Tag Archives: “A Rose for Emily”

Project #1

Farewell to My Duty

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Farewell to My Duty

Ever since Miss Emily’s father passed away, she had been staying in her house for years. I was the only connection to the town- but only when I need grocery or something for Miss Emily or for the house. When Homer Barron, a foreman of the construction company, came to the town for paving the sidewalks, Miss Emily started to come out to the town, driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy on Sunday afternoons. I saw the town people were surprised that she actually came out to the town. Not only that, but also it might be a shock that Miss Grierson, with dignity of her family and noblesse oblige, came out to the town because of this day laborer nigger like me. There cannot be any relationship between a nigger laborer and a noble family in any places in the world – even if the Grierson is being corrupted and Miss Emily might be the last person in the Grierson, I think. I grew up with Miss Emily in this house, and I saw her going through hard time after Mr. Grierson passed away, and even before that. I think I knew her feeling better than anyone else because I was the only one who had been staying with her in this house for years. It was just my duty that I have to take care of her and do anything to protect her, but I also have loyalty and compassion to her. So when the people in the town talked about Miss Grierson and Homer Barron, I pretended I did not hear anything as I have done for my whole life.

Miss Emily might know what other people in town would think about her falling in love with Homer Baron. I was sure that she cared about the town’s thoughts when I saw her getting poison. It was arsenic. She even went out to the town to get the poison by herself. If it was for rats, she would have told me to get it. I knew she got the poison because of Homer Barron but I did not know how she would use it. Is she going to kill herself? But I know she is not the type of person to kill herself because she cares about other people’s eyes. She is the tradition and the noble in Jefferson, and she can’t just kill herself because of love for a Northern laborer. But I cannot ask or tell her what to do because I am not in the position; luckily, regardless of my concern, she did not use the poison for herself.

Later Miss Emily ordered a man’s toilet set in silver with the letters H.B. on each piece. She also bought a complete outfit of men’s clothing, including a nightshirt. I wondered what she was planning to do; even her two cousins came over to the house. On the day the cousins came to the house, I overheard that they came because the town sent them a letter saying it would be a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people if Miss Emily and Homer Barron marry. When I looked at them, – they did not see me looking at them because I pretended I was just serving them a cup of tea – I felt like they were little different than Miss Emily. They looked full of egoism and prejudice that they were not even considering Miss Emily as a member of family. Maybe that was why they did not let me be next to Miss Emily when they were talking. And maybe, that was the reason why they left back to their home because they think nothing would happen. And even if anything happen to Miss Emily, it would not matter to them.

After the two ladies left, I had to clean a room in upstairs and furnish the room as for a bridal and Homer Barron came to the house couple of days later. I opened the door for him at dusk, Miss Emily, with sad smile on her face, greeted him. She took him to the bridal room, and that was the last time I saw Homer Barron.

It has been years now, and Miss Emily’s corpse is laid in this house and I know some other corpse is still in the abandoned room. In this morning I announced the town people that there is going to be funeral held for Miss Emily today. There are people coming: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house. Poor my lady, poor Miss Emily, I thought. She had been a tradition, a history, and the last real lady in this town. But now she is laid dead, and the whole town does not look like they really came for Miss Emily’s farewell sincerely. How hollow and meaningless life she had lived! But now, after I have done with all of my duty for Miss Emily, after all these years in this dreadful house, I am leaving the house through this back door, and I say farewell to this house, to this town, and to Miss Emily.

 

Comparison of “A Rose for Emily” and retelling

“Farewell to My Duty” is a rewrite of William Faulkner’s story “A Rose for Emily” in a different point of view. The protagonist of the stories is Miss Emily. While the original story is narrated by the town people as in first person plural, the new version’s point of view is only one person, Tobe. Because the narrator is the town people in the original story, the story is developed by the facts that they observe outside of the house, and the thoughts how they feel about Miss Emily. However in the rewrite, the narrator is Tobe who lives together with Emily, probably for a long time, so he is able to observe her even inside of the house. The new narrator here, Tobe, is probably the one who knows about Miss Emily the most. Therefore the way how he describes about Miss Emily would be different from the town people’s point of view. In the original story, the town people talk about Miss Emily as a neighbor in their town, but Tobe is Miss Emily’s closest person; Tobe supposed to know more about Miss Emily. Therefore the original story shows the relationship between other people in the town and Miss Emily, whereas the new version focuses on describing the relationship with her closest person Tobe as well as with the town people. Therefore the description of the relationship between Tobe and Miss Emily is more credible and detailed in the new version than in the original version.

