Marxist Reading Of A Rose For Emily
“A Rose for Emily” is a story written by William Faulkner that depicts social class and isolation in the society. The author uses a woman whose life story is tragic. The interpretation of social class by Faulkner revolves around the lives of people in town who are obsessed with the main character. Emily’s social interaction and conflict of the town is what has caused her to alienate herself from the community. According to Marxist criticism theory, material possessions form the bases of conflict and social change. “A Rose for Emily” reveals that class influences thought of the people and how they interact with others. According to Marxist theory, characters represent social classes and their actions show where they stand in the society (Doob p.26).
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“Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner p.263). One could expect such kind of person to be treated in a special way due to her lineage. Nevertheless, even if the heredity of Miss Emily was deep-rooted in the community, the lady was viewed as just an ordinary citizen. Her father was very controlling and always pushed away men who attempted to get close to her. When her father dies, she is left alone, and her contact with outside world was limited.
The author showed that Miss Emily continued to isolate herself from the community and she only interacted with her housekeeper, Tobe, and Homer Barron. The discrimination stems from the community that fails to accord her the respect that she deserves due to her lineage and she turns out to be a disgrace to the society especially when the working class in the northern part starts wooing her (Faulkner p. 265). The entire story shows how people in different social classes interact when people in the town have distorted and subjective information of Miss
“Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner p.263). One could expect such kind of person to be treated in a special way due to her lineage. Nevertheless, even if the heredity of Miss Emily was deep-rooted in the community, the lady was viewed as just an ordinary citizen. Her father was very controlling and always pushed away men who attempted to get close to her. When her father dies, she is left alone, and her contact with outside world was limited.
The author showed that Miss Emily continued to isolate herself from the community and she only interacted with her housekeeper, Tobe, and Homer Barron. The discrimination stems from the community that fails to accord her the respect that she deserves due to her lineage and she turns out to be a disgrace to the society especially when the working class in the northern part starts wooing her (Faulkner p. 265). The entire story shows how people in different social classes interact when people in the town have distorted and subjective information of Miss