrow-mindedness. This story helps to understand the human psyche. It is connected with dark aspects of human life. After the death of her father, the townspeople expected her to be in a state of grief but pity she is not. Instead she proceeds to say that her father is very well with her, alive. William Faulkner’s idea of sorrow is clear in this story because he shows his audience that it is better to accept death than to ignore it through the accounts of Miss Emily’s journey. William Faulkner’s story takes place in the South, during a time period of racial discrimination and major political change. “A Rose for Emily” through the aspects of the secret held within the story, race and gender found through anthropology. Faulkner makes his beliefs about the role of gender clear by saying that men attended Miss Emily’s funeral with honor and respect whereas women attend the funeral out of curiosity

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