Lena In A Rose For Emily By William Faulkner

Faulkner comes across as very unforgiving and critical of the society at large and the way with which it treats people who stray from the norm. In his novel, he includes characters with specific characteristics that make them easy for society to exclude and outcast. Lena is a perfect example of someone seen as a social outcast. There are many qualities Lena possesses that society would not agree with, such as the unusual circumstances of her pregnancy. In the time period Faulkner wrote this, girls should grow up to be obedient, marry a nice man, and have a baby in that order. Lena disregards these rules as a man impregnated her, and instead of marrying her, he ran away. Although Lena is not to blame for these circumstances, she is looked
In addition, Lena, at a very young age, is a very independent soul. Most girls of the time period had very little rights, and it was difficult for women to live an actual life on their own. Usually women do the housework, cooking, and cleaning to help her mother in her childhood, then graduates to performing these duties for her husband. Lena escapes her brother’s guardianship as she is neglected and verbally abused in that home to search for a new life and start again. Most women would not be able to do this, but Lena goes into the world on her own, with little possessions and money. This kind of independence poses a threat to society’s rules since women are seen as the inferior gender, so most people are scared of her and chose to neglect her instead of help her. There are a few exceptions in the novel, however, the most notable example being Byron Bunch, who is truly an admirable character. (I would love to continue to elaborate but this is already much longer than you probably want it to be so I am only going to
A man born and raised in Mississippi, he saw first hand how judgmental and critical society can be of people. Starting from before the civil world even through the modern day, there is a very racist attitude and mentality that persists among those who reside in in the Southern section of the United States. He also witnessed a society that did not accept and view women as equal members. Faulkner includes Byron Bunch one sole reason. Compared to the other main characters, Byron is the character that most closely resembles and embodies the ideals that society sees as normal. Lena is an unmarried pregnant woman; Hightower was rejected due to his obsession with the civil war and being married to an adulteress; Joanna was impartial to race as she only cared about the quality of the person; Christmas was a man of negro ancestry; Joe Brown is the scum of society. All of these five characters stand out in a crowd while Byron Bunch would just blend into the crowd. Faulkner includes Bunch to show the importance of people who are viewed as normal branching out and respecting and loving those who are different as Bunch falls in love with Lena. Faulkner is calling to society to act more like Bunch than Percy Grimm. This message is so important even in today’s society. There are so many new things that scare and challenge society’s norms. People are falling in love with members of the same gender; people are growing up and as they find