Reading "A Rose for Emily" was very interesting and very different from what I had expected. The title had me thinking it was a light-hearted story, perhaps about a romantic courtship or other love story. I suppose there was a love story in this, however much darker than I had expected.
My favorite quote from the story is "We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will" (Faulkner, 31). This passage is in reference to Miss Emily hiding her father's body and refusing to admit his death. I thought the quote was powerful in its message and really insightful into human nature. To cling to that which robs us is an interesting concept, but certainly very true. An similar example that comes to my mind is of a controlling, abusive relationship where someone robs the other person of their hobbies, their spirit, their friends, etc. and that person in turn clings onto the abusive person because that is all they have left.
It is an interesting facet of human relationships that is surprisingly easy to understand. This character, Emily, was sheltered by her father for so long and deprived of human contact in any substantial amount, that her father was basically her only companion, the only person she had left. So, upon his death, it makes sense why she would cling to what was left of him and deny his death, as the quote says.
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Hello, I read this book as well and I loved it. It makes perfect since why she clings to what was left of her father because it was all she had. Her denial for his death was her coping with it and I believe everyone has their own way about dealing with serious matters like that.
ReplyDeleteJamie