For this week, let's re-read Faulkner's A Rose for Emily and focus on the following questions for our Wednesday class.
Is Emily a victim in any way? If yes, how so?
What are the examples of control you see in this short story?
Do you sympathize with Emily in any way?
Those of you who haven't commented on the blog, please make sure you read and post your comments on the older posts. You are all welcome to put your thoughts here on this particular post as well but it's not required for this week.
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Emily has created this life for herself of living in filth and you can tell she's damaged in some way and she's gone a bit crazy. Her father's death was when the town started looking at Emily and feeling sorry for her. You can't help but sympathize with her because she has such bad luck and cause she clearly has problems. Her mental state is obviously not correct but the town doesn't do anything about ti but say "poor Emily." When she talks about the mayor who had been dead for several years you start to realize, wow this girl's crazy. I can't help but wonder if her father's death sent her over the edge or if she always has problems but because her father was wealthy and wanted the best for her he hid the problem from the town, and since he died there was nobody else to take care of her. I feel really bad for her when Homer clearly isn't interested in her and she gets brokenhearted, but then when you learn she killed him, the sympathy goes out the window cause you realize she NUTS and that's why no man will stay.
ReplyDelete-Erin Sawyer
It seems like Emily made herself this way. There is really no way anyone should feel sorry for her. She is putting all of this on herself. The only reason people in the town feel sorry for her is because of the position she is in with her father's death. Since her father's death Emily started to go crazy and the town stopped feeling sorry for her because she is bringing this all upon herself.
ReplyDeleteGood thinking, Erin and Danielle!
ReplyDeleteSure Emily's misery is mostly self inflicted, but what about the dire consequences of the control her father wielded over her all through her life till he died? Not everyone handles such control with a sense of humor. Like Erin said, Emily clearly exhibits crazy behavior. That she is crazy is evident, but our endeavor is also to see how and why she got to be like that. Surely, Faulkner meant to tell us not just some story of this overtly protected girl who went berserk. What is the point of this story? What do we find here? The interdependence between individual and society; the awful repercussions of a stifled individual; the sad state of affairs of Emily and her utter ignorance, and so on. There are many issues implicit in this story. As hard as it is to empathize with Emily, it is important to understand that she is also a product of her stifled upbringing and in her case it is too late to reverse the negative aspects embedded in her psyche all through her formative years. Instead of saying, she could've done this or that, we ought to focus on what happens in the story and why do we think she behaves the way she does. Our interpretation and analysis will also depend on our understanding of human nature, and of life in general, which is what makes our discussion all the more interesting!
Keep your comments coming!
Emily makes herself seem crazy with the way she acts towards the town. although the town does not do anything to help besides feel bad for her. After the death of her father i think emily lost it. She acts even more crazy and the people of the town want nothing to do with it. She ends up seeing Homer although she ends up killing him. (maybe) Homer is found dead with a cold gray strand of hair on the pillow next to him. The hair reflects emily's cold-heartedness.
ReplyDeleteEmily's father died and ever since then, she hasn't been all there. Everyone in the town looks at her and feels sorry for her because they know she's been through a lot. Although, she makes herself seem more crazy than she really is. When her boyfriend dies, they think she had something to do with it because a piece of hair was found on the pillow next to his dead body.
ReplyDelete1. Yes I think that Emily is a victim because her father kept her locked up in her house and wouldn’t allow her to leave so when he died she did not know what to do and because of that she lost it and because her father never let her out she didn’t know what to expect after his deat5h which in turn made her crazy. The samples of control in this story are how the father controlled Emily by keeping her locked in the house. I do sympathize with Emily because she had no choice. Her father kept her locked away and wouldn’t allow her to leave the house, which is why I think she turned out the way that she did.
ReplyDelete~Nicole Treschitta~