In: Psychology
Story: Rose for Emily
Question1: What is the center of tension or conflict in this story?
Question2: How would you describe Emily's personality?
Question3: What is the role of Emily's father in this story? Why is he important?
Answer 1:
In William Faulkner's novel, "A Rose for Emily," the depth of conflict does not simply rest between characters. Infact, there are various kinds of conflict, in the story.
The three conflicts that drive the story are:
1) person vs. person
2) person vs. self
3) person vs. society
Person vs. self
A person versus self conflict is an inside battle that a character faces. The huge inner clash for Emily is her battle with reality. She declines to acknowledge that she is never again living in the prior to the war South, where private cabin arrangements could be made to dodge taxes. Emily declines to recognize her dad's demise 'for three days, with the priests approaching her, and the specialists, endeavoring to induce her to give them a chance to discard the body.' A short time later, her expectations of wedding Homer Barron, a man who has conceded that 'he preferred men' and 'was not a wedding man,' additionally exhibits her failure to recognize truth. Rather than making the changes in accordance with her reasoning that are important to hold her rational soundness, Emily endeavors to control the outside world into adjusting with her fancies.
Person vs. Society
A person versus society conflict is a character's battle to comply with societal standards. One of the battles Emily has with society is her refusal to pay charges. In spite of notices from the sheriff and the leader, Emily keeps up, 'I have no assessments in Jefferson,' since Colonel Saratoris, a previous chairman who has been dead for a long time, made that oral concurrence with Emily's dad. Emily again demonstrates hate for the law when she purchases arsenic yet declines to give the motivation behind why even after the pharmacist reveals to her that 'the law expects you to advise what you will utilize it for.'
Emily's neighbors additionally exhibit societal clashes when a judge declines to refer to Emily for the repulsive scent that is originating from her home. At the point when the administration authorities don't deal with the issue, a gathering of men bring matters into their own hands. The storyteller clarifies, 'So the following night, after 12 pm, four men crossed Emily's grass and lurked about the house like criminals. They tore open the basement entryway and sprinkled lime there and in all storehouses
Person vs. person
A person versus person conflict is a disagreement or the problems between characters in the story. Emily's primary person versus person conflict is with her father. After his death, Emily was left completely alone after all the young men that her father had driven away. She rebels against him as a response by dating a Northerner a day laborer after her father's death.
Answer 2:
The object of fascination in the story; an eccentric recluse, Emily is a mysterious figure who changes from a vibrant and hopeful young girl to a cloistered and secretive old woman. Devastated and alone after her father’s death, she is an object of pity for the townspeople. After a life of having potential suitors rejected by her father, she spends time after his death with a newcomer, Homer Barron, although the chances of his marrying her decrease as the years pass. Bloated and pallid in her later years, her hair turns steel gray. She ultimately poisons Homer and seals his corpse into an upstairs room.
Answer 3:
For Emily, her father played a very important role. We know from the story that after her father died, she 'went out little'. She also refused to believe that he was dead, telling people who came to the door that he was not dead. Additionally, she would not allow him to be buried. The town had to come in and bury him. This shows us that she was deeply affected by his death.
Her father who was a strict man who did not let her have a healthy social life. He made her an outcast in her own community. This alone created most of the conflicting situations in her life after her father's death. Even after her fathers death she refused to acknowledge all the changes that were happening outside her house as the years went by.