In the original story, the relationship between Miss Emily and the town people is well-described. In the town people’s point of view, “Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” because Miss Emily didn’t pay tax after her father passed away (section 1, paragraph 3). Even though most of the neighbor didn’t like her, they eager to know about Miss Emily just out of curiosity; some felt pity for her; some expected downfall of the Grierson. The town people care about what was happening to Miss Emily not because they really concerned about her health and comfort, but because they were just curious about her. People in the town considered her as some unsolved topic which they can gossip in gathering over years. Throughout the story, the neighbors knew all the details about Emily. For example, in section 3 paragraph 1, the narrator described the appearance of Miss Emily and Homer Barron with details. “Presently we began to see him and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy and the matched team of bays from the livery stable.” Also the town people knew that she bought arsenic and that she ordered a man’s toilet set and clothing. As we can see in the original story, the whole town had interests in her but just out of curiosity. Even though she didn’t interact with the people at all, they knew about Miss Emily quite well. Also in the story, the town assumed that Tobe would know everything about Miss Emily and tried to get some information about her from him. However they gave up asking him about her later. The narrator in the original story says “He[Tobe] talked to no one, probably not even to her, for his voice had grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse” (section 4 second to the last paragraph). The only clue of their thoughts about the relationship between Miss Emily and Tobe was his voice; it was rusty from not using it and people can conclude that he doesn’t even talk to Emily. The original story describes well about the relationship between the town and Miss Emily, but there is a limitation of carrying the details about the relationship of Miss Emily and Tobe.

In the new version of the story, however, the narrator Tobe has access to in and out of the house. He has the ability to hear the gossips about Miss Emily when he goes out to the town, and he can watch Miss Emily’s movement as well. Also Tobe as a narrator can easily express his feelings and thoughts about Miss Emily so there are more details which describe the relationship between Tobe and Miss Emily. When Tobe as a narrator talks about the scene when Miss Emily greeted Homer Barron at dusk in paragraph 4, he describes Miss Emily’s face as “with sad smile on her face”. He already knew Miss Emily had bought a poison and furnished Homer Barron’s room as for a bridal. Also he knew “some other corpse is still in the abandoned room” because he never saw Homer Barron again after he went inside the room. He still didn’t mention it to anybody because of the duty to protect Miss Emily. Yet, it was stressful and gloomy staying in the “dreadful house”, but he still had respect for her and admitted that “she had been a tradition, a history, and the last real lady in this town.” (last paragraph). When Tobe found out that Miss Emily bought arsenic, he questioned to himself “Is she going to kill herself?”(paragraph 2) But soon he assumed that she would not kill herself because of a Northern laborer guy. Later even when she ordered a man’s toilet set and outfit, Tobe was wondering about the reason why she bought them, but he never asked her. He did not have any conversation with her not because he did not care about her, but because he trusted her. Also he knew he was “not in the position” to ask or tell her what to do (paragraph 2). Miss Emily was Tobe’s duty to take care of, but at the same time he also felt loyalty and compassion to her. He was the only one who really had respect for her and cared about Miss Emily. He says in the second paragraph; “luckily, regardless of my concern, she didn’t use the poison for herself.” Also when the town guessed that Miss Emily and Tobe didn’t have much of conversation because of his voice, it is not credible because they were just assuming. But when Tobe as a narrator actually mentions that he is not in the position to have conversation with Miss Emily, the readers can have accurate information compared to the imagination of the town people. Therefore the description of the relationship of Tobe and Miss Emily is more credible and detailed in the new version.

To conclude, the original story’s narrator focuses on the relationship between the town people and Miss Emily, whereas the new version’s narrator describes the relationship between Tobe and Miss Emily more effectively. Each point of view can provide us different information even though it is about a same story.

 

 

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draft, Week 7

Comparison of “A Rose For Emily” and retelling

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“Farewell to My Duty” is a rewrite of William Faulkner’s story “A Rose for Emily” in different point of view. The protagonist of the stories is Miss Emily. While the original story is narrated by the town people as in first person plural, the new version’s point of view is only one person, Tobe. In the original story, because the narrator is the town people, the story is developed by the facts that they observe outside of the house, and the thoughts how they feel about Miss Emily. However in the rewrite, the narrator is Tobe who lives together with Emily, probably for a long time, and who is able to observe her even inside of the house. The new narrator here, Tobe, is probably the one who knows about Miss Emily the most, therefore the way how he describes about Miss Emily would be different from the town people’s point of view.

The point of view of the new version is Miss Emily’s closest person. In the original story, the town people talk about Miss Emily as a neighbor in their town, but Tobe is Miss Emily’s closest person; Tobe supposed to know more about Miss Emily. Therefore the original story shows the relationship between other people in the town, but the new version describes the relationship with her closest person Tobe as well as with the town people.

