A Rose Seared in a Haze----A Rose for Emily
Introduction
A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner’s most famous short fiction, presents the change of American Southern society after the Civil War. Some people considered it as a terrorist story which made people feel horrent, and some considered it as a tragic story which described the conflicts of one’s inner-side; while some others considered it as a story which described the miserable image of a crazy woman. In a word, it was a tragic story which shocked the reader.
William Faulkner, awarded with the Nobel Prize for literature in 1949，was regarded as one of the most famous American writers in the literary history of the United States. He created 19 novels and more than 70 short stories. The setting for most of his novels and short stories was Yoknapatawpha County, which was actually an imaginary place based on his childhood memory about his hometown in Oxford. Faulkner created a detailed and complex picture of this place and its people, describing the vicissitudes of this county, penetrating deep into the psychology of its people, reflecting the depression, pain, distortion, and oppressed feeling of the human nature in his works. The Sound and Fury, Absalom, Light in August, Go down, Moses were his representative long novels. At the same time, “like many American writers, Faulkner found himself again and again writing short stories, some of which are considered as equally important as his best novels” assort story was considered as a good threshold of entering the Yoknapatawpha County. A Rose for Emily, published in 1930, was one of his famous short stories. It was also a story about Yoknapatawpha County. Since its publication it had caused a big reverberation. In fact, all of the stories about Yoknapatawpha County including A Rose for Emily lead people into deep thoughts. All of them reflected the social life of American south. On one hand, each story was independent their own; on the other hand, they could be combined together as a whole to show the common theme that had been treated again and again in these stories. Obviously, the social meaning of A Rose for Emily could not be neglected in such a setting. Faulkner was deeply infatuated by his imaginary Yoknapatawpha County, not because this setting was familiar to readers, the more important reason was that it linked tightly with the moral problem and social problem that perplexed the author and needed to be solved.
In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner created a morbid, unreasonable and aberrant image of an old vestal whose life had been destroyed by the patriarchal system and traditional view on woman folk. She murdered her lover with poison, locked the corpse in the attic and slept with the corpse for more than 40 years. This secret was only discovered after her death. In this novel she was not only the symbol of the tradition, even more the sacrifice of the tradition.
From her life experience and her extremely terrible action, we can see that her way of life was full of difficulties and reverses. Her space was heavy, and her heart was twisted with misery. Moreover, her soul was tortured by her repressive desire. The abnormal spiritual state she showed and her extremely contradictive action lead people into deep thoughts.
1. Reasons of Tragedy
Emily was a representative America, who was a monument of old age. She was completely separated from social reality, filled with old thoughts in her mind and doomed to be lonely all her life. She opposed the progress of society, and refused to accept the new things. Emily as a noble lady and with old leaven in old age was desire deeply for love. Her crazy pursuit of love did not bring her happy life, and it was impossible for her to gain happiness and newborn.
Emily lived in a bad environment, the hazy residence, the lack of his father’s care to her, the lover’s betrayal, and the neighbors’ blame, had controlled her destiny together, twisted her personality, and facilitated her life tragedy with joint forces. As the following opinion:
The tragedy is closely related with people’s difficult survival predicament, the paradigm is a human tragedy in the ultimate survival plight of the tension. This kind of tension includes the objectivity and the subjective: it is not only material, it is also the spirit; it is not only visible, it is also invisible.
“A big, squares frame house that had once been white” was all the property her father left to her. “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” The indoor was “the gloomy entrance hall”, “the dark optical fiber”, “the cloudy air with sadness”, “darkly” the window, “dust everywhere, ghost flickering”, everywhere was coved with “the dark and cheerless atmosphere”, only the accompanies was the black servant who was carrying the shopping basket passes in and out. Around the house was the emerging industry “the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps.” Under this conflict of new and old cultural system’s, as the embodiment of tradition, symbol of obligation, Emily isolated in a dark room in a step-by-step bizarre alienation. The environment decided the consciousness. Emily had been totally eroded because of her isolation from the atmosphere.
When Emily was still young, her mother left her alone, this to a child was the biggest misfortune; “clutching a horsewhip” her despotic and selfish father absolutely had no concern to the daughter, “father’s disposition made her life full of twists and reverses as a feminine life”. Because her mother’s death and her father’s carelessness to her, Emily was not good at communicating with people and also did not understand the human sentiment. In order to maintain The Greer’s nobility and the dignity, her father expelled all the young men, leaving Emily spend her beautiful youth lonely in the deep boring black room, “she got to be thirty and was still single”. In the circumstances, what Emily lost was not the needs of physiology and safety, but the demand of attribution and love.
