Death In The Odyssey

In order to underscore the circumstances behind the death of Homer, it would be quite significant to first underscore that fact that the entire is bestowed with the themes of change and death. However, the theme of death takes the center stage in this paper. Death and change are actually the factors holding the underlying message in the story. The author clearly brings out the idea that it is actually better for an individual to accept the instances of death rather than to ignore the episode through the simple accounts he gives on the lives of Miss Emily (Faulkner 15). She chooses not to accept the fact that her father is dead by clinging on the father and extremely controlling the instances in which the fate of her father could be well versed
to the reader. This is actually narrated through the episodes of the descriptions of the beginning of her funeral. There entire story is in complete confusion as every character seems to deny the fateful event of death. After critically and authoritatively reading through the story, it comes to the clear mind of the reader that there could be some controversy as based on the cause of death of Homer. The story begins by simply saying that it might have been caused by Emily. This is quite confusing since Emily is actually depicted as trying to defend the stand of the non-existence of death in the entire story. On a personal ground, I believe Emily actually killed Homer in a bid to try and console herself. This was in the spirit of expecting that Homer would not actually leave. The whole action was orchestrated by the events that unfolded after she vehemently denied that the father had died. Such actions clearly show the extent to which Emily would go just in order to defy the instances and the odds of death (Faulkner 21). She continually tried to prevent any channel of change that could be brought about by death by simply defying the events after death. Through her constant action of defying death, she looked extremely frightened of the events unfolding after change.
This even led to the actual effect that she could not allow the city to put out the postal numbers on her door for the delivery of mails. She actually maintained all these events as a means and way of trying to force the town to remain at a standstill. Her actions actually led her to the killing of Homer. From the looks at the remains of Homer, it was evident that he had a rotten body, covered in a nightshirt. These were actually extremely pinned on the pillow (Faulkner 31). Beside the body lay a coat filled with dust. This shows hoe Emily tried to preserve both her life and the life of Homer right to the extent in which she could not realize that the person had died and the body was actually rotting under the
pillows. The events unfolding because of the conservative nature of Emily in line with the death of Homer, actually brings out the themes of death through the anticipation of gender through anthropology. The roles of women in the south were seen through the perceptions of men. When she actually died men went to the funeral out of perpetual respect. This is contrary to the case of women who attended the funeral out of curiosity. It is stated that women gossip while men seem to be caring and serious (Faulkner 32). This brings out the theme of male chauvinism in the light of death. During the comparison between Satoris and Emily, her name is not even mentioned while Colonel is actually praised. The story actually places men at a higher rank and state than their fellow women counterparts. In summary, there are a number of issues that were linked to the case and cause of death of homer in this story.
The author is actually able to bring out a cascade of events that are linked to the fear of death. This is then portrayed in an ironical manner where Emily ands up killing Homer though her persistent escapism toward death. The story thus incorporates a lot of ideas that are linked to the society and could as well be seen as the avenue towards propagating male chauvinism in the wider society. It is quite clear to underscore the effects of reader response mechanisms that could be used in the story. This could be achieved through reader criticism in the entire story. This story is indeed very significant in the field of literature because of the effects of death and change
therein.