A Rose For Emily
Time and Setting in ""
In "," Faulkner uses the element of time to enhance details of the setting and vice versa. By avoiding the chronological order of events of Miss Emily's life, Faulkner first gives the reader a finished puzzle, and then allows the reader to examine this puzzle piece by piece, step by step. By doing so, he enhances the plot and presents two different perspectives of time held by the characters. The first perspective (the world of the present) views time as a "mechanical progression" in which
the past is a "diminishing road." The second perspective (the world of tradition and the past) views the past as "a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from ...
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house. He gives us a picture of a woman who is frail because she has "fallen," yet as important and symbolic as a "monument." The details of Miss Emily's house closely relate to her and symbolize what she stands for. It is set on "what had once been the most select street." The narrator (which is the town in this case) describes the house as "stubborn and coquettish." Cotton gins and garages have long obliterated the neighborhood, but it is the only house left. With a further look at Miss Emily's life, we realize the importance of the setting in which the story takes place. The house in which she lives remains static and unchanged as the town progresses. Inside the walls of her abode, Miss Emily conquers time and progression.
In chapter one, Faulkner takes us back to the time when Miss Emily refused to pay her taxes. She believes that just because Colonel Sartoris remitted her taxes in 1894, that she is exempt from paying them even years later. The town changes, it's people change, ...
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a period of thirty years ago, when Miss Emily "vanquished their fathers about the smell." The plot continues in the backward direction, demonstrating Miss Emily's lack of understanding of time. A smell develops in Miss Emily's house, which is another sign of decay and death. Miss Emily is oblivious to the smell, while it continues to bother the neighbors. These town's people are intimidated by Miss Emily, and have to sprinkle lime juice on her lawn in secrecy. They are afraid to confront her, just as the next generation is afraid to confront her about the taxes. Her strong presence is enough for her to surpass the law.
Homer Barron, a symbol of progression and alteration, comes around to ...
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A Rose For Emily. (2004, November 21). Retrieved April 18, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Rose-For-Emily/17814
"A Rose For Emily." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 21 Nov. 2004. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Rose-For-Emily/17814>
"A Rose For Emily." Essayworld.com. November 21, 2004. Accessed April 18, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Rose-For-Emily/17814.
"A Rose For Emily." Essayworld.com. November 21, 2004. Accessed April 18, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Rose-For-Emily/17814.
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