《AroseforEmily分析(人物,象征,背景).doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《AroseforEmily分析(人物,象征,背景).doc（7页珍藏版）》请在三一文库上搜索。
1、A rose for EmilyThis story happens after the American Civil War, in Jefferson Town. Its a storyabout an eccentric spinsternamed Emily Grierson whose marriage is totally manipulated by her father. Two years after her father s death, poor Emily is acquainted with a northerner called Homer Barron, a da
2、y laborer and she falls in love with him. However, their relation is short-lived as Homer becomes tired of her and intends to get rid of her. Inorder to keep Homer at hand, Emily kills him with arsenic and“obtain ” him, thus, shesleeps with his corpse for decades. This is the truth that villagers fi
3、nd after her death. From my own perspective, this masterpiece reflects the decline of the southern societyand reveals the conflicts between the two different value systems and two societies after the American Civil War. Then, I will explain my opinions from the following three aspects: character, sy
4、mbol and setting.Emily is an embodiment of the south, the old and tradition. At the very beginning ofthis story, the writer recounts the decoration of her house which is still 1870s style, isntchange any more. Besides, she is also obstinate. When the new government compel thetaxes on her ， she refus
5、es to pay the tax and even ridiculously mentions a colonel whohas been dead almost ten years. Another example is that she prevents people frominstalling mail-box on the wall. She keeps the traditional views all the long， but resists tochange anything. However, poor Emily is a determined woman. Regar
6、dless of people scriticism, she insists on marrying a northerner whose social position is apparently lower than her. It is known that in that period of time, hierarchy is prevailing and deep-rooted through out the society. It particularly has a profound influence on marriage. When someone chooses a
7、partner, he or she must consider the social position of the other party to the marriage. However, Emily chooses to disobey the convention and challenges tradition. Given this situation, her failure is quite expectable. However, she cannot get rid of the shackles of the Southern conventions. After al
8、l, she captures her lover in her own way and the love is treated with honor.Her father, the old Grierson, is also an incarnation of the South, patriarchy and tradition.He was very fastidious about her daughters marriage and drove away every man1who caught the fancy of her. “When she got to thirty an
9、d was still single ”.Obviously,both her body and mind are enslaved by her fathers traditional concept. Therefore, shefeels released when her father is dead, and there is no“ trace of grief on her face” .In this novel, Emily symbolizes the South, old and tradition, the Yankee represents the North, ne
10、w and modern. Both young guys might be interested in each other when they first meet. But they possess altogether different values or concept of lives. So they inevitably separatedbefore long. The conflict between the two partners symbolizes the conflict between the South and the North. And the absu
11、rd murder aggravates the contradictions.The “Rose ”, that is never mentioned in this novel, is always interpretedconventionally as a symbol of love. It might be used as the love Emily gets from her lover. But in my opinion the rose mainly represents decay and death. At the time the villagers went to
12、 her room and found the valance curtains of faded rose color and the rose-shadedlights in the room. Actually, the author plays a trick on Miss Emily. In fact, she doesn treally get any love from any man whether it is from her lover or her father. Emily could have a favorable marriage but for her fat
13、her s interference. She couldhave got her deserved love from Homer. But on account of her obstinacy and pride, she receives tiredness and indifference, instead of affection-rose, from him. Thus, as an outsider, the author or the villagers, they give a rose as a tribute to Emily. Besides, the rose al
14、so stands for the author s and villagers pity, sympathy and lament for Emily, whose mind is imprisoned in the past and fails to adapt to the change.What smore, the author,“William Faulkner objectifies his complicated and emotionalinvolvement in the South and in the people who grow up and live there
15、ever since ”.(英美文学选读应试指南， P237)The story teller begins his story when it is post-civil war. In Jefferson Town, in the South, which is defeated by the North, everything including concept and some sense of value is gradually replaced by the new concepts from the North. In this background, due to the r
16、estriction of the traditional ideas, some people are imprisoned in the past and ignore the passageof time. And Miss Emily is one of them. The whole story is set in Emily s house. But the story has a time span of over two scores. Her house is depicted as2old but grand. Seen from the outside, the hous
17、e is really outdated and is not in accord with other residential buildings its really an eyesore. The house perfectly mirrors Emily s isolation from the outside world. From the inner decoration of her house,everything is covered with dust and the air is humid. Besides，there is a crayon portrait ofMi
18、ss Emily s father. The description of the house paves a way for the development ofscenario. As a reader, I might feel ghastly. Therefore, it s conceivable that the spine-chilling story happens there. At the end of the story, out of curiosity , people go into her chamber ，seeing faded rose color curt
19、ains, the rose-shaded lights and delicate array of crystal and the mans toilet things backed with tarnished silver. The whole room speaks the life Emily goes through and indicates the decay of the Southern aristocrat.When I finished reading the story, a sincere sympathy emerges in my mind. Emily ist
20、otally a tragedy of the old traditions. She is a prisoner of the past, of the social and moral taboos of the South. Not only because she is purely a woman, but also thestubborn conventions manacle her that result in her frustrated life. Even so，she couldhave a better life after her father s death. H
21、owever, she doesn t get out of the tower her father built for her. On the contrary, she builds another one, and locks her soul. Inour daily life, everything is changing everyday. As an individual, we can only adapt ourselves to the protean environment and should learn to accept new things. Only when we keep learning everyday can we survive in this world which is full of competition.Reference戴桂玉 Examinee s Guide to SelectedReadingsin English and American Literatures（ 2005 ） P2373