In a “Rose for Emily” the whole story reeked of decay. The house that was very old and stood out by itself, the butler aged and withered, the smell of  a decaying cadaver, and finally the last of Miss Emily’s closest relatives dying off.  In the paragraph in part two that states  “When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her;” and “being left alone, and a pauper” reminds me of sitting in a cell with no future or no hope. Yes her father turned away all her suitors, but he was all she had left in her world. Now he was gone. I say this to emphasize that it does not matter how much power you have, you can still be alone in a world full of people. Now granted she was not in a cell physically as she did venture out, but the mental aspect of “what will happen to me now” comes into play. So then comes along a prince charming who could feasibly turn her whole life around, she is given a new hope and companionship, that could take away that loneliness. In section III the paragraph talks about this stating “She carried her head high enough–even when we believed that she was fallen. It was as if she demanded more than ever the recognition of her dignity as the last Grierson.” I gather that Homer was a womanizer in that he would date a woman yet his passion was to be with the men and frolic. He also stated he was not the marrying kind. What I feel was his downfall was that he returned to her door after her relatives had left. He dipped his hand into the cookie jar once to many times. But let us talk about how she must have felt knowing when he left, she would once again be alone. Her sanity had given way to her emotions, and she decided she would never be alone anymore. Unfortunately when the story talked about the smell I could sense what was happening. Normally a dead rat or any other vermin, will smell in close contact and last only a day or two. But I already sensed they were talking about a human, way before I knew who it was. My only issue was why the butler ignored it. But it just goes to show that his job was his highest priority.

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In the story of an hour and the jury of her peers, I sense these stories both describe very well what was the effect on women in early times. Mrs. Mallard obviously had never experienced freedom or individuality. As told in the story “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name.” Then with the jury of her peers as I had described before in my comments; a person who deals with death of a close one in a nonchalant insensitive expression, usually has crossed the line of having enough and accepting that murder had to be done. Obviously something like this doesn’t happen overnight, but builds over time.Mrs. Mallard was obviously very unhappy and it showed with the clutter of her home. Because a woman during those times could not publically express discontent, it must have been hard on her. The bird was just the last straw. I also pointed out the two women who saw the bird decided to hide it from the men. That bird might have explained a lot to the prosecution and justice would have been served. And I really think that’s why the women took it (the bird). Because in their views justice was served. And also in their own way the regret of not being more of a friend to Mrs. Wright. This tells me that the women supported each other in those times, because as mention before their voice was not heard by the men who treated them as less than. In the story of an hour it was told that Mrs. Mallard did not loved her husband. “And yet she loved him–sometimes. Often she had not.” My guess is that marriages in those days were basically willed on by family, wealth, not dying old by yourself. Even today it is hard to find couples who stayed married. People today think only of their freedom and individuality, and would prefer that it is not hindered. It is nice to know that at least women have voices today and carry responsibility well in society.

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