Father’s death made Emily feel more alone, but the instinctive sentiment for love was inflating day by day. Homer’s emergence caused Emily’s long constrained desire for love break forth immediately, although he was the only one who took the daily wages damnyankee. However she had a kind of crime feeling throughout her heart, because the old tradition of the south feeling of crime was a woman could only have a husband but not lovers. When she was “driving in the yellow-wheeled bug” happily, she felt both proudly and contradictorily. And the only means to eliminate this kind of point of view was to turn the lover to be a husband. Therefore, she had already made the good marriage preparations, “and ordered a man’s toilet set in silver”, “that she had bought a complete outfit of woman’s”. But the man she loved was actually an emotional swindler, he “has no intention to get married”, he only aimed at playing with the south virtuous young woman. The heartless lover made Emily a heart-stricken woman, who was going to lose herself gradually in rationality.
The scolded residents were representing the old traditional town; they had great influence and responsibilities to the tragic life of Emily. As the symbol of “the monument”, Emily was only able to follow the superego principal which dealt with affairs according to the traditional moralities. They could endure her free-tax, unfixing of house number and mail-box on the premise but she must receive the strict restriction of the honor and she could not act according to her own will. Once she breaded the identity, abandoned the obligations and responsibilities, she would become a sit duck to critics. So, contacting closely with Homer throws them into great fear. The footstone of southern tradition forbids trampling. She was first to blame to be “that it was a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people”, then the minister was sent to “call upon” her and the relatives in Alabama, who had not contacted for many years, were told to interfere. All the residents considered it would be the best thing, when they learned about all these methods had failed and she wanted to commit suicide. “The living condition which was generated by their attitudes toward Emily was but a psychological murder.” Emily’s sound personality could not develop fully, and her mind could not get liberty and revolution. Miserable destiny of being abandoned and extreme oppression of sexuality made her character and mentality twisted gradually and it finally killed Homer.
Emily lives in a particular period of history of the South America. At that time, as the core of the Christian Protestant force, Calvinism dominates the entire southern United States in politics, economic and culture, which is the support of slavery and racism. And it controls people’s thinking and behaviors accordingly. On one hand, Christian culture causes women to subordinate men because of the religion. On the other hand, family system and traditional concepts make her father a monarch who rules their family as a king. Under the pressure of the old traditional system, twisted soul and serious imbalance of personality lead Emily a whole tragic life.
Emily was born in a noble family in the south of America. She was aloof and proud. At that time, on one hand, the society was a Patriarchal power society which was based on the slavery economy. Women were only the ancilla of men. On the other hand, racialism and Puritanism ideology was controlling the whole society. The society strongly appealed the whole society. The society strongly appealed for the traditional female value, such as humbleness, gentleness, unselfishness, patience and so on. As a matter of fact, it was the moral rules which oppress the women in the lower classes and it was the game rules which must be obeyed by women. The women’s feelings were completely controlled oppressively by the society. Emily’s father tried to train her as a fair maid. So she obeyed his father’s arrangement. She did not get married until 30 years old. The lonely feeling during her life seemed a serpent which always twins her and made her stuffy and crazy. Forty years later, the single woman Emily passed away. After her death, the people in the town found her secret which was concealed for 40 years. Emily killed the only man Homer that she loved in special ways by herself. And she leaded a miserable and lonely life. The novel was full of terror suspense so that it can attract readers’ anxiety. The terror atmosphere, the heroine’s lonely life and her miserable life was exposed, and so was the darkness of American society. The old tradition as religion and social customs destroyed the human nature especially the women’s. The stagnation of traditional concept, the lies of Patriarchal power culture and the concept of female virtues caused her from loneliness to craze. Emily was the victim of the American society because of the influence of the Puritan traditional culture.
Emily just destroyed the most beautiful thing — love and happiness. That was her life tragedy. The causes of Emily’s tragedy were various. But the main reason was the Patriarchal power society and the concept of south female virtues and her living environment. All of these made her into an immaterial net. Her spirit which was destroyed her soul was killed, and her human nature was distorted. She struggled for life in that society of terror. She was very lonely, solitary, depressed and painful. She had typical trist mania. Her spiritual world would collapse at the results in her abnormal characters and crazy behavior.
We can notice that in Emily’s life, what she lacked of was just the material instinct which stood for love and happiness. She lost her mother when she was young. She had never enjoyed mother’s love. Her female virtues were completely formed and developed under the conduction of her father. There was no need to say that Emily was taught to obey the male authority when she was young. Her father was her sky. Emily’s father was a crazy puritan and tyrant, also a domineering man. He was a downfallen noble with old traditional and customs. He was the key person who influenced Emily’s whole life. He always controlled his daughter’s fate. It was he who destroyed Emily’s happiness. Her father’s characters brought some misery to her life, and this character seemed too fierce and bloody, and it would not disappear. Just as Faulkner said, her life was destroyed by a selfish father. Under the strict control of her father, she was not a woman, but a daughter of father — noble member of Greisens’ family.