For the town people’s point of view, “Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” because Miss Emily didn’t pay tax after her father passed away (section 1, paragraph 3). Even though most of the neighbor didn’t like her, they eager to know about Miss Emily just out of curiosity; some felt pity for her; some expected downfall of the Grierson. In the original story, the relationship between Miss Emily and the town people is well-described. The town people care about what was happening to Miss Emily not because they really concerned about her health and comfort, but because they were just curious about her. People in the town considered her as some unsolved topic which they can gossip in gathering over years. Throughout the story, the neighbors knew all the details about Emily. For example, in section 3 paragraph 1, the narrator described the appearance of Miss Emily and Homer Barron with details. “Presently we began to see him and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy and the matched team of bays from the livery stable.” Also the town people knew that she bought arsenic and that she ordered a man’s toilet set and clothing. As we can see in the original story, the whole town have interests in her but just out of curiosity. Even though she didn’t interact with the people at all, they knew about Miss Emily quite well.

In the story, the town assumed that Tobe would know everything about Miss Emily and tried to get some information about her from him. However they gave up asking him about her later. The narrator in the original story says “He[Tobe] talked to no one, probably not even to her, for his voice had grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse” (section 4 second to the last paragraph). The only clue of their thoughts about the relationship between Miss Emily and Tobe was his voice; it was rusty from not using it and people can conclude that he doesn’t even talk to Emily. In the new version of the story, however, there are more details which describe the relationship between them. When Tobe found out that Miss Emily bought arsenic, he questioned to himself “Is she going to kill herself?” (paragraph 2) But soon he assumed that she would not kill herself because of a Northern laborer guy. Later even when she ordered a man’s toilet set and outfit, Tobe was wondering about the reason why she bought them, but he never asked her. He did not have any conversation with her not because he did not care about her, but because he trusted her. Also he knew he was “not in the position” to ask or tell her what to do (paragraph 2). Miss Emily was Tobe’s duty to take care of, but at the same time he also felt loyalty and compassion to her. He was the only one who really had respect for her and cared about Miss Emily. He says in the second paragraph; “luckily, regardless of my concern, she didn’t use the poison for herself.” Lastly, when Tobe as a narrator talks about the scene when Miss Emily greeted Homer Barron at dusk in paragraph 4, he describes Miss Emily’s greeting “with sad smile on her face”. He already knew Miss Emily had bought a poison and furnished Homer Barron’s room as for a bridal. Also he knew “some other corpse is still in the abandoned room” because he never saw Homer Barron again after he went inside the room. He still didn’t mention it to anybody because of the duty to protect Miss Emily. Yet, it was stressful and gloomy staying in the “dreadful house”, but he still had respect for her and admitted that “she had been a tradition, a history, and the last real lady in this town.” (last paragraph).

To conclude, the original story’s narrator focuses on the relationship between the town people and Miss Emily, whereas the new version’s narrator describes the relationship between Tobe and Miss Emily more effectively. Each point of view can provide us different information even though it is a same story.

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draft, Week 6

Farewell to my duty.

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Ever since Miss Emily’s father passed away, she had been staying in her house for years. I was the only connection to the town- but only when I need grocery or something for Miss Emily or for the house. When Homer Barron, a foreman of the construction company, came to the town for paving the sidewalks, Miss Emily started to come out to the town, driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy on Sunday afternoons. I saw the town people were surprised that she actually came out to the town. Not only that, but also it might be a shock that Miss Grierson, with dignity of her family and noblesse oblige, came out to the town because of this day laborer nigger like me. There cannot be any relationship between a nigger laborer and a noble family in any places in the world – even if the Grierson is being corrupted and Miss Emily might be the last person in the Grierson, I think. I grew up with Miss Emily in this house, and I saw her going through hard time after Mr. Grierson passed away, and even before that. I think I knew her feeling better than anyone else because I was the only one who had been staying with her in this house for years. It was just my duty that I have to take care of her and do anything to protect her, but I also have loyalty and compassion to her. So when the people in the town talked about Miss Grierson and Homer Barron, I pretended I didn’t hear anything as I’ve done for my whole life.

Miss Emily might know what other people in town would think about her falling in love with Homer Baron. I was sure that she cared about the town’s thoughts when I saw her getting poison. It was arsenic. She even went out to the town to get the poison by herself. If it was for rats, she would’ve told me to get it. I knew she got the poison because of Homer Barron but I didn’t know how she would use it. Is she going to kill herself? But I know she is not the type of person to kill herself because she cares about other people’s eyes. She is the tradition and the noble in Jefferson, and she can’t just kill herself because of love for a Northern laborer. But I cannot ask or tell her what to do because I am not in the position; luckily, regardless of my concern, she didn’t use the poison for herself.

