Analysis Of Abnormality In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, is a gothic short story about a southern woman named Emily Grierson. The story is told by an unnamed first-person narrator who is representative of the townsfolk. However, this narrative voice excludes Emily’s thoughts and feelings, adding to her perceived freakish personality. As the story develops, the power Emily’s last name carries from her family’s stature and wealth becomes diminished, resulting in pity towards her from the rest of the town. The story deals with themes of love, isolation, and tradition while simultaneously shuffling through time in an attempt to place the reader in the world of Miss Emily. Throughout, “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner foreshadows Emily’s mental insanity by describing
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her relationship with her father and her family background, her relationships with the community and the way the community treats her, and her inability to distinguish between the past and the present. Emily’s lineage and her psychological bond with her father, hints at the possibility that she is mentally troubled. In part two, it is discovered that her great aunt is known among the town as “old lady Wyatt” who went “completely crazy.” This information suggest that insanity runs through Emily’s family, allowing the reader to hypothesize that a mental illness may be genetically transmitted to impact Emily herself. In addition, Emily’s bizarre relationship with her father foreshadows the later confirmation that she is mentally unstable. The town sees Emily Grierson and her father as an odd spectacle, stating that “Miss Emily, a slender figure in white in the background” is loomed over by her father’s “spraddled silhouette in the foreground” with “his back to her and clutching a horsewhip.” This portrayal of their relationship is a metaphor foreshadowing a possible mental imbalance in Emily since she is forcibly submissive to her father. Another sign of Emily’s mental instability is her unhealthy dependence on her father after his passing. The narrator states that “after her father’s death she went out very little” and in that time “her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl.” Emily even goes as far as not allowing the doctors to “dispose of the body.” This is a clear foreshadowing of her insane state of mind because seclusion, drastic physical changes, and failure to move on are indications of mental distress. Similarly, the reader learns that Emily’s father deliberately hindered his daughter's efforts to find a husband once the narrator explains that “all the young men her father had driven away” no longer care for her, so she had to “cling to that which had robbed her.” Again, Faulkner foreshadows Emily’s mental state by stressing the absolute control her father has on her life. By rejecting all of her admirers Emily’s father is able to remain dominant over her being, leading to the isolation she inevitably goes into. In other words, the overwhelming actions of Emily’s father established a pattern in her life of clinging onto male figures. This pattern directly results in the mentally odd actions taken by Emily in which she poisons Homer Barron in order to prevent him from ever leaving her.
Faulkner plays on Emily’s abnormality among her community, her withdrawal from the town, and her social relationships to foreshadow that she is mentally unstable.
Emily’s character in the town is nothing more than a responsibility. The narrator explains that alive, Emily was “a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town.” Because of southern hospitality, Emily’s town feels a duty to assist the disadvantaged and Emily fits this criteria because of her mental state of mind. Furthermore, Faulkner once more foreshadows that Emily is mentally ill by illustrating how the town regards her. In part four, the narrator relates that the town believes Emily purchased arsenic to “kill herself” and that it “it would be the best thing.” Because suicidal thoughts are easily connected to inner instability, the reader is able to speculate that Emily’s mental state is less than healthy. Faulkner further hints at Emily’s mental insanity by the way the town treats her. In part four, the town further enables Emily to remain mentally unwell because they aren’t genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. After locking herself away, a neighbor notices a strange smell arising from Emily’s home so the four men from the Board of Aldermen “slunk about the house like burglars” sprinkling lime “in all the outbuildings.” Here, the townspeople recognize that the strange scent could be Homer Barron’s decomposing body since he was last seen with Emily prior to his disappearance but instead mask the smell much like they mask Emily herself by not giving her psychiatric help. With this ostracization from the town, it can be reasonably expected that a drastic action such as murder and sleeping with a corpse would be of no surprise to the town and therefore should not surprise the
reader.
Faulkner uses Emily’s fixation on the past to foreshadow her mental state. Adapting to change is nearly impossible for Emily as she confuses the progression of time with her own reality. Emily’s house symbolizes her incompetence to advance through time. The narrator informs the reader that her house “had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires” but is now “an eyesore among eyesores.” This description of Emily’s deteriorating house symbolizes and foreshadows Emily’s state of mind because as time goes on her mental ability rapidly declines much like that of her house. Also, while explaining to the Board of Aldermen that she will not pay taxes, Emily orders them to see Colonel Sartoris; however, the narrator informs the reader he had “been dead almost ten years.” Here, Emily’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the fact that Sartoris is dead allows the reader to confidently assume that she is mentally unstable. In addition, shortly after Emily’s father dies the ladies of the town come to sympathize with her but with “no trace of grief on her face” she tells them “her father was not dead” for the three days following his death. These instances demonstrate Emily’s inability to distinguish history from existing time which is an obvious component of a mental defect. With Emily’s mental state coming into question regarding something as simple as the passing of time, the discovery of Homer Barron and what Emily has been doing with him at the end of the story is a somewhat predictable conclusion.
