An analysis on “A Rose for Emily”

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　　Abstract:This paper analysises Faulkner’s novel “A Rose for Emily”.It emphasises the viewpoint, the construction and the symbolic metaphor.
　　Key words:narration structure symbolic metaphor
　　
　　The spiritual deterioration which characterizes modern life stems directly from the loss of love and want of emotional response seems to be one important message of William Faulkner's stories. In "A Rose for Emily" he uses unique narrative viewpoint, structure-building, symbolism and metaphor to express this message and finally helps to extent the novel's aesthetic dimension. All these show Faulkner's attention to the combination of form and content in the novel-creation, and thus make the novel profoundly the matic.
　　1.The viewpoint of narration
　　This novel uses "we" to represent the main character.
　　(1)Emily's story is depicted moderately. To some extent it excludes the emotional and moral conflict between Emily and the townspeople. Thus we can realize the author's feeling.
　　(2)The townspeople's different opinion supplement each other and finally ensures the solidarity of the work. Via this can this noval be told vividly.
　　(3)The word "we" blurs the boundary between the readers and the characters. The story is just what the author sees or participates. This arouses the readers' interests.
　　(4)Faulkner's "we" often speak men's discourse. In south of America, women used to be in a lower social class. Faulkner comes from a noble family. Alough he doesn't cast off the old tradition of despising women, he shows his respect towards women. It reflects the contradictory psychology of Faulkner and his contemporaries.
　　2.The construction of the plot
　　We analyze "A Rose for Emily" from the following aspects in order to discuss the relation between the construction of the plot and the thematic meaning.
　　(1)The organic of the whole article
　　This story is constructed deliberately by the author. "Death" is the subtle of the story which can be divided into five parts. The issue of the taxes, the smell, the death of his father, the marriage of Emily and the funeral ,all these offer "us", the narrator, the viewpoint and the opportunity ;all these are the turning points of the plot. The conflicts arise from these issue are the hinges of the characters' fates. The language also gives much contribution to the natural development of the plot.
　　(2)The multiply of the inversion of the time and the order
　　The plot can be arranged in the original sequence in order to help the readers to understand the characters' "real" experience; it can also break the time order and use flashback to make the story attractive. The story tells the story of Emily. The multiply flashbacks lets us see the new sight of the structure. Meanwhile, we also find that the skip of the time is very natural. This kind of flashback produces suspense so the author approaches her deep soul in order to expose her abnormality and her tragedy.
　　(3)The everlasting negation
　　The development of the story is almost a mathematic process: 0+1-1+1 . Her father's death makes Emily determine to change her appearance and try to establish the connection with the outer world; after all, it's a turning point of her life. When she fell into love with the snobbish bourgeois Homer, her individualities unveil slowly. The failure of the love with Homer indicates that: Homer represent a totally different life from Emily's resting one, it's one full of din and stir. Homer didn't accept Emily's love, all the people didn't allow this, and Emily herself also struggled in the inner self to the extent that when she carried her head high enough, she was also full of conflicts. It hints that there is a great gulf between them.

　　3.The symbolic metaphor
　　In the modernistic works, the symbolism is no longer a mean of the style, but rather an important style itself. The complex imago produces rich symbolic meaning.
　　(1)The symbol of the prototype
　　All the literary works are the hypothetical verbal structure. The characters' behavior and fates are only logical and meaningful in an invented world. After various crucifixions of life and emotion, she lets her soul stay in the past and becomes a puppet. People regard her as a concept, respecting her but never including her into their lives. Faulkner sings a dirge for Emily and predicts the contabescence of South America.
　　(2) The metaphor of the people and the things
　　Faulkner constructed many verbal icom. Such narration leads the readers to put attention to the people and the things; as the penetration of the narration, the motive will be exposed. During the fight against her own fate, she maintained her dignity and individuality. This individuality indicates that; as a member of the society, she has a close connection with the society, she is also an individual in it; she is fettered by the social convention, however, she always seeks the individual value. Once the individual cracks with the society, he and the society will never in a harmonious state, but stand in the contradictory positions. The result of the conflict must be a bitter tragic.
　　References:
　　[1]Brooks, Cleanth. William Faulkner.The Yoknapatawpha Country.New Haven: Princeton Univ. Press,1963.
　　[2]Hoffman, Frederick J.William Faulkner.New York:Twayne,1961.
　　[3]Kazin, Alfred. .“Faulkner in his Fury.” In Modern American Fiction: Essays in Criticism.New York:Oxford Univ. Press,1963.
　　[4]Millgate, Michael.The Achievement of William Faulkner New York:Random House,1963.
　　[5]Schmitter,Morgan.William Faulkner.New York:McGram-Hill,1973.
　　[6]Volpe, Edmund L.A Reader’s guide to William Faulkner. New York:Farrar, Straus and Girous,1964.
　　[7]Warren, Robert Penn. Faulkner: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,1966.
　　[8]Williams, David.Faulkner’s Women:The Myth and the Muse.Montreal:McGill-Queen’s Univ. Press,1977.

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