Later Miss Emily ordered a man’s toilet set in silver with the letters H.B. on each piece. She also bought a complete outfit of men’s clothing, including a nightshirt. I wondered what she was planning to do; even her two cousins came over to the house. On the day the cousins came to the house, I overheard that they came because the town sent them a letter saying it would be a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people if Miss Emily and Homer Barron marry. When I looked at them, – they didn’t see me looking at them because I pretended I was just serving them a cup of tea – I felt like they were little different than Miss Emily. They looked full of egoism and prejudice that they were not even considering Miss Emily as a member of family. Maybe that was why they didn’t let me be next to Miss Emily when they were talking. And maybe, that was the reason why they left back to their home because they think nothing would happen. And even if anything happen to Miss Emily, it wouldn’t matter to them.

After the two ladies left, I had to clean a room in upstairs and furnish the room as for a bridal and Homer Barron came to the house couple of days later. I opened the door for him at dusk, Miss Emily, with sad smile on her face, greeted him. She took him to the bridal room, and that was the last time I saw Homer Barron.

It has been years now, and Miss Emily’s corpse is laid in this house and I know some other corpse is still in the abandoned room. In this morning I announced the town people that there is going to be funeral held for Miss Emily today. There are people coming: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house. Poor my lady, poor Miss Emily, I thought. She had been a tradition, a history, and the last real lady in this town. But now she is laid dead, and the whole town doesn’t look like they really came for Miss Emily’s farewell sincerely. How hollow and meaningless life she had lived! But now, after I’ve done with all of my duty for Miss Emily, after all these years in this dreadful house, I am leaving the house through this back door, and I say farewell to this house, to this town, and to Miss Emily.

 

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Glossary, Week 2

Edict

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Edict is a (Noun)

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary edict means: An official order given by a person with power or by government.

This term was used by William Faulkner in, “A Rose for Emily.” on page 1 of class handout. William Faulkner wrote, “
dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the mayor who fathered the edict that no negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron
” Faulkner used the tem edict to emphasized that the Colonel Sartoris who was mayor at the time and was responsible for the new law for black woman to wear apron in public would not be considered to be lying when he made formal statement that Miss Emily was excused from paying taxes because the town was indebted to her father for a loan he had given to the town in the past. This apparently was not true, but because Colonel Sartoris was in high authority within the town his explanation for not allowing her to be taxes was not challenged during his time as mayor.

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Glossary, Week 2

Noblesse Oblige

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Noblesse oblige (Noun)

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary noblesse oblige means: The obligation of honorable, generous and responsible behavior associated with high rank or birth.

This term was used by William Faulkner in, “A Rose for Emily,” page 4 of class handout. William Faulkner wrote, “but there were still others, older people, who said that even grief should not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige.” My understanding of this term in the passage is that the towns people especially the older ones frowned upon the relationship between Homer Barron and Miss Emily. They knew her upbringing and the Griersons were considered to be aristocrats. Miss Emily the last of Griersons was still considered an aristocrat. They felt she was forgetting who she was and was dating and contemplating marriage to someone who was beneath her stature. They felt she should not let grief and loneliness cause her to settle for a day laborer. Her father who had vanquished so many suitors would have been appalled.

 

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Homework, Week 2

HomeWork #2

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In “A Rose for Emily,” Miss Emily is the character who has power. “On the first of the year they mailed her a tax notice. February came, and there was no reply.” Miss Emily was mailed a tax notice, but she disregarded it. She was then mailed a formal letter asking her to call the sheriff’s office at her convenience, followed by a letter from the mayor. The Board of Aldermen then went to her house to convince her to pay her taxes. “I have no taxes in Jefferson,” is what she muttered repeatedly. She eventually chases them out of her house, without her having to pay her taxes. This shows that Miss Emily is powerful, for she didn’t comply with the laws of the town, and the Alderman probably feared to punish her because of her old age.

“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; as if it had wanted that touch of earthiness to reaffirm her imperviousness.” The narrator feels that Emily knows that she is a powerful woman, and that she wants to be recognized for it.

As Miss Emily asks the druggist for poison, she wasn’t hesitant. She insisted on getting arsenic. When the druggist mentioned that he must be told what she will use the poison for, due to the law, Miss Emily just stared at him. The druggist packaged the poison and when Miss Emily opened it, written on the box was “for rats.” Here, Emily is ignoring the law once again. She is a powerful woman, and people must’ve feared to challenge her authority.

