Verified Document

Modern Short Story Term Paper

¶ … ROSE FOR EMILY'-William Faulkner William Faulkner's short story "A rose to Emily" is one of the best short stories of 20th century American literature because it contains all the mystery, drama, conflict and intensity that mark a good piece of literature. Emily the female lead of the story is an intriguing character who refuses to mingle with townspeople which gives rise to many vicious rumors about her. This story has been very popular among the readers especially those who are Faulkner's loyal fans as a story involving mystery and dark secrets of a woman who is a total recluse. Townspeople never get to see her or talk to her therefore hewn her father dies, they get a chance to meet this woman who had hitherto remained confined within the four walls of her house. Notice how Faulkner has carefully created the background of this woman; she is not a person who has suddenly turned into a loner. She was probably not allowed to mingle with other people by her father and that is why Emily refuses to talk to any one even after the death of her father. She is not scared of people as many might conclude; she is simply not interested in talking to those who do not share the same values as she does. Now let us focus on the woman's psychology to see why she was against future and change.

The love that Emily has for her father should not be interpreted or read as the same kind of devotion that daughter usually have for their loving fathers. It is instead an obsession with the past and old values that makes her stick with the memories of her father and that is why she refuses to believe that he is dead. While some may feel that in this story, Emily is a lonely woman who loved her father so much that she couldn't accept that he had passed away but there is more to it than meets the eye. One should read between the lines to understand why Emily...

She is scared that she would not be able to keep pace with changing times and therefore simply closes her eyes to the future and turn deaf ears to bells of change. The story is written about a time when change was entering American with a vengeance. It was not like ordinary times when some minor changes occur, but was a time of massive global change where industrialization completely altered the reality, as people knew it. We must understand that this kind of change must have been very hard on some people and therefore they created a world of delusion around them. This is what Emily did too. She wanted to believe that past was still intact and could not come to terms with the fact that life moves and we are required to leave the past behind and accept the future with open arms.
Though we agree that this story would touch the hearts of many readers because Emily's character certainly arouses sympathy but we should take the time when it was written into account to understand what Emily actually represents. Faulkner does not want people to simply sympathize with this character and read the story as a mystery, which contains an evil twist in the end. Instead the story was primarily written to describe the psychology of some people during times of massive nationals and global change. The story is about romance of the past, freshness of the future and fear of the unknown. It presents the struggle of the past to overcome the future but future ultimately wins because that it is destined to beat the past. Note these lines below from the story, which make…

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Short Story the Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Words: 2966 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

Lottery" by Shirley Jackson The meaning of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' "It isn't fair, it isn't right." These are the last words expressed by the victim in Shirley Jackson's short story 'The Lottery', which provides a unique but shocking perspective of the innate evil that is part of human nature. The story starts off by describing a town scene that could not be more commonplace or predictable. The descriptions provided by

Narrative Structure Common to Short Stories of
Words: 1213 Length: 4 Document Type: Thesis

narrative structure common to short stories of the past cannot be found in modern examples of the literary form, and that in short "nothing happens" in modern short stories. When one examines the modern short story on its own terms, however, exploring the text for what it contains and extracting meaning and action from the words on the page (and the words not on the page), rather than trying

Short Story Poem
Words: 2042 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

female body -- the sum of its parts? In short story, novel, and poetic depictions of Gillman, Brooks, and Piercy despised flower, called a yellow weed by most observers. A trapped and voiceless bodily entity, like a ghost, perhaps behind a surface of peeling yellow wallpaper. A plastic doll with yellow hair with pneumatic dimensions and candied cherry lips. These three contrasting images all have been used to characterize

Raymond Carver's Short Story "Cathedral" Explores a
Words: 1019 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Raymond Carver's short story "Cathedral" explores a number of different social and psychological issues including stereotyping and prejudice. When the blind male friend of the narrator's wife enters their home, issues related to self-esteem, sexuality, and racism also arise. The blind man, Robert, helps the narrator to "see," serving a symbolic function of enlightenment. Cannabis provides the means by which the two men bond on an emotional and intellectual level,

Cathedral Raymond Carver's Short Story "The Cathedral"
Words: 1015 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Cathedral Raymond Carver's short story "The Cathedral" develops the theme of seeing the world clearly by using rich symbolism, irony, character development, and a postmodern tone and style. The blind man represents an unconventional mode of perception. Without a fundamental sensory input, the blind man relies on alternative methods of acquiring information and especially of interacting with others. His sightlessness at first bothers the narrator, but by the end of the

Chrysanthemums John Steinbeck's Famed Short Story, "The
Words: 1546 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Chrysanthemums John Steinbeck's famed short story, "The Chrysanthemums," was published in Harper's Magazine in 1937. This story is quite vigorously argued to be Steinbeck's best short story, as well as a piece that outshines and does not belong to his remaining body of work. "The Chrysanthemums has been called John Steinbeck's best short fiction, and some rank it with the world's greatest short stories." (Haggstrom, Page 1) He wrote the

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now