Emily’s ideology and spirit were chained before her father’s death. Her instinct factors, such as requirement, aim ambition and so on were baffled. The female virtues were the center of Puritanism. It served for racialism human nature for killing women. So women cling to the man patriarchal power rule was more extrusive in the south area than any other areas of America. Because the patriarchal power ideology was the rooted and extrusive tradition. The plant economy was the main economic ways in the south area of America for prevailing of slavery.
Under these economic ways, the father, the host of a family, enjoyed the absolute authority. He decided and controlled the fates of every member in the family. The women thought that they were separated from society, nature, others, and even themselves. So there was a feeling of loneliness and torments in their hearts. I think the society in which Emily lived was an abnormal, and malformed. The human nature was destroyed. Under the influence of the female virtues concept and the domination of patriarchal power rules, her rights of pursuit for happiness and love were deprived time and time again. As a woman, she yearned for emotion and marriage, but this hope was killed from time to time. So at last, these factors resulted in her abnormal psychology. She could not stand it. She collapsed. Finally, a terror, miserable, tragedy was born.
However in the recesses of her soul, the female nature and the hope of common life called in her. She did not want to live a lonely life. When she was not controlled by her father, when she was appealed by Homer, Emily’s emotion appears. This was the best chance for her to cast off the lonely life. She also did not want to lose this chance. She tried her best to pursue her own happiness in her lonely life. She had the desire of love, a husband and a family. She only wanted to love and to be loved. However, the environment and the women in the town who were influenced by the traditional customs thought that Emily was immoral. So these women should obey, and submit to this kind of life. They did not allow Emily to against tradition. This old tradition baffled Emily again. However, Emily was stubborn. She did not give up her right for pursuing happy life and casting off lonely life. She took all aspects pressure from society, religion and family. She fought against the old tradition. Her love to Homer was also her crazy behavior. In order to cast off the long life and obtain her happiness, Emily spends all her wealth in ordering a set of silver washing tools and buying all sets of clothes. What she did expressed was that she could do anything for her love. And she was unwilling to live lonely life.
Emily in love pursued her happiness, but her desire for obtaining a husband and a family was killed again and again in that abnormal society. When the common conditions could not maintain the happy life, people would choose to be mad to against the behavior. In order to get rid of the lonely life and get happy life, she wanted to maintain this love. Buying poison was her crazy behavior. People in the town all thought that she wanted to suicide. Because they believed that suicide was the best choice for her. People in the town did not know the truth of her buying poison. In her surface, she was quiet, but in her heart, she was very sad. Once there was a chance, the tragedy would happen. When she was deserted by her lover, the mixed feeling of love and hate appears in her heart.
Emily’s instincts all broke out, so she killed the only man she loved. This event happened 40 years ago. After killing her lover, she did not choose to suicide. It was more exact to say that the Puritanism resulted in her abnormal psychology. At the same time, she killed herself spiritually.
2. Conclusion
Emily’s tragedy is not just the one of a woman, but the tragedy of the entire human society. It is the poor living environment and unbalanced personality structure makes a noble lady become an evildoer and victim. And this tragedy is inevitable even though she gives us endless reflection. Everyone knows that a healthy external environment is extremely important for people’s mental health and physical one. At the same time, one person should know exactly about self-awareness, self-control and self-development among dealing with external environment, inter-personal relationships and exchange of social interaction process, thus make the triple personality structure develop in a healthy way.
We can imagine if Emily’s father had not stopped her communication with outside, she may meet and marry a good gentleman and build a happy family up; if he had not driven away Emily’s suitors, not constrained her feeling, made her unmarried until 30, she would not catch a man so hysterically; if the town people did not measure her with the traditional view, but considered her as a common person not a noble fair, she would not had such a heavy pressure in her mind. If all of the hypothesis were true, Emily would not take an abnormal action. But none of them were true; the tragedy was inevitable, just as Faulkner pointed himself: Emily’s tragedy was unavoidable; nothing could stop it, because the society at that time had no ideal environments of the supposition, and so the tragedy was natural. It was obvious that Emily’s tragedy was the result of patriarchal system and the traditional view.
The significance of A Rose for Emily was that it described the social origins of the tragedy, criticized its mutilation to female. Some society and tradition left some people some wounds that unable to be remedied. Emily’s story manifested this theme because she existed not only as herself, even more as a specimen of the female. She was the representative victim of social circumstance and view. Faulkner created the tragedy of her life, “imbed at exposing the false of the society, because he loved his country very much, and wanted to correct it’s false, so he exposed it a hoped people to get rid of it”.