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Homework, Week 2, Week 2

A Rose for Emily

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Emily Grierson from William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily is a woman who never married. It was intriguing to see Emily become a recluse. The story is an excellent example of macabre and horror, Faulkner proves if done right you can creep readers out without gory details and intense violence.  The narration [third-point of view] was also enjoyable, I especially liked how the narration used the word ‘our’ to depict the feelings of the town as a whole.

The story started out with Emily already being dead, and then Faulkner starts telling us about the Colonel who made up a story so Emily didn’t have to pay her taxes, it is unclear what is actually happening in the story. However, it becomes clear what direction Faulkner was taking; key moments of Emily’s life in the eyes of the town were recalled and told to us, these events in turn helped with inferring the revelation of Emily’s chilling necrophiliac nature.

The first hint at necrophilia was Emily’s refusal of her fathers death when, for three days, she kept his dead body in her house. Emily wasn’t seen after her fathers death again until around the time construction workers showed up in town. She was seen around town with Homer Barron and the townsfolk thought she would marry him. Much later when she was well over thirty she was seen buying arsenic due to which the townsfolk thought she was going to finally kill herself. Instead she invited Homer to her house after which he was never seen again. Emily after his disappearance became a full reclusive and wasn’t seen again until her death (except for when the men in the town saw her in the window after they sneaked into her house and sprinkled lime all over the doors etc due to the horrid smell surrounding her house and for the brief period she taught china-painting). After her death the story goes back to present and reconnects with the opening passage. The women and men enter her house and go upstairs to the room that they knew was never seen in the last forty years. They see a room decorated as a bridal suite and see a man, whom we can assume is Homer Barron, dead.

The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him. What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust. Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair.

The ending was the second and the most crucial hint at necrophilia. Even so, Faulkner leaves a lot of gaps in the story giving way to various interpretations, I’m sure some of you may have read the end differently than I did.

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Week 2

A Rose for Emily

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I believe that Emily’s actions are the result of her strong independence. She refuses to be criticized by the town when she gallivants around town with Homer Barron without being married to him even though it was frowned upon by the entire neighborhood. She refuses to be left by Homer, so she murders him by giving him the arsenic to drink in order not to lose control of the relationship that she has with Barron and she refuses to pay taxes because Colonel Sartoris told her she was not obligated to.

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Week 3

Classwork for “A Rose for Emily”

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Put the following events in chronological order:

  1. Emily Grierson dies.
  2. Emily’s father, Mr. Grierson, dies.
  3. There is a smell around Emily’s house.
  4. Emily teaches china painting in her house.
  5. Emily buys arsenic from the town’s druggist.
  6. Colonel Sartoris makes up a story to allow Emily not to pay taxes.
  7. The aldermen visit Emily to try to get her to pay taxes.
  8. Mr. Grierson disapproves of all of Emily’s potential suitors.
  9. Homer Baron arrives in town.
  10. Homer Baron disappears.

Today’s discussion will draw from our online discussion about race and the use of objectionable language in “A Rose for Emily,” as well as our further reflections about power in the short story.

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Homework, Week 2

“A Rose for Emily” power dynamic

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In “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, “Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town”(section1, para3) when she was alive. She didn’t have to pay taxes because Colonel Sartoris, the mayor, lied that her father had lent money to the town. Also when the tax notice was sent to Miss Emily later on, she completely ignored. Even when the deputation visited her house and “the spokesman came to a stumbling halt,” (sec1, pa7) she didn’t even talked back to the visitors. She vanquished them in her dry and cold voice. Not paying for taxes, and her reaction to the town and visitors shows that Miss Emily plays a role as power dynamic.

Also Miss Emily’s power dynamic is implied in section 3 of the story when she went to the druggist to get poison. She didn’t even ask the druggist to get arsenic but she just stated that she wants it. And the druggist said “If that’s what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for.” Then the narrator describes that Miss Emily didn’t tell the druggist the reason even if it is required by the law. “Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up.” (section 3 last paragraph) Even though druggist couldn’t sell the arsenic without proper reason of using it by the law, he couldn’t reject her. In this scene the druggist doesn’t have power in contrast to Miss Emily.

The narrator in this story is one of the people in the town. Even though the narrator knows that the town thought of her as a duty or a care, they were not able to say anything in front of her because she is a tradition and last dignity in the town that they have to accept.

Even Miss Emily’s death was powerful. Although some were not there to show her respect, because she had been a tradition and a duty to the whole town that they have to care, the town came to her funeral.

 

 

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