Retelling of the story “A Rose for Emily” in First person singular narrator

Two Men in My Life

I am Emily and I live in a small town down south where my father has influent in his old generation and he is also influent my life when I am in younger age by not allowing any young men in town to approach me. Because of him, many town people in the community believe I am pride and stubbornness. Some saw me as very distant person and living in the past. I believe I am a very strong person that follows the tradition of my family and care of generation value and inheritance.

I love my father because he is the only man that I meet in life until his death  and at the same time I hate him so much for bringing me up so lonely and not thinking long enough for my future if he is unable to accompany me one day.  I am still single at the age of thirty because he believes that none of the young men are quite good enough for me. I believe my father is alive with me even he is dead and I refuse to bury him at first. The ministers and doctors persuade me to depose of his body.  I break down when he is laid to rest.  Now, I am all alone by myself in this old house with nothing left after his death.  “How should I do with this big old house with no one to talk to?” The complex feeling of love and hatred to my father strike me so hard that causes me sick and emotional unstable for a longtime after his death. Although I have two cousins in Alabama, My family does not too close to them due to the estate of my great aunt Wyatt when my father is alive. Furthermore, they do not even show up at my father’s funeral and I am not close enough to them to talk about my feelings. The fears, the loneliness and sleepless night cause me sick for a long time but I do not want the town people to see my weakness since my family has a reputation in town and I don’t want people take advantage on me since I am alone and I have to protect the dignity of my family’s tradition and myself.

I meet him in the summer after my father’s death. His name is Homer Barron. He is a Yankee–big, dark skinned with a loud voice. He is a construction foreman who comes to the town with the construction company for pavement of the town sidewalks. After I meet him, I feel myself like a different person and the most enjoyable time of my life. The most memorable time for me is spending the time with him on Sunday afternoon driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy around the town despite of the gossip of the town people and the warning of the minister that I make a bad example to the young people. He also gave me the type of joy that I ever had and I am dreaming and planning of the upcoming my wedding. My two female cousins come to visit me after the minister’s wife write about my relationship.

The street sidewalk construction has been finished and he also leaves the town. My cousins stay for a week and leave the house. I am wishful thinking that he gives me opportunity to talk with my two female cousins about my relationship with him and he will be back within a couple days for preparing our wedding.  He does come back the town after three days my cousins left.

All my dreams and happiness are not last for too long after my cousins’ visit and after he back the town. I also learn his remark that “he likes men, he enjoys drinking with young men in the Club and he is not the type of marrying person”. He is the man that I love most in my life after my father. I hate him as if I never meet him in my life and at the same time I don’t want to lose him forever as I lose my father. They are the men that I love in my life. I must decide to do something so he will be with me the rest of my life. I get the best available poison from the drug store. The druggist ask me that the local law requires buyer to tell the purpose of use, I do not   answer his question but then I see “for rats” on the package.

I have prepared one room above the stair for our wedding. Inside the room, everything is set up for bridal including rose color curtains, rose-shaded lights, dressing table, and man’s toilet silver sets with the letter H.B., man’s outfit clothing including the nightshirt.  I want the man I love to see my bridal room that I have prepared for him. I wish him to be with me forever whether I love or hate him. Since my health gets deteriorating and I know I don’t have too much time left, but I still want to keep secret about the poison that I bought and the corpse of the man in my bridal room.

Project #2 – Comparison Essay

First person narration can be written in two forms: first person singular and first person plural. The original version of “A Rose for Emily” was written in first person plural point of view which was the view of a town person or a group of town people who was telling the story about Miss Emily from a distant position. In the new version of retelling the story about Miss Emily” Two men in my life” I used first person singular as point of view of Miss Emily self which was described as she  was written a journal about all the experiences, thoughts and feelings of self. Written in first person singular is more limited or restricted in giving information to the readers but have more close relationship to the reader than written in first person plural point of view.

In first person plural point of view which uses the pronouns “We” as the form of telling a story from the perspectives of a town people or a group of town people and which can provide  the readers a larger group’s point of view. In the story the views of the town’s people for Miss Emily makes the readers to believe that the narrator seems more reliable because of the group of the town people see and think the same thing about Miss Emily and giving the fact that this might be true for her as many people believe that can see in the paragraph of “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”. Then the readers will think that probably this is the reason why Miss Emily told the town people with no trace of grief on her face that her father was not dead and refused to bury her father.

In first person singular or major point of view which uses the word “I” as the form of telling a story usually the narrator is the main character who is talking about own story.  In new version of retelling the story by the main character can give the readers a full perspective view of what emotional experiences, thoughts and feelings of the character as in my new version of the story about Miss Emily. In this new version, the readers know in depth about her inner thoughts such as how she feels about her father, Mr. Barron and her complex emotional experiences of love and hatred than the original version without guessing it as in the text “ I love my father because he is the only man that I meet in life until his death and at the same time I hate him so much for bringing me up so lonely and not thinking long enough for my further if he is unable to accompany me one day” and  “I meet him in the summer after my father’s death. His name is Homer Barron.  After I met him, I feel myself like a different person and the most enjoyable time of my life”.

Another advantage of writing in first person singular is that feeling closeness and directness between the readers and the character/ narrator by using the word “I” and the readers has a lot to get to know the character by describing the opinions, thoughts and feelings by listening to the voice of the character as in the text” The most memorable time for me is spending the time with him on Sunday afternoon driving in the yellow wheeled buggy around the town despite of the gossip of the town people and the warning of the minister that I make a bad example to the young people. He also gave me the type of joy that I ever had and I am dreaming of and planning of the upcoming my wedding”. In the origin version, the usage of the word “we” gives the readers the feeling of the outsider who are observing and guessing the action of the character without having chance of listening to the inner thoughts of the character as in the text of “So the next day we all said, “She will kill herself”; and we said it would be the best thing. When she had first begun to be seen with Homer Barron, we had said, “She will marry him” Then we said, “She will persuade him yet” and “Later we said, “Poor Emily” behind the jalousies as they passed on Sunday afternoon in the glittering buggy. Miss Emily with her head high and Homer Barron with his hat cocked and a cigar in his teeth reins and whip in a yellow glove”.

One disadvantage about writing in first person major point of view is that it limits the scope of the story because the readers can only get to know about the point of views of the main character Miss Emily alone and lacks the point of views of others of her surroundings. It is also a lot harder for the narrator to provide more information to the readers from the personal perspective of the main character alone without getting into the views of the others. It is less restricted or limited if the story is written as in distant position as in original version than the story is written by the main character due to the fact that they are speaking on behalf of the view of  more than a person usually a group of people as we can see in text as “  At first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because the ladies all said, “Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer. “ But there were still others, older people said that even grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige—without calling it nobles oblige. They just said, “Poor Emily”.

In conclusion, even though written in first person singular gives the readers a full perspective view of the character’s inner thoughts, closeness and directness of the readers and the character, drawback for written in this type of point of view is the limitation of the scope of the story without including the views of others. On the other hand, first person plural seems more reliable and less limited than singular form.

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