In short, Faulkner foreshadows Emily’s deranged mental state by describing her predisposition for a mental disorder and the attachment she has to her father, her relationships within the town, and her complications understanding reality. Emily’s dangerous state of mind ultimately lead to the peculiar death of Homer Barron; however, the disgusting actions at the end of the story were not an outright shock because of Faulkner’s foreshadowing techniques. More specifically, Faulkner’s emphasis on Emily’s upbringing and her many failures understanding time as she communicates with her community allows the reader to anticipate the ending of the story.
her relationship with her father and her family background, her relationships with the community and the way the community treats her, and her inability to distinguish between the past and the present. Emily’s lineage and her psychological bond with her father, hints at the possibility that she is mentally troubled. In part two, it is discovered that her great aunt is known among the town as “old lady Wyatt” who went “completely crazy.” This information suggest that insanity runs through Emily’s family, allowing the reader to hypothesize that a mental illness may be genetically transmitted to impact Emily herself. In addition, Emily’s bizarre relationship with her father foreshadows the later confirmation that she is mentally unstable. The town sees Emily Grierson and her father as an odd spectacle, stating that “Miss Emily, a slender figure in white in the background” is loomed over by her father’s “spraddled silhouette in the foreground” with “his back to her and clutching a horsewhip.” This portrayal of their relationship is a metaphor foreshadowing a possible mental imbalance in Emily since she is forcibly submissive to her father. Another sign of Emily’s mental instability is her unhealthy dependence on her father after his passing. The narrator states that “after her father’s death she went out very little” and in that time “her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl.” Emily even goes as far as not allowing the doctors to “dispose of the body.” This is a clear foreshadowing of her insane state of mind because seclusion, drastic physical changes, and failure to move on are indications of mental distress. Similarly, the reader learns that Emily’s father deliberately hindered his daughter's efforts to find a husband once the narrator explains that “all the young men her father had driven away” no longer care for her, so she had to “cling to that which had robbed her.” Again, Faulkner foreshadows Emily’s mental state by stressing the absolute control her father has on her life. By rejecting all of her admirers Emily’s father is able to remain dominant over her being, leading to the isolation she inevitably goes into. In other words, the overwhelming actions of Emily’s father established a pattern in her life of clinging onto male figures. This pattern directly results in the mentally odd actions taken by Emily in which she poisons Homer Barron in order to prevent him from ever leaving her.
Faulkner plays on Emily’s abnormality among her community, her withdrawal from the town, and her social relationships to foreshadow that she is mentally unstable.
Emily’s character in the town is nothing more than a responsibility. The narrator explains that alive, Emily was “a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town.” Because of southern hospitality, Emily’s town feels a duty to assist the disadvantaged and Emily fits this criteria because of her mental state of mind. Furthermore, Faulkner once more foreshadows that Emily is mentally ill by illustrating how the town regards her. In part four, the narrator relates that the town believes Emily purchased arsenic to “kill herself” and that it “it would be the best thing.” Because suicidal thoughts are easily connected to inner instability, the reader is able to speculate that Emily’s mental state is less than healthy. Faulkner further hints at Emily’s mental insanity by the way the town treats her. In part four, the town further enables Emily to remain mentally unwell because they aren’t genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. After locking herself away, a neighbor notices a strange smell arising from Emily’s home so the four men from the Board of Aldermen “slunk about the house like burglars” sprinkling lime “in all the outbuildings.” Here, the townspeople recognize that the strange scent could be Homer Barron’s decomposing body since he was last seen with Emily prior to his disappearance but instead mask the smell much like they mask Emily herself by not giving her psychiatric help. With this ostracization from the town, it can be reasonably expected that a drastic action such as murder and sleeping with a corpse would be of no surprise to the town and therefore should not surprise the
reader.
Faulkner uses Emily’s fixation on the past to foreshadow her mental state. Adapting to change is nearly impossible for Emily as she confuses the progression of time with her own reality. Emily’s house symbolizes her incompetence to advance through time. The narrator informs the reader that her house “had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires” but is now “an eyesore among eyesores.” This description of Emily’s deteriorating house symbolizes and foreshadows Emily’s state of mind because as time goes on her mental ability rapidly declines much like that of her house. Also, while explaining to the Board of Aldermen that she will not pay taxes, Emily orders them to see Colonel Sartoris; however, the narrator informs the reader he had “been dead almost ten years.” Here, Emily’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the fact that Sartoris is dead allows the reader to confidently assume that she is mentally unstable. In addition, shortly after Emily’s father dies the ladies of the town come to sympathize with her but with “no trace of grief on her face” she tells them “her father was not dead” for the three days following his death. These instances demonstrate Emily’s inability to distinguish history from existing time which is an obvious component of a mental defect. With Emily’s mental state coming into question regarding something as simple as the passing of time, the discovery of Homer Barron and what Emily has been doing with him at the end of the story is a somewhat predictable conclusion.
In short, Faulkner foreshadows Emily’s deranged mental state by describing her predisposition for a mental disorder and the attachment she has to her father, her relationships within the town, and her complications understanding reality. Emily’s dangerous state of mind ultimately lead to the peculiar death of Homer Barron; however, the disgusting actions at the end of the story were not an outright shock because of Faulkner’s foreshadowing techniques. More specifically, Faulkner’s emphasis on Emily’s upbringing and her many failures understanding time as she communicates with her community allows the reader to anticipate the ending of the story.