A Rose of Sympathy：On the Source of Emily’s Tragedy

GaoYa

【Abstract】This paper is a discussion on William Faulkners short story “A Rose for Emily”. It focuses on the reasons why Emily changes from a lady into a devil. By relating the story to its historical and social context， the paper finds that Emilys tragic life is not due to her morbidity， but to the traditional culture and values of the American South in the transitional Southern society of post-Civil War decades. What she deserves is a rose of sympathy and understanding.

【Key words】Emily； Tragedy； Source； Sympathy

William Faulkners short story “A Rose for Emily” narrates the tragedy of Emily Grierson， a descendant of a decayed aristocratic family in the American South. She poisoned her lover in her own house and after that she secluded herself from the outside world and lived in loneliness in her house. What is more terrifying is that she had slept with the corpse of her lover for forty years until her death. Although Emily turns from a lady into a horrible old spinster， “a rose”， as is said in the title of the story， is presented to her. A rose is a token of beautiful things， and in this paper， it is interpreted as one of sympathy for Emily. By relating the story to its historical and social context， the paper finds that Emily is actually a victim of the traditional culture and values of the American South in the transitional Southern society of post-Civil War decades， such as the patriarchal institution， Puritan morality， aristocracy， and Southerners nostalgic psychology.

The story is set in Jefferson， a typical town of the American South， in the post-Civil War era of 1890s-1930s. At that time the patriarchal ideology was still a powerful and deep-rooted tradition in the South， due to the profound influence of Puritan morality and the dominant slavery plantation economy before. The then Puritanism was noted for its intolerance， bigotry and sexual discrimination. A lot of stories and remarks in the Bible instruct women to submit to men， so they were used intentionally by the Puritans to ingrain the subordinate position of the female in social ideology. Besides， female chastity was reckoned extremely important. In other words， “a womans value lay in her chastity.” White women in the upper class were even held to be saints or angels， yet under these halos they greatly suffered. At the same time， the traditional plantation economy in the South was self-sufficient and family-centered， in which the father of a family was endowed with absolute authority， so female position in family was very low. Although the plantation economy had declined， the old values and concepts were still influential.

Emily is a poor victim of these traditions. As the descendant of a decayed aristocratic family， she grew up under the absolute control of her tyrannical father， Mr. Grierson， who was a resolute guardian of the traditional codes of Southern aristocracy. Mr. Grierson held his family too high and thought that none of the young men in town was good enough for his daughter， so Miss Emily remained single though she was thirty. An impressive tableau is depicted in the story by people in the town：“Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background， her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground， his back to her and clutching a horsewhip， the two of them framed by the back-flung front door.” Emily as a tragic figure victimized by the patriarchal institution is vividly shown in the tableau. Mr. Grierson drove away all the young men， isolating Emily from the society， and probably moralizing on the right way for Emily to think and behave；while Miss Emily stood in the shadow of her fathers， following his instruction submissively. Her dress in white implied her innocence as well as ignorance about the outside world. When Mr. Grierson died， Emily was left not only alone and poor， but totally unprepared to handle her relationship with other people as well. The old Griersons obsession with past aristocratic glories robbed his daughter of the happiness she should have had. Poor Emily， scared and lost， refused to accept her fathers death， and “we believed she had to do that… [As] with nothing left， she would have to cling to that which had robbed her， as people will.”

Mr. Griersons death ought to give Emily a chance to free from the rigid codes of the old aristocracy and enable her to pursue happiness. However， the situation for Emily was not that simple. Even without her fathers control， she was still not able to pursue happiness， and this time due to the strong nostalgic psychology of the townspeople in Jefferson. After the Civil War， the industrial and commercial civilization of northern America invaded the American south， devastating its traditions and culture：slavery was abolished， the plantation economy and the aristocratic families were declining， old morals and value systems were breaking down， and the traditional way of life was disappearing. Southerners greatly suffered from this historical transition. They were nostalgic for the past lifestyle and achievements of the South. Emily unfortunately to became the victim of their nostalgia.

When Miss Emily fell in love for the first time in her life with a northern foreman called Homer Barron， and tried to defy all the codes imposed on her to protect their relationship in the hope of marrying him， whispers began to fly over the whole town. Ladies all said， “Of course Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner， a day laborer.” Older people said， “…even grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige.” We can see that it was the townspeople who kept playing the role of the guardian of decayed Southern traditions. According to peoples whispers， “Homer himself had remarked - he liked men， and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks Club - that he was not a marrying man.”This actually was whisper， no one knew for sure whether Homer was a gay or not. However， for poor Emily， this was the last straw. In great fear of losing her love， Emily went to extremes of poisoning her lover. Ever since then she has locked herself and the corpse of her lover in the decaying house and slept with the corpse for forty years. In this way Emily preserved her love until her death. Her brave rebellious act against the old values and pursuit of love thus failed because tradition was too powerful， and this turned her into a devil.

Emilys behavior sounds horrifying at first impression， yet if we put her against the then social and historical background， we will gain a new understanding of her and find her worthy of sympathy. Instead of being an old morbid spinster， she is a tragic victim of the decayed traditions of the South. She suffered greatly from her tragic life， so even William Faulkner himself presented a rose to her to show his sympathy and understanding.

References：

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[2]Faulkner，William.A Rose for Emily[M].Logan，IA：Perfection Learning Press，1990.

[3]刘爱英.从淑女到魔鬼-试从社会批评学角度看《纪念爱米丽的一朵玫瑰花》的悲剧意义[J].四川外语学院学报.1998（2）.

作者简介：高雅（1988-），女，汉族，硕士研究生， 研究方向：欧